San José

Alarm went off at 6am and I was up ready to make the most of the day. I had had a better night’s sleep, though still feverish at times. I wasn’t confident my little bottle of elixir was doing much so wanted to try find something else. After a pretty average breakfast, I headed out to source different pharmaceuticals and see some sights.

I found another pharmacy downtown which looked a bit more the part than my previous experience and was greeted by an hombre in a white medical jacket. Good start. He even asked the right sort of questions, so I put my faith in his ability to sort me out. I showed him my little bottle of elixir and he confirmed what I had already worked out – it was only for the cough. An array of pharmaceuticals were produced and I managed to get it down to three different tablets which evidently all did something different. Where were Codral Night and Days when you needed them! In Costa Rica, you don’t buy whole packets of tablets, you pay by the pill. I decided to go with three days worth which cost me an eye-watering AUD30. When I think about doing Costa Rica on $10 a day, I wasn’t thinking about that being the cost of my medications!!

I went to a little cafeteria above one of the more upmarket supermarkets for coffee and something to eat so I could start my course of wallet-draining substances. While I was there, I took the opportunity to check out the prices of some things I would need to replace eventually during my stay here. I needed something stronger than coffee to get my head around some of the prices: AUD8.50 for the same brand of deodorant I use back home with the local offering not much cheaper. At least the beer was reasonably priced. Silver linings…

The two places I wanted to check out were close by, so I took a stroll through the throng to find the Teatro Nacional. This amazing theatre was built in 1897 and features all the European architectural features that were the rage of the day. Not a place to see with a hangover, as the gilt and ornate trimmings really are quite over the top. Still, it is very impressive. I took a tour with an enthusiastic señorita who effused about the many and varied aspects of the theatre. My favourite was the very expensively commissioned main painting on the ceiling in the main foyer which was painted by an Italian artist who clearly had never been to Costa Rica. Nor seen a banana. The artwork was to depict a local scene representing daily life of Costa Ricans. El Señor had coffee plantains alongside the beach and depicted an hombre carrying a bunch of bananas upside down. Wonder if his cheque cleared.

The second place I wanted to visit was right next door and situated in a very modern, high tech building. The Museo del Oro Precolombino is owned and curated by the Banco Central de Costa Rica. It’s actually an underground museum with the entrance below street level under the Plaza de la Cultura. You go down a wide, sweeping staircase to a gallery space, then further down to the Museo del Ora Precolombino. The collection features some pretty spectacular pieces and interpretation panels in Spanish and English give insight as to how they were used in pre-Colombian times. Back up at entrance level was an interesting exhibition on the development of Costa Rican currency.

I headed back to the hostel afterwards as I was starting to run out of steam. I’m hoping my super expensive meds will start to kick in so I can get over this lurgy sooner rather than later.