San Jose
Well I went out for a bit of a walk, San Jose feels much as you would imagine a Central American metropolis to feel a few grand buildings, a few colonial houses and a lot of rather run down concrete edifices. Even though it's Sunday, many places are open and I managed to score a "Let's Go" guide book. The centre is packed full of people of all manner of skin tones, most seeming friendly, the sky is very impressive, deep blue with big fluffy clouds and although the city is over 1000m above sea level you can see the mountains on either side of it. American fast food joints seem to be taking over from the smaller eateries, which is a shame. The sense of life is incredible from the birds that sing almost everywhere to the lush grass along the sides of the roads surrounding the rubbish bags awaiting collection, or biodegradation. I stumbled on a little fiesta outside the Museum of pre-Colombian gold with a brass band and much costumed dancing. Rather shamefully I went into Taco Bell and had a burrito. I am a Mexican food addict and since leaving San Diego some fifteen years ago I can't pass up the opportunity to eat it, even though it is almost invariably disappointing.

I just went outside, I thought there was a a monster truck revving contest outside my room, it's raining, raining hard, but that is par for the course this time of year, Costa Rica only has two seasons, a dry one and a wet one. It's warm more or less all year round, in the wet one it just rains once or twice per day but the dramatic skies and the plant growth have to be worth it.

Taxi drivers seem to be friendly if a little unaware of where they are, but charge according to their meters.

I forgot to pack my PC microphone so I'm having to use my mobile instead of Skype which is going to cost me a packet, I have to get one soon, together with a proper mouse, I don't like the laptop touch pads. Electronics-wise I am relatively well sorted though. I have a bunch of DVDs here and a few XVIDs on the PC together with my iPod and an Altec Lansing 'inMotion' which is a docking station for an iPod that charges it and has speakers, as I speak I'm listening to ColdPlay's X&Y album.

After my walk to Sabanas park and taxi back I felt a little peckish, the hotel restaurant is closed until 6pm so the concierge called a Chinese place which has delivered a rather large pot of chicken curry and rice for the princely sum of about ÂŁ2.50. Although definitely pleb food, I'm enjoying it, it's rather spicy and that makes a pleasant change from the insipid baby-sick curry that the Chinese restaurants in Spain serve up to the chile-phobic jamon munchers of Andalucia.

Cut scene to a bar in La Linea translated for your convenience:

J: Hola Pedro
P: Hola Jason, where have you been
J: I've just had a little tapas
P: What did you have
J: Nothing special, Cheese, Jamon
P: (in shock and admiration gasps) Jamon, great, I love jamon, our jamon here is great, a celebration?
J: No Pedro, it's just jamon, like we both eat every single day, it's not special unless you buy it in England where you have to remortgage your flat to buy a presliced, prepacked, 100 gram, plastic wrapped packet of the stuff, here it is thoroughly ordinary and besides which there are only four things on the menu.

I have heard of a pub where they brew their own beer, I intend to search it out, more news on this great quest later.