Saturday Walk....

Hola!  Saturday here in Cuidad Colon means one thing...  Market Day!  We have just over one week left here in Costa Rica and have plans to be on an overnight excursion one day next week, so we really didn't need much from the market.  We still have rice, beans, onions, garlic and some other staples to use and I'm already thinking of menus to use that stuff before we go.


But market day to us is more than just buying fresh veggies and fruits and stuff.  It's a social thing.  I guess that comes from those 18 years that we were vendors at our local Farmers's Market in Ohio...  you become a people watcher as well as a "food critic".  So no matter where we are, we try to visit the local markets...  it's great to be able to buy local as well at eat local.


We headed out towards the road around 8:00.  Heard a rustling noise in the trees above us and looked up to see 2...  maybe 3...  Gray-headed chachalacas.

If you've been in south Texas, you've probably seen a chachalaca... these are in the same family...  just slightly different species.


It's a nice walk to town...  takes us about 15 minutes.  The first half of the walk is along a dirt road that is residentual...  although the houses aren't really close together.  There seems to be a broad scale of economic well-being...  some really run-down houses and a few that are gated estates.


But the view along that part of the walk is really nice...

It overlooks the valley...  this is looking over towards the town of Rodeo. 

As you round the curve, about half way to town there is a huge cemetery.  The day I stopped to take pictures there the battery in my camera died...  (hmmm...  ) I haven't stopped since...  need to before we leave.

Just outside the cemetery is the soccer field...

Seems like Saturday mornings are the time to play soccer...

or futbol, as it is called here.

It's a downhill walk from here to the main plaza in town.  And in the main plaza is the market...

I pretty much covered the market in my blog last week.  Today we visited some with Debra, who sells baked goods, and looked at all the things for sale.

The only thing we needed was cheese...

This cheese is probably made from cow's milk, but I think it is "fresh" cheese...  (as opposed to aged).  Bill & I had a dairy goat farm and sold goat cheese for years, and we sold "fresh" cheese.  I don't know what kind of culture is used here...  but do know that this cheese doesn't melt...  It is actually quite good, but kind of bland in taste...  queso blanco

We always sit in the plaza and "people watch" for a while.  This morning we watched people go in this building...

Looks like the Cultural Center to me...  so we wandered in...

There was an office with someone working, but the other rooms were more interesting...

In one room a young boy was practicing piano...

In another (large) room..

these little girls were taking a dance lesson...

The building had several rooms...  most of the doors were closed.  But it also had a courtyard..

All kinds of plants were growing there.  There was also a fountain which was maybe 4' high.  Really lovely...

We had gone in the main entrance, but there is another entrance from the side street...

Another enclosed garden and sculpture..

The sculpture is..

(In English this Says...)

100th Anniversary of the City of Mora

In Memory of the Chiefs

Coquiba, Cho, and Torapo

The indomitable spirit of their struggles is an inspiring message every day, the overcoming of our people.

Sculpture and Message

Antonio Ciardono

By now it's time to head home...  and so we head up the hill, back to our place

 This tree is huge...  I don't know what kind it is, but it drops these pods of nuts...

These lay all over the road...  they are actually quite interesting...  I know that if/when we come back here again I'm going to be armed with some field guides!!!

We started out our walk seeing the chachalacas...  as we headed home we looked up at a different tree...

Sure a lot of chattering going on...

A flock of Crimson-fronted parakeets were eating the nuts in this tree.  

These are big birds...  11"

 Something scared them and they all took off in a rush... There must have been 2 dozen of them in all.

We always have an interesting time on our daily walk to town.  I guess I better stop in that cemetery to get my pictures before our time here comes to an end!

That's All For Today....