 Sprawled across Costa Rica's Central Valley, San Jose City is a busy urban space that has witnessed both a rapid business and population growth over the past five years. The city was founded in 1738, though not established as the capital until 1823. Today, the city's population is of 346,799 residents, equivalent to one third of hte country's entire population. At an elevation of 1,161 meters above sea level, its average temperature is about 23˚C, and with a precipitation level of about 150mm per month. Throughout the year its temperature will range from 15˚C to 26˚C, due to its rainy temperament its relative humidity tends to range between 60 to 90 percent. The city is easily accessed from the Juan Santamaria International Airport, located in the nearby province of Alajuela, and 23 km West of downtown.
Though small, each year pulls the city further away from the “third-world” label, and much more towards a modern cosmopolitan one. Despite its chaotic urbanization, it is easy to discern and see the beauty hidden beyond the constant traffic, often dirty streets and the not always safe environment of the city. San Jose is hidden in the central valley, surrounded by beautiful nearby beaches, volcanoes and national parks. This particular trademark is what makes the city exemplary, it is a busy, tumultuous space amidst green landscapes and one to two hours away from worldwide renowned wildlife. While not as cheap as expected, you can purchase a $1.50 Imperial (the local beer brand) at a small cantina or bar, only pay $5 for ten Roma tomatoes, and not $12, and spend $50-60 dollars on a dinner that would have probably cost you around $80 overseas for not such a great meal. Though you may be surprised by the noise, traffic and “mess” of the city, these will easily be overlooked by the stress-free or “pura vida” attitude of San Jose city life.
Among many other districts, San Jose consists of three main units which hold most of its industrial, socio-political, cultural, economic and educational elements: Downtown San Jose, San Pedro and the Escazu/Lindora area. Escazu is known as the “newer” or modern part of town, and one of the most commercial and expensive sectors. The main attraction about this area is its safety, surrounding night clubs, fashion boutiques and some of the nicest and largest hotels. It is a fairly clean area, with amazing stores that are more European influenced than American, and some of the best restaurants in the city. One can enjoy everything from authentic Italian—thanks to our high percentage of Italian immigrants—to some of the most superb sushi you may find. San Pedro, on the opposite side of town from Escazu, bordering the Cartago province is an older, more alternative part of town, and home to the University of Costa Rica. As a consequence, this part of town is more artsy, cheaper and constantly active, with bars that are open seven days a week. This part of town carries more relaxed and retro vibe, surrounded by old neighborhoods, great restaurants and stores of hand-made artifacts. 
As a city, public transportation is not expensive and accessible everywhere, and hailing a taxi cab is no problem. One can be in downtown San Jose in about fifteen to thirty minutes, depending upon traffic, from any of its districts. Downtown San Jose is currently being remodeled and re-organized by the government, which is a significant change that is being done to improve the city and transform this area into a main attraction. The beautification of the city has become a concern, as well as promoting local artists, so that the two have joined forces. Across the city one sees stunning tile murals, in black and white, others in strong wild colors, all funded by the government and been by local artists. Although driving is quite a challenge and laws seem overlooked, one quickly gets used to this as well and driving itself becomes an adventure.
There is plenty to see and plenty to do, both during the day and at night time. San Jose does not necessarily have coffee-shops, but café’s in small open shops that allow you to sit in patios and enjoy salads, panini’s or pastries. The downtown features museums that range from contemporary Latin American Art to the Jade and Gold Museum. One can also find a sector known as Barrio Amón that has old colonial homes that have been preserved and turned into bars, hotels and restaurants. What makes downtown exceptional is the fact that it is not orderly or pristine, but a massive chaos of culture, noise and old places that makes it real and vibrant. It is a compact area that resembles San Jose as a whole. Just being there one feels healthier, even when you are in the city there are trees, mountains and flowers everywhere to remind that you are in a place whose natural attractions resemble paradise.
Now more than ever before San Jose is a city, perhaps not comparable in size to Madrid or New York, but becoming similarly dynamic and progressive.
· CULTURAL ACTIVITIES:
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica: (The National Museum of Costa Rica)
Founded in 1888, during a time in which the country was re-settling its ideals, exchanging conservative views for liberal ideals and working on strengthening the principles of peace, industrial progress and education.
The purpose of the museum was to gather and exhibit the country’s natural treasures, and those display documents and objects of historical significance. In addition, it was to assume the role of a scientific research and didactic institution to serve primary and secondary educational establishments of the Republic.
Today, the museum is comprised of various collections on the subjects of anthropology, and national and natural history. It aims to demonstrate the formation of our social identity and make knowledgeable about the significance that bicultural diversity has on the development of a Costa Rican identity.
- Location: Between Central and Second Avenue, on 17th street, near Cuesta de Moras, adjacent to the Plaza de la Democracia.
- Schedule: Open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.
- Rates: Costa Rican Citizens ¢500 (Wednesdays are free)
Foreigners $4, for foreign students with ID $2
Museo de Jade: (Jade Museum)
Here you can find one of the largest collections on archeological artifacts made of minerals similar to jade, as well of several made of silver and gold. Throughout its five exhibit rooms you will learn about the development and inheritance of the ascendant pre-colombian culture that once ruled over Costa Rican society. Each showroom offers information about the different roles that jade and other materials played on pre-colombian society.
- Location: located on the ground floor of the Institute of Natural Insurance (Instituto Nacional de Seguros –INS) near the Parque Espana.
- Schedule: Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm
Saturday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
- Rates: Costa Rican Citizens ¢500
Foreigners $2
Museo de Arte y Diseno Contemporáneo: (Museum of Contemporary Art and Design):
Founded in 1944, and made into "an open multiple space" its purpose is to define and promote the most recent tendencies in the world of contemporary art and design found throughout Central America, while also highlighting their niche within the Latin American and International context.
The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC) is located on what once was the old national liquor factory, founded in 1856, found in a historical area of downtown San José . After a radical restoration at the beginning of the nineties, the old FANAL (National Liquor Factory) was converted into the National Cultural Centre (CENAC), part of the National Ministry of Culture and Youth. Today, it is valued as one of the most important architectural and historical sites in Costa Rica.
In its entirety, the MADC has five exhibit galleries, including an auditorium and an exterior exhibit space: Pilar de la Melaza (The Molasses Vault), is used for diverse multidisciplinary events such as theatrical performance, installation and music. The museum also has a coffee-shop, Gallery 2 (Sala 2), where novel and attractive products from Costa Rica, Central America and International designers are exhibited and sold. In addition, it offers a video-library and documentation center where one can consult a grand array of audiovisual materials by Central American and International artists. The library also hosts a wide range of art catalogues, art books and contemporary designer books that have been created by the museum and similar institutions.
Since its founding, MADC has carried out a great quantity of individual and collective exhibits by national and international artists. One of the principal objectives is to exhibit artists and curatorial visions related with aesthetic, cultural and social issues which affect the Central American region and the world. The permanent collection boasts the most important patrimony of Central American contemporary art, with renowned Costa Rican, Central American and international artists. These include a mixture of techniques and art languages: from painting, etching, drawing and sculpture to photography, installation, the intervened object and video.
- Location: Old Fanal Building, adjacent to Barrio Amón, near downtown San José .
- Schedule:
Exhibition Rooms: Monday through Saturday from 10:30 am to 5:30. Monday’s entrance is free.
Video Library and Documentation Center: Monday through Friday 9am to 12pm, and 1:00
pm to 5:00 pm.
- Rates: Costa Rican Citizens ¢500
Foreigners $2
Students with ID ¢300
Museo de Arte Costarricense: (Museum of Costa Rican Art)
This museum occupies the space of what once was the terminal for Costa Rica’s first International Airport, located in metropolitan park La Sabana. The site is a Spanish colonial style house, which was modified and transformed into a museum under the administration of Daniel Oduber Quirós, in 1977, and was declared national patrimony in 1986.The building consists of an underground floor, a first floor and a second floor with access to rooftop terraces and a central tower.
Its main attraction is the “Golden Room” (Salon Dorado), situated on the second floor, it is a wall carved guide of Costa Rica’s history, dating from its pre-colombian era up to 1940. French artist, Louis Feron created the mural, spread about the walls of a room of 150 meters squared, and depicting Costa Rica’s history and natural fauna. The museum aims to give tribute to those whom have left a significant mark in Costa Rican art and pay merit to those artists whom are creating high quality art, emblematic of the twentieth century. This way a dialogue is created between traditional and contemporary art. Inaugurated in 2003, the museum now also counts with a sculpture garden that can be found towards the back of the museum.
- Location: Eastern front of La Sabana Metropolitan Park
- Schedule: Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
- Rates: Foreigners -$5, foreigners with student ID $3
Costa Rican Citizens 500 colones, for students free
Museo del Banco Central de Costa Rica: (Museum of the Central Bank of Costa Rica)
- Right on downtown San José , this museum feature two permanent exhibits and one temporary gallery exhibit
showroom:
Pre-Colombian Gold Exhibit: this is an extraordinary collection of gold artifacts that reflect the world-view, social structure and techniques of what once was Costa Rica’s Pre-Columbian society. The collection consists of 1600 pieces of Pre-Columbian gold works that date from 500–1500 AD. The exhibit is divided into two parts: an introductory and orientation area, located on the second floor, and the showcase of the pieces on the third floor.
Numismatic Exhibit: displays the evolution of Costa Rica’s means of change (currency) from the year 1502 to the present. It explains the change of currency from the Real to the Colon, describing its uses, and illustrating the historical aspects of the country’s currency. The collection exhibits around 5000 objects, including coins, bills, coffee tokens, dyes, documents and photographs.
Temporary Exhibition Gallery: located in the building’s second underground level, it offers rotating show in the visual arts and other subjects, for instance, ethnology and history. Both national and international artists are showcased, and their exhibits are backed-up by exhaustive research.
- Location: Between 3rd St. and 5th Avenue, on Central Avenue and Second. (Calle 3 y 5 Avenida Central y Segunda, Bajos Plaza de la Cultura.)
- Schedule: Monday through Sunday from 9:30 am to 5:00pm.
- Rates: Foreigners $7, foreigners with student ID $3.5
Citizens 1000 colones ($2)
Costa Rican students with ID: Free
Museo de los Niños: (Museum for the Children)
Traces of pain were converted into a display of magic and knowledge for children, when the building’s use turned an opposite direction in 1994 and went from once being the Old Central Penitentiary into a centre of knowledge and creation. Today, the large space occupies four distinct roles serving as a children’s museum, national auditorium, national gallery and a youthful complex; all with the purpose of creating and promoting social, human and cultural development to the Costa Rican communities.
- Location: 4th street, 9th Avenue, Old Central Penitentiary
- Schedule: Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 4:30 pm
- Rates: week-days 700 colones, 800 colones on weekends
· The museums previously mentioned hold the historical significance, carry extensive displays and are the most active within the art realm, both at local and foreign levels. However, there are other museums worth mentioning and open to the public:
- La Salle Museum of Natural Science (Museo de Ciencia Naturales La Salle)
- The Entomology Museum at the University of Costa Rica (El Museo de Entomología)
- The Criminology Museum (El Museo Crimonólogo)
- The Museum of Insects at the University of Costa Rica (El Museo de Insectos de la Universidad de Costa Rica)
- Museum of Forms, Space and Sounds (Museo de Formas, Espacios y Sonidos)
· Costa Rica has a large theatre production scene, with different performances running throughout the year. Productions
vary constantly depending on their success. There are two main theatres Teatro Nacional and Teatro Melico Salazar,
where foreign performances, national ballet, dancing and theatre festivals are held. For events and current show
check local listings in La Nacion (the main local newspaper). Here is a list of the most popular theaters located in the
San Jose area:
The National Theatre: (Teatro Nacional)
Melico Salazar Theatre (Teatro Melico Salazar)
Teatro Eugene Oneal
Auditorio Nacional (located in El Museo de los Niños)
Teatro de la Comedia
Teatro Chaplin
Teatro Fanal (Located in the CENAC, old Liquor Factory
Teatro Lucho Barahona
Teatro 1887
Teatro Moliere
· FOOD AND DINING:
The following are the best restaurants in town, along with some hidden flavors usually unknown to foreigners…
Super Markets
Auto Mercado
Saretto
HiperMas
Perifericos
Mas x Menos
Fine Dining:
La Piazetta Taj Mahal
Jürgens Grano de Oro
Le Monastere Bacchus
Samurai Matsuri
Ichiban Fiji
Casa Luisa Il Ponte Vecchio
Barbeque Los Anonos La Parrillada Argentina
La Cascada La Casa de Doña Lela
Machu Pichu Inka Grill
Bakea Lubnan
Bohemia Le Chandelier
Cerutti Di Bartolo
Lunchtime Deli or Cafe
Spoon Bagelman’s
Grao Giacomin
Wallstreet Café Torino
News Café Te Con Te
Café del Artista Il Panino
Sale Pepe Il Pomodoro
La Fabrica Pan e Vino
· NIGHTLIFE:
The Following are some of the most popular bars and dancing (disco) places, they are constantly throwing parties and
varying the nightlife scene. For information on up and coming events, as well as other places to go please visit: www.la506.com .
Jazz Café: Located in San Pedro, it is a nice medium size lounge bar, where local and foreign musicians who play on weekly basis. They have a guest artist or event every Monday (MundoLoco), and great live shows on the weekends.
Café Expresivo: Located in Barrio Escalante, San Pedro, this is a lounge bar / coffee place/ restaurant.
Utopia and Living: In Lindora, about ten minutes from the Escazú area. Both of these disco-bars reside in the same commercial center. Not open 7 days a week, always on weekends and sometimes on weekdays depending on pending events.
Frankie Go: located in the "Trejos Montealegre" shopping center in Escazú. This bar is divided into two parts, an upstairs floor that plays techno music, and the ground floor that plays popular, dancing music.
Club Oh: Located in downtown San José , this is a popular gay club, open late night, with great music and live dj's.
La Esquina: Located in San Pedro, near downtown San José, this is locals bar, relaxed, laid back with a great music selection.
La Calle de la Amargura: long stretch of bars parallel to the University of Costa Rica in San Pedro. This street has a series of bars one after the other, popular both during the day and night time.
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