I feel bad that I judged a book by its cover. Or in this case, judged a city by the comments that I’ve heard over the past few years.
San Jose, you were exactly what I needed.
We had spent so much time in small towns, I forgot what it was like to be in a bustling city. Sure, San Jose only has 300k people in it but it is lively as all hell.
Never once did I feel threatened walking down the streets.
Have I become a seasoned traveler? Sure, I grasp my bags to my body, and sure, Shaun has a pocket with buttons for his wallet. Pickpockets? No one came even remotely near us.
Children hand fed softly cooing pigeons while church bells echoed through Plaza de la Cultura.
Music floated through the air.
Dare I say it?
I liked San Jose.
San Jose, I got you all wrong. Forgive me.
Yeah, there is definitely too much of the whole “oh, this city is like this or that” going around sometimes. There is only way to find out, right? Go there! Glad you liked it.
We’ve never met anyone who enjoyed San Jose, so I am quite surprised to read you actually enjoyed the city! We really tried to like it, our local Costa Rican hosts took us on a big tour around town, but we just didn’t connect with the city.
@Scott: Yeah, I’m glad I gave it a chance. I think that I’ve tried to do that a lot more in our travels for sure. I think it just was a really nice break from the smaller towns.
@GTG: It is not my favorite city but I think after spending so much time in small itty bitty towns, it was refreshing. I just needed to be around city folk for a bit.
We, too, were surprised by how much we enjoyed San Jose.
Your the 1st person that has said something positive about SJ, yay!!!
That’s how I felt about Madrid. I heard such bad things, but then I got there, and I fell in LOVE. LOVE. So glad San Jose was a good experience!!
Yay! I like San Jose too!! We were there years ago (2005ish…?) and San Jose was almost a relief for me. Our trip to Costa Rica was so outdoorsy and I’m such a city girl that San Jose was where I felt most comfortable…haha. Stayed there 3 times during that trip and have absolutely no complaints (though I heard plenty of them).
I love when this happens! Good to hear you had a wonderful time exploring the ‘big’ city.
And this is why I’ll visit just about anywhere at least once! It’s not that I ignore or discount things people say about certain destinations. It’s just that I like to make the judgments for myself whenever possible!
Glad to hear you were pleasantly surprised by San Jose. That’s always a nice feeling to have when you’re traveling. Definitely better than being disappointed!
I’m glad you two are enjoying San Jose, especially since it seems to have a bad rap. Plus, I love the photos you took!! You have a great eye for photography!
@Kent: Everyone I talked to despised it!
@Andi: Weird isn’t it?
@D: I didn’t mind Madrid and people WERE asking why the hell we chose to spend two weeks there. San Jose wasn’t where I would want to live for my life but it was definitely what we needed.
@Ashley: We need a club or something since we’re few and far between. It was nice to have a hot shower too lol.
@Debbie: We did – I would suggest no more than 2 days. We ran out of things to do!
@Amanda: I’ve learned to set my expectations low so when I’m pleasantly surprised it rocks my socks off (sadly it is sometimes the best way to approach things).
@Patricia: Thanks! It was really rainy the entire time we were there so the whole city had this gray look to it. I thought it fitting.
Beautiful black and white photos that you captured on San Jose. It did reminded me a little bit of old san juan. The busy city with beautiful old building. And yesh you’re super seasoned traveler now. 🙂
@Sarah: It was so overcast that I thought it was a perfect mix. I had no clue how “European” the city is.
Love your B&W shots here — especially the kids 🙂
@Heather: Thanks! I loved watching the kids involved with the birds. I wish I would have caught more.