Tag Archives: Cool places to go

A trip to Mercado Central

The Central Market of San José is a feast for the senses, filled with fresh fruits, veggies, flowers, medicinal plants, clothes, souvenirs, seafood, pets, handicrafts, you name it! Before devling into these bustling aisles during a recent class excursion, Prof Mireya gave a spiel about the capital’s commerical heart: “The Mercado Central is located between Avenidas […]

Horsing around

The hand-painted sign showing two bridled horses does not point towards a fancy place. Turning down this stone driveway off the main road through Las Nubes will not deliver you to a state-of-the-art equine training facility. Nor are these lush pastures described in any Lonely Planet guidebooks. Yet, the animals grazing these hills speak volumes about the culture of Costa […]

Catching lunch in Coronado

Up the hill from Academia Tica Coronado a cozy little place by the side of the road serves up about the freshest trout imaginable, Tico style. At this family-run “trucheria,” (trucha means trout), you can catch your own lunch from a backyard pond. Luckily professionals take over from there. Have a seat in the rustic dining room as […]

Las Cataratas – A day trip to the waterfalls

One Friday morning in Jacó Beach: Our group of seven Academia Tica students was being picked up in front of the apartments by Alan, our tour guide for the day. A 45 minutes drive southbound along the coast led us to the beginning of a narrow path through private farmland. First we passed chicken and horses, […]