July 28: San José: National Theater and National Museum of Costa Rica

Dear Friends and Relatives,

This morning, after a breakfast of toast topped with guayaba jam, yogurt and coffee, we traveled about an hour to San José, found a public car park, and then set off on foot for a tour of the National Theater, located in the heart of downtown and considered the most beautiful building in Costa Rica.  Opened in 1897, it is a scale replica of the Opéra Comique in Paris, reflecting 19th c. Costa Rica's obsession with all things French.  The opulent interior is decorated with Italian marble and Costa Rican tropical hardwoods.  

The idea for a grand national theater was born in 1888, after a powerful earthquake destroyed San José's previous theater.  Although plans were quickly drawn up, construction was delayed until the Italian opera star Adelina Patti, touring Central America, refused to visit Costa Rica because it lacked a suitable venue.  The Costa Rican government was stung and implemented a special coffee export tax to pay for its construction, which cost about a million dollars at the time.  At the time, San José was a city of dirt roads, and shortly after the National Theater opened for the first time, a foreign visitor labeled it a "jewel in a mudhole."

After an extensive tour of the performance hall (the entire orchestra floor can be lowered or raised!), the foyer, and the upper reception space, we had lunch in a café on the first floor.  I had a fine salad of salmon, avocado, beets, shredded carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, and chayotes, and Alexandra had a caprese sandwich.  Federico had vegetarian lasagna.

From lunch we walked about six blocks to the National Museum of Costa Rica, located in the Bellavista Fortress, a former army barracks that was converted to a museum after the army was abolished in 1948.  It features an impressive collection of archaeological artifacts (in one section we saw a table and a coffin lid cover belonging to the site we had visited yesterday); a butterfly garden; a pre-Columbian collection of gold artifacts  and an exhibit concerning the army's occupation of the Bellavista Fortress, now part of the museum.  

After that tour we walked back to the car, stopping along the way to allow Alexandra to weave through a market for souvenirs.  She settled on a wooden tapir for one of her friends.  

Driving home was a bit of a mess, as we were approaching rush hour, but we weaved in and out of traffic (at least Federico did, without, seemingly, being at all concerned that at times we were literally inches from certain death!!!).  And now he has gone to take a well-deserved nap, while Alexandra has just cracked a coconut and is shredding it to put on her oatmeal tomorrow.  We are enjoying some serrano ham and crackers together, and will start packing soon, as we leave tomorrow for the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and then our final stop, the Finca Paraíso, which is 8 km from the airport and where we will say goodbye to Federico as we spend our last evening there.  It will be hard to leave this Eden!  As ever, Sylvia and Alexandra

Sylvia M. Venable, PhD

Instructor, German

St. John's Episcopal School

Dallas, Texas