http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress SleepInn San Jose Blog Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:17:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en When the Sleep Inn San José Downtown was first built, there had been no new hotels built in the central downtown area for about thirteen years. The Sleep Inn brought new hotel, restaurant and entertainment services to central San José, but it hoped to seamlessly fit itself into a charming ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/10/the-sleep-inn-hotel%e2%80%94old-meets-new/ When most people think of tropical fruit, they imagine ripeness—bright orange papayas, yellow pineapples, and deeply colored mangoes. Visitors to the tropics usually want their fruit sweet and juicy, not rock-hard and green. However, there is one Costa Rican fruit—mango—that is delicious long before it ripens. Costa Ricans young and ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/10/green-mangoes-are-great/ Although Costa Rican authors, like Carlos Luis Fallas, provide the kind of inside look at Costa Rica that only a native can (see “Literary Lessons” in this blog), there is something to be said for the viewpoint of a complete outsider to the country. Expatriates in a foreign land or ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/10/view-from-the-outside/ First-time visitors to Costa Rica often have the same impressions about the country. They agree that Costa Rica’s natural beauty is breathtaking. They say that the food is simple but very tasty. And they all comment on the friendliness of Costa Rica’s people. This last impression might seem an empty platitude, ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/09/sunny-dispositions/ Carlos Luis Fallas is one of Costa Rica’s best regarded authors. His life and his books touch upon some of the most important periods in Costa Rican history. His most famous books, Mamita Yunai and Marcos Ramírez, deal with the plight of Costa Rican agricultural workers and the lives of ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/09/literary-lessons/ Before there were cars and buses, paved roads and traffic lights, Costa Rica’s most common mode of transportation was the oxcart, or “carreta.” Dirt roads crisscrossed the countryside, winding through coffee farms and sugar cane plantations. Farmers loaded their goods onto wooden oxcarts to transport them to market. Oxcarts all looked ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/09/artwork-that-once-worked-hard/ The park district of San José has embarked on a serious program to restore and renew the green areas of the city. Under the auspices of this program, known as Socios Ambientales, or Environmental Partners, the city works together with individuals to protect nature in urban areas. The municipality has ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/09/keeping-the-city-green/ San José is poised for a major transformation. Like many cities in the United States, San José witnessed a significant economic and population shift in the eighties and early nineties, as city residents and businesses left San José for the new surrounding suburbs. The city economy suffered, and urban crime ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/09/san-jose-posible/ Some of the best items on Costa Rican restaurant menus are not actually food at all. They're drinks--the frescos naturales, or natural fruit drinks, that most restaurants serve. Frescos are different from pure juice, or jugo, because they contain sugar. When you order a fresco at a restaurant, you will ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/09/the-case-for-cas/ Costa Rica's escudo, or coat of arms, appears on the "tails" side of every Costa Rican coin and decorates the central red stripe of the official Costa Rican flag. The escudo is aesthetically attractive, and its various elements reveal some important facts about Costa Rican civics and geography. The three mountains ... http://www.sleepinnsanjose.com/wordpress/2008/09/a-pretty-little-lesson/