avendia

today's been a great day. the weather was super. it didn't rain at
all, and the sky was clear so we were able to see the mountains around
the city.

as we headed out this morning, i felt a lot more confident than
yesterday because we knew the city better and had a better idea of how
the day would unfold. we grabbed breakfast at a bakery, then went to
the costa rica national museum. it was amazing, we walked into the
first room to find it was a butterfly sanctuary. the blue butterflies
were so beautiful, and they flew around so quickly that it was hard to
get a picture of them. there was also a live band playing and a number
of other exhibits with both past and current history.

we ate a delicious rice and chicken lunch at a little restaurant
outside the museum. we found that there were more gringos (white
people) there than anywhere else we'd been - aside from the
handicrafts market. it's a little awkward seeing other gringos.

our hostel is pretty good, except people smoke in the bar and the
smell spreads thru the rest of the place. i don't like that very much.
our room is pretty little, about 6x8, which is ok, but feels a little
like being in a tent. there are two little resident dogs who live
here. one who has taken quite a liking to us. i've named him tramp,
because of his resemblance to the dog in lady and the tramp :p

i'm looking forward to our next hostel where we'll have our own little
cabin by the ocean. i think in general i'm looking forward to the
coastal leg of our journey. san jose has been fun too, i think we'll
find it's very different to the other places we visit.