Market tour

This morning I had breakfast at the hotel's restaurant and it was pretty good. Then I walked around the area, found a supermarket, Mas X Menos (WalMart) and bought sunscreen and Immodium (different brand).

Then I hung out at the pool. The water was cold, at least compared to the ocean at Montezuma!

I walked to the bank where the market walking tour was to start.  A young woman from Boston and I were quite early and, seeking shade, we were told by the bank's security guard that we couldn't sit on the steps. The art in front of the bank was called Los Presentes and seems to be a secret in San José. It represents the founders of the capitol, hard working men and one woman.

"The work personifies the typical inhabitants of the Central Valley, in danger of disappearing due to modernization; paradoxically, they are represented as firm, immutable, static and in silent rebellion against changes."

Daniel showed up right on time and took us on a tour of the Mercado Central. It was fun! He was a great guide and "muy guapo" also! There were two women from Maryland, a mother and daughter from D.C., and a young woman from Boston.

We tried cinnamon sorbet, ceviche with green bananas, rambutan (like lychee), watermelon, mango papa, a fruit that looked like a pear but wasn't, called waterapple or manzana de agua,  a lemon that was more like an orange, delicious organic pineapple, jocotes (Rosalie has them growing near her house), and other fruit.

Rita had a cas tree in her backyard but I didn't see them in the farmers market, or didn't recognize them. She made a wonderful juice which is a very common drink in Costa Rica. She gave Rosalie a bag of them but Rosalie's juice wasn't nearly as good as Rita's!

Then we went to their store called Mr. Sloth's coffee store and had hot chocolate, a fabulous drink with ginger and lemon and cane sugar melted into a syrup (called agua de sapo or frog water!), and a coffee talk and sample of coffee. We also had a tamale with pork and each of us made an empanada with plantain and cheese. Muy rico, todo!

Olivia had never had ceviche nor lychees nor tamales! 

The herbal store in the market. It had an herb that Rita says is very good for digestive problems but how would I make it without a kitchen?

The store where they make the delicious sorbet with cinnamon in the oldest market in Costa Rica

Olivia and Tina (who is there with her daughter to celebrate her 60th) make empanadas while Daniel oversees the cooking and "Mr Sloth" makes hot chocolate from chocolate nibs

Daniel shows us the ripe jocotes. He said they are much loved by women in Costa Rica (but no expats like them, according to Rosalie).

Olivia and I fondle the sculpture for good luck (I think) which is by an artist named Manuel Vargas and is called "La Chola de la Avenida."

https://ticotimes.net/2007/04/20/sculptor-manuel-vargas-big-is-beautiful

Fruit in Costa Rica:

True Costa Rican fruits are cas, guava, and some types of avocados. Other fruit such as granadilla, dragonfruit, guanabana, nance, sapote, and papaya can be found all over Central America.

https://www.puravidamoms.com/costa-rican-fruit/

I encountered anti-Nicaraguan graffiti on my walk to the tour ("cochones" is like "maricones", anti-homosexual terms), showing stress about immigrants in Costa Rica, though Venezuelans begging are more visible.