“But you can’t walk in the streets like this”. Right in the beginning of our tour Yvonne tells us that we should rather carry our bags with the openings inside. You have to open three clasps to reach inside my bag, but “our pocket-pickers are very creative” replies Yvonne.

In the pedestrian street of Avenida Central it is very crowded. Although it is now, at noon, more secure than when it is less crowded. Because just few live here in the city and most of the people come to the centre to work or to go shopping. At the late evening, however, it is said that there would be no one around here. Unfortunately this would increase the risk to be robbed. But for this we do not need to fly to Costa Rica.

After we have passed the Cultural square, we come to two of the few preserved classical buildings. In the nineteenth century these were common in the city. At the starting of the coffee boom they thought that other designs were nicer and replaced the buildings with simple structures. The last buildings are now preserved.

A little later Yvonne led us to the monument of Juan Santamarias. He became a hero as William Walker attacked Costa Rica with his private army to establish slavery and to sell the country to the United States. After the first assault has been repulsed, the enemy troops fortified themselves in a wooden fort. Santamaria set fire to it.

We go along Calle 3 to Avenida 2 and straight on to the cathedral. Unfortunately there is a church service. This is why there aren’t any pictures from inside the cathedral. But this is not that bad, as most churches look similar anyway.

We go on and reach the Parque Central in the west of the cathedral. It has once been the main place of the colonial San Jose. Today there is a music pavilion, which was a present from Nicaragua’s former dictator to Costa Rica.

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