I would not frequent either at night…but I could say the same of many other areas in many other cities. While the Central is regarded with favour by all, the other two have a dubious reputation…pickpockets at every turn and babies barbecued to order.Ībsolute nonsense, of course.
and it is one of the busiest bus stations in San Jose, whence the tourists fresh from the airport leg it to the beaches of the Pacific coast. The Borbon has butchers and fishmongers, but its main role is selling wholesale and retail veg and fruit….Ĭoca Cola specialises in hardware and electrical supplies…though, of course, having greengrocers and suchlike…. The Central has a bit of everything, from flowers to fish via meat, cheese, spices, medicinal herbs and caffs galore…. So, in the meantime, attention has turned to the other markets…the Central…the Borbon and Coca Cola. However the mayor of San Jose can wait…the presidential elections are coming and the next incumbent may favour the bloated ‘foundation’. He does not have the law on his side…but he has prestige. So far this has not worked as the President is firmly in favour of the market remaining where it is, instead of being replaced by further parking for a bloated ‘charitable foundation’ alongside. Otherwise the tourists visit San Jose only to get the first bus out to their destination…so something, it seems, must be done to keep some of their money for the capital.įirst bright idea…move the artisans’ market from its perfect spot under the National Museum in the centre of the city to a concrete box several blocks away in an street which has nothing to attract any tourist whatsoever, unless they are admirers of the concrete brutalist style of architecture which inspired the building housing the offices of the CAJA – the national health service – which looms over the surrounding area. Visitors are advised to eschew San Jose…unless they are men in search of paid female company in which case they are directed to hotels which call themselves gentlemen’s clubs and to the casinos and bars of Gringo Gulch where practitioners of the art of wallet extraction lurk in search of their prey. Not surprisingly…for years the guidebooks have been directing tourists to the beaches, the rain forests and the ruinously expensive eco lodges run by exploitative hippies…not to speak of yoga retreats ditto. I would not say that these high priests exact a tithe, but couple of coffees can soon make a hole in the shopping money.Īrt deco and art noveau buildings have been tarted up…a stunning new museum of jade has been opened….the streets are clean….the homeless have been shifted from the centre….but still the tourists do not come. We have gastronomic festivals, self conscious fusion cuisine…food trucks…and bars where black shirted men with buns perform solemn rites over coffee machines. In an exercise in fatuity it runs down the middle of a pedestrianised boulevard where the lycra clad unco’ guid can enjoy themselves by making those on foot hop out of the way…two wheels good, two feet bad. Two are planned but only one is as yet in use. test – but pavement cafes are beginning to be with us as are, of course, cycle paths. The carriage rides have not yet arrived – the horses would have to wear gas masks such is the level of pollution from buses and cars which have presumably passed the annual M.O.T. Soon, she said, it would all be pavement cafes and carriage trips round the sights. When I was first blogging about Costa Rica and about its capital, San Jose, in particular, a blogging friend advised me to make the most of that grubby, shambolic place while I could.
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