The Children's Museum

We tried to get up and out as early as possible, in an attempt to get to the Museum early. But by the time we got there, it was nearly 1 pm. Oh well! When you’re on vacation, it’s hard to make yourself get up early and rush to do anything. Especially in the land of pura vida (sort of Costa Rica’s version of Jamaica’s “No Problem, mon” attitude) and la hora latina (whatever time you expect something, add an hour for good measure).

Those that told us there was a lot to see at the museum were absolutely right. They don’t give you a map, which just adds to the feeling of “does this thing ever end?” There is a ton to see at the museum, and everything can be touched and handled by the children. We all had a great time and enjoyed the exhibits, even though almost all the exhibits were in Spanish. Maybe Sofia would have learned more if she could read all the explanations, but she still had a great time regardless. They had a section about the human body (Alex loved the farting machine), space and space travel, geography (cool earthquake machine), banana plantations, coffee production, aviation, art, technology, it just goes on and on. They also had a real helicopter that the kids could go inside and explore, as well as a train and an airplane cockpit. We ended the visit with the tilted room, a building where all the rooms are tilted and your sense of balance and perspective is challenged. They give you a guided tour of that section, and Sofia even got picked to help with a demonstration.

Here’s proof that Costa Rica is a small country. Cristina noticed a woman that looked familiar. She told me it looked just like a cousin that she hadn’t seen in years. Finally, the curiosity got the best of her and she got up the gumption to ask the woman if her last name was Gonzales. Sure enough, it was her cousin! They chatted for a few minutes and that was that.

We left around 5, totally exhausted even though we had been there for only 4 hours. One plan for getting home was to take a taxi to the San Jose central bus stop (called “the Coca-Cola”) and then take the Pavas bus home. But we were so tired, we paid a little bit extra for the taxi to take us all the way home. It was worth it.