Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Old cities, traditional pottery and great food
In Santa Cruz Some people can head to a resort and just sit on the beach for a week. They are happy to enjoy the sun and sand. But they learn nothing about the country they visit. That is not how I or The Amazing Ms. D travel. So, during our visit to Costa Rica, we hired a driver to give us a private tour of some of the local towns in Guanacaste Provence. We wanted to have a chance to explore a little of the lives of Costa Ricans, or as they call themselves, Ticos. Our guide picked us up on a Saturday morning, and we headed for our first stop, the city of Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz if the second largest city in Guanacaste. It has a population of around 25,000 people. The city reminded me of many towns in Central America and the Caribbean that have roots in the Spanish colonial era. Its narrow streets are lined with low buildings, with awnings and balconies that provide shade for the people walking below. We parked near the Bernabela Ramos Park, one of the town’s main squ...