Saturday… let us go to Heredia

Heredia is the nearest place that is more “towny” than “our” Santo Domingo. Charo explains to us that the bus station is close to Macdonalds, 100m away from their home. As soon as we arrive at the bus station, the bus comes around the corner. 15 minutes later we are in the middle of a vibrant town that is about to wake up. It is a university city that has kept its colonial center.

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Walking towards the Parque Central

The Calle Central takes us uphill. The shoe shops and some dress shops are already open, and I have to be careful not to start emptying these inviting shops… Their choice is excellent. We reach the welcoming Parque Central with its music pavillon.

The Basilica de la Immaculata Concepción from 1797. The sun stands behind the basilica right now.

The walls are fortified and the church has withstood all earthquakes so far.

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Inside the old church with Jesús in the grave

The church is simple inside with white columns. I like to be in churches that are not too much adorned.

Near the choir, a statue of Jeús rests in his grave.

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Some impressions from the Parque Central and around

The central square is a vivid place with stone benches that invite to sit down and have a chat.

There is the Fortín, a tower that cannot be visited. We read that it is not safe.

La Casa Cultural is an old colonial style house, now closed.

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Inviting fruit, vegetable and meat stands in the mercado

We keep on trying to remember the names for the tropical vegetables and fruits such as guyaba, maracuya or marañon.

There are also food stands, but we decide to try one of the restaurants in the city. We end up in the China-Japanese Principe and have a Sushi meal with noodles. This makes a change to the everyday rice you get at Costa Rica.

We top the excursion with an Italian ice cream sold by the Gelaterio Golosa… the Costa Rican fruit flavors are enticing – I have a green cas ball and we eat our ice creams in another shady park, the Parque del Carmen in front of the namsake church el Carmen.

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Back to Santo Domingo in 15 minutes

In the early afternoon we take the bus back to Santo Domingo, hop out in front of MacDonalds and two minutes later we have reached our Costa Rican hone. We enjoyed to see Heredia, but we are happy that we have decided to stay in Santo Domingo to learn Spanish. It is more relaxed, and everyone greets us with a friendly smile in the streets.