A Day in Grecia
The quaint town of Grecia, voted cleanest town in Latin America, is located to the north of us here in La Garita about 30 km away. It is nestled right in the heart of sugarcane plantations and the harvest is in full swing right now. Grecia has a beautiful central park, perfect for people watching or just a stroll through on a warm afternoon. Home to the only metal church in the Americas, Grecia is a pleasent place to visit or by all the real estate signs a place to move to also. We saw an advertisement for a 10,000 sq.m home for $1,100,000.00 Anyone interested, I can get you the phone number. Mind you the photo was impressive.
Grecia's streets are much wider than we have seen, pace of life a little slower and perhaps a more "modern" feel to the atmosphere. We arrived on the bus at lunch time so headed into the Central Market looking for lunch. It was very busy and every soda seemed full so we just stood there for a minute. We were directed to Soda Don Juan by a local so took his advice. Boy we were headed in the right direction. The tables inside were full so the owner, who spoke English, directed us to a couple of stools along the outside counter. We both ordered casado, mine with chicken, Rob's with fish and a couple of Coke Lights. The meal was awesome!! Flavourful and once again almost too much food. Rob did eat all his!! Best was when we went to pay. Total bill: c3100-$6.20 for both of us. We could not believe it and the owner said to Rob "yes we have good prices here". I think that will be our spot in Grecia.
We strolled through the market and looked for the washrooms. Upon seeing a sign for sanitation services we headed that way. On the lower level where the bathrooms with two lady attendants and a sign c150. Remember the days of putting a quarter in the bathroom door to unlock it, same idea here only it was for toilet paper and an extremely clean, well kept bathroom. Well worth the 30 cents and I even had enough paper to blow my nose! A real bargain, I thought.
We continued down the street and after a pleasant walk stopped at a really cute coffee shop. Sat by the open window and enjoyed a cup of "cafe con leche" and a piece of strawberry cheesecake. Rob had tea and a piece of lemon pie. Real filling, no packaged stuff. Very good. One thing we have noticed is that here in Costa Rica pastries and pastry shops are all over and the product is always excellent but not very sweet. Actually quite refreshing for a change.
After that we headed back to the bus and had another twisty, up and down trip back to Alajuela. What a nice way to spend a warm sunny afternoon. You should all try it at least once.
Grecia's streets are much wider than we have seen, pace of life a little slower and perhaps a more "modern" feel to the atmosphere. We arrived on the bus at lunch time so headed into the Central Market looking for lunch. It was very busy and every soda seemed full so we just stood there for a minute. We were directed to Soda Don Juan by a local so took his advice. Boy we were headed in the right direction. The tables inside were full so the owner, who spoke English, directed us to a couple of stools along the outside counter. We both ordered casado, mine with chicken, Rob's with fish and a couple of Coke Lights. The meal was awesome!! Flavourful and once again almost too much food. Rob did eat all his!! Best was when we went to pay. Total bill: c3100-$6.20 for both of us. We could not believe it and the owner said to Rob "yes we have good prices here". I think that will be our spot in Grecia.
We strolled through the market and looked for the washrooms. Upon seeing a sign for sanitation services we headed that way. On the lower level where the bathrooms with two lady attendants and a sign c150. Remember the days of putting a quarter in the bathroom door to unlock it, same idea here only it was for toilet paper and an extremely clean, well kept bathroom. Well worth the 30 cents and I even had enough paper to blow my nose! A real bargain, I thought.
We continued down the street and after a pleasant walk stopped at a really cute coffee shop. Sat by the open window and enjoyed a cup of "cafe con leche" and a piece of strawberry cheesecake. Rob had tea and a piece of lemon pie. Real filling, no packaged stuff. Very good. One thing we have noticed is that here in Costa Rica pastries and pastry shops are all over and the product is always excellent but not very sweet. Actually quite refreshing for a change.
After that we headed back to the bus and had another twisty, up and down trip back to Alajuela. What a nice way to spend a warm sunny afternoon. You should all try it at least once.
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