I was up late for breakfast but the rest was worth it. Laura and I walked with a small group of chorusters to the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica to buy tickets for the evening's show but the booth wasn't open yet so we admired the space and visited the gift shop. I purchased two two stickers from a Costa Rican artist, Munguia, who makes cartoons using a play on common words and phrases. "Jabba Dabba Do" (the J in Spanish is pronounced more like a Y-ish H) reads one card with an image of a Jabba The Hut style Fred Flinstone and his Leia-esque Wilma. We waited in the lobby for a thunder storm to pass before our journey continued - I love dramatic weather.
Laura and I caught a bus to the Parque Metropolitano La Sabana, a large central park that houses the original airport (now a museum - read below) and a football (remember, that means soccer) stadium which was built as a gift from China. The park was filled with families eating alfresco, paddle boats on the lake, and a number of pick-up soccer games. The park also houses a skate track with inline skaters who looked like pros in their official uniforms. Most enjoyable had to be the community dance fitness class - think, Zumba In The Park. It's wonderful to be in a place where people live together outside. There is a great energy and sense of community. It makes me think of parks back home and their scant populations through the winter and their bustle for those few warm months in the summer - the buzz of it all. Oh... and then there was the Snoopy/Winnie the Poo/Elmo siting to be confused about...
As I mentioned, the original airport from the 1940's has since been replaced and the old building now houses the Museo de Arte Costarricense. The works displayed there are as beautiful as the building with hallways and rooms filled with modern and mid-century art and a sculpture garden outside. Laura, a landscape architect and avid gardener, originally from Chicago, has also been a terrific guide to plant life on our trip, so even a sculpture garden can also be appreciated as a living garden. The museum now houses the largest collection of Costa Rican art as well as the work of international artists and an extensive collection of the works of Juan Manuel Sanchez, an artist, educator, and drafter.
Laura and I made our way back to the theater and got our tickets to the opera! Alicia, Linda, and I opted for the cheap seats - just $4 per person! We had worked up an appetite at this point and decided to have lunch in the cafe in side the theater. My salad (yes, again) was well complimented by their Cafe Pasión de los santos (Passion of the Saints), a coffee drink made with with honey, ginger, cinnamon and whipped cream. I don't often drink coffee. This splurge was well worth the caffeine rush.
We walk home, stopping to buy an umbrella (why did I think I wouldn't need to pack mine?!), and rested before heading back to the performance. Tonight was the first matinee show of Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci! Pagliacci was perhaps the best opera performance I have seen and I cried during the final scene (I am prone to tears). The theater was one of the most beautiful I have seen and celebrate's its 125th anniversary this year. The view was spectacular, even from the cheap seats in the very, very, very top-back-side row. Between the two operas Alicia made a friend in the lobby.... well, I'll let her tell you (from Facebook):
Alicia Alford tagged you and Linda Luttrell in a status. Alicia wrote: "So I went to two operas tonight. In Costa Rica. At the oldest and most beautiful theater in the country. No big deal. It's just how I roll. Ok, but seriously. After the first opera (Cavalleria Rusticana) I was waiting for Linda outside el baño and I met a man who has been to Bellingham. Then he said he had 4 extra seats in his box. I asked if was bragging or sharing? (We were up in the nose bleed section.) Long story short, we saw Pagliacci from some of the best seats in the house! We were overlooking the symphony and right next to the harpist! Great night :)"
It's nice to have friends that take on some of the friend-making for us. What a night! On suggestion from our Patron of the Arts, we ended up at a Chinese restaurant near our hotel, Wong's. This would be the first time I have eaten dim sum since I was in Hong Kong, China last year. Oh how I had missed lai Wong Bao (custard bun). It's really more of a dessert item but who needs dinner with a treat like that. We also shared a few shrimp dumplings and a dish of chicken and mushroom steamed in a banana leaf with rice. Full on the feast, we stopped at the store for supplies. I loaded up on tonic and snacks for impending bus rides. I made it home in time for a brief chat with Kevin. What a lovely day for this tourist in San Jose.
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