Zorba the Greek

Today we joined a group exploring the countryside around San Jose. We went to Atenas and Grecias, two suburbs named for Athens and Greece. Every town in Costa Rica has a church, a park and a soccer field and maybe more. The downtowns, or centros, have shops, restaurants and small supermarkets. Fresh fruits and vegetable sellers are there too and usually a bus terminal. Most people here do not have cars and use the buses, taxis and light rail to get around. Lots of people walking along the roads and on the weekends many bicycles navigating some really high hills.

View from a high hill.

The church in Atenas with Mass starting on this Sunday morning. The park was really cute with all the concrete benches painted a bright blue.

Grecias is a larger town and boasts a church made of metal.

This Mass was mobbed with not one vacant seat and many people standing. I was told that the entire church is made of metal, except the roof is wood and the altar is marble. Apparently the church is a prefab made in Europe and was to be shipped to Athens, Greece. Somehow it ended up in Atenas, Costa Rica by mistake and remains there. This is the Grecias park.

At one stop I was impressed by these healthy pointsettias.

We stopped for lunch at a neat place with a large shaded patio. Food was traditional and very good. They also have a factory that makes wooden chatchkes and a nice gift shop.

Back at the hotel we went out for our last dinner in San Jose. As usual, we used Uber and very happy with their services. Tonight we picked a casual seafood restaurant. I had fettucine with shrimp and Jeff had shrimp with spaghetti. The salad was very good and completely red. The waiter said it was shredded carrots and beets.

Said Buenos Noches for the last time to our doorman at the hotel. He is so sweet and speaks not one word of English. We talk to each other in Spanish and I am sure he doesn't understand me and I only get a tiny bit of what he says to me. He is such a sweet man and always helps me up the steps making me feel really old.