You saw our pretty new black and green sign. Think that's enough to find us?
Sorry. It's not. I'm sure you're thinking, "I'll just tell the taxi driver the address and he'll find it on a map." First let's pretend the taxi drivers aren't crooked and won't try to rip you off. Here's the address you will give them to find us:
"100 meters west of Roosevelt School..."
"A large white house on the corner with a black sign and flags..."
No, this isn't 1864. Costa Rica still uses cardinal points and landmarks instead of real numbers and street names. Take a quick walk around San Jose and you notice city maintenance forgot to put numbers on the buildings and only put up about half of the street signs. Several years ago, there was a national vote to implement addresses, and the people actually voted it down.
Here's a brief sampling of real "addresses" in San Jose in increasing order of difficulty (with links):
1. Skating Rink San Pedro: 50 meters east of the Hispanic Fountain
2. National Theater: 2nd Avenue between 3rd Street & 5th Street
3. Hotel Del Rey: 1st Avenue & 9th Street, 1 block southeast of Parque Morazan
4. Soda Tapia: East Sabana 42nd Street, 2nd & 4th Avenue in front of Colegio Luis Dobles Segreda
5. Costa Rica Language Academy: Barrio Dent from Autos Subaru, 300 meters north and 50 meters west on Ronda Street.
I won't bother with the pop quiz because I know you'll fail it. Finding your way around San Jose gets more complicated due the fact that traffic is atrocious and crossing the street requires balls of steel and a little luck:
This was mostly filmed at the rotunda in front of Mall San Pedro close to Castle Tam. I had to brave this crossing in order to find the previously mentioned Costa Rican Language Academy, where one of our guests is studying Spanish. Between this and the novel-worthy directions, a 10 minute walk turned into a 1/2 hour voyage of twists and turns and near-death driveby collisions.
The positive part of this long search for the Costa Rica Language Academy was the discovery of one of the illusive street signs that lay hidden in San Jose like pirate's treasure. The search continues...
Sorry. It's not. I'm sure you're thinking, "I'll just tell the taxi driver the address and he'll find it on a map." First let's pretend the taxi drivers aren't crooked and won't try to rip you off. Here's the address you will give them to find us:
 |
| Costa Rica "Street Sign" |
"A large white house on the corner with a black sign and flags..."
No, this isn't 1864. Costa Rica still uses cardinal points and landmarks instead of real numbers and street names. Take a quick walk around San Jose and you notice city maintenance forgot to put numbers on the buildings and only put up about half of the street signs. Several years ago, there was a national vote to implement addresses, and the people actually voted it down.
Here's a brief sampling of real "addresses" in San Jose in increasing order of difficulty (with links):
1. Skating Rink San Pedro: 50 meters east of the Hispanic Fountain
2. National Theater: 2nd Avenue between 3rd Street & 5th Street
3. Hotel Del Rey: 1st Avenue & 9th Street, 1 block southeast of Parque Morazan
4. Soda Tapia: East Sabana 42nd Street, 2nd & 4th Avenue in front of Colegio Luis Dobles Segreda
5. Costa Rica Language Academy: Barrio Dent from Autos Subaru, 300 meters north and 50 meters west on Ronda Street.
I won't bother with the pop quiz because I know you'll fail it. Finding your way around San Jose gets more complicated due the fact that traffic is atrocious and crossing the street requires balls of steel and a little luck:
This was mostly filmed at the rotunda in front of Mall San Pedro close to Castle Tam. I had to brave this crossing in order to find the previously mentioned Costa Rican Language Academy, where one of our guests is studying Spanish. Between this and the novel-worthy directions, a 10 minute walk turned into a 1/2 hour voyage of twists and turns and near-death driveby collisions.
The positive part of this long search for the Costa Rica Language Academy was the discovery of one of the illusive street signs that lay hidden in San Jose like pirate's treasure. The search continues...
Note: As of 2013 another effort to install road signs has begun. Let me know if you see them. Foreigners will probably use the signs, but locals will continue to resort to the old system of landmarks and cardinal points.
No comments:
Post a Comment