We were able to sleep in a little late this morning and I got up around 10am. At 11:30am we were to meet near the Central Market area for the Airbnb Experience of Sights and Bites Walking San Jose Experience. The weather was cloudy but warm with a breeze and it looked as though it might rain (it never did). We caught a Didi to our meeting location and met up with 6 more people for the tour. Our guide Oscar told us that we would be a big group today so there was a co-host Daniel along with him. Because half the party was missing by the appointed time Oscar told those of us that were there to go with Daniel and he would wait for the others.

     Daniel gathered us all as we told where we were from (Canada and France were present in our group-the other group had Texas and New York). We walked along the streets and avenues and learned that streets go north to south and avenues go east and west. Daniel took us to the Farmer’s Market in the basement area. Upon entering there’s no way we would’ve spotted it on our own but it was amazing. Walking down and through the market we saw the freshest of fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs and etc. Now this is the place you’d want to go grocery shopping for these things.

     We then went in an upstairs portion where we were able to wash our hands as Daniel cut up and gave us different fruits. Some of the things we tried included pineapple, goldenberry, lychee, star fruit, water apple, watermelon and Costa Rican guava aka cas (the only thing I didn’t care for was the water apple). It was explained that Costa Rica grows 85% of the fruit that’s consumed here. While snacking on everything, Oscar and the rest of the group joined us and Oscar informed us that Daniel would need to leave due to a family emergency and that he would take over for the entire group. We wished Daniel and his family well as he left.

     Oscar continued on with the tasting and ended by giving everyone fresh coconut water. We walked around in the Central Market and was reminded that sodas are the best place to get some authentic Costa Rican food. We stopped at a stand where ice cream was sold and the stand only sells one flavor but it’s a mix that we got to try. The ice cream is composed of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and hibiscus and it was quite yummy. The texture was that of soft served mix with sherbert. 

     We walked around the area and over to the Plaza de la Cultura. Another stop by the National Theatre so my mom and I stayed outside and waited for the group. Afterwards we headed to a cute coffee shop called Mr. Sloth Coffee.  Upstairs was a seating area with a few treats prepared for us. We had a vegan ceviche with chips, a drink that contained Sugarcane, ginger and lemon. A pork tamale was prepared for us wrapped in plantain leaves and it was delicious. Oscar brewed us some coffee and we all got a chance to make our own cheese plaintain empanada.

     That concluded our tour for the day and afterwards my mom and I went to check out the Artisan Market to see if we could find something unique that we hadn’t seen in the Central Market. My mom got a bit of shopping done here as I looked around and would go back to check in on her browsing. Afterwards I went back to the Colombian soda to get some of the chicken, potato and corn filled pastries to go and stopped by a bakery on the way to get a piece of cake. 

     We found a grocery store nearby and stocked up on a couple of things and then went and got food from a Soda in Central Market to take home. Lastly, I wanted to try some KFC fries so we got that before hopping in a Didi and heading back in. I thought we’d manage to get in earlier than yesterday and we did a little bit. We ate our food from the soda which was good while watching a movie. It’s early still to me (10:12pm) as I finish this recap but I am crazy sleepy. Tomorrow is our last full day tomorrow and it involves more food and drinks (and the meeting place is the exact same as today’s).