Sadly, the cities thus far in Central America don’t offer much to write home about. Though I’m sure the rustic beauty of the protected reserves is truly amazing, areas where man wields influence generally degrade in appeal. Today I walked downtown San Jose for a few hours – really uninspiring. The central market did offer a bit of color, but aside from that the banal reared its ugly head everywhere. McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, KFC, Payless Shoe Source are everywhere… it’s like one never left. I’m not sure what it is about Latin American culture that clings so readily to fast food, surely a papaya salad would be better! Failing to find anything interesting, I returned to the hostel to sit in a hammock by the pool to read and plan ahead.
If beauty isn’t available, one has to shift perspective and look elsewhere. At evening I went to restaurant area and was enthralled by a lamp. Really. This was the most beautiful thing I saw all day.
