Our first stop was Sarchi Village where we visited the Joaquin Chaverri Oxcart factory founded in 1902. We learned the role of oxcarts in the agriculture trade of Costa Rica. Before the railroad, the only way crops got to market was via oxcarts. While oxcarts are no longer used for agriculture, the painters are still active creating furniture, souvenirs and decorative items.
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| Wheels thru the years |
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The grounds of the factory were full of beautiful flowers and historic carts.
The phrase "Off the wagon" originated in Costa Rica ..... OK, everyone has a version of the wagon story ... just Google it! The Costa Rican version is that the farmers, after selling their coffee, etc. would get drunk and end up in their wagon until they woke up and made their way home to their families.
In Grecia, one of the cleanest cities in Costa Rica, we saw the Cathedral de la Mercedes. This is a Gothic style church made from metal pieces that were imported from Belgium in 1892. The church was built with metal because a previous church had been destroyed by an earthquake. The church is painted red to keep the metal from corroding.
We then had lunch at Villa Hermosa Restaurant where we were treated to live music and a beautiful walk thru their gardens.
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| Cafe Brit Factory |
Our next stop was the coffee factory Cafe Britt. We learned how coffee is cultivated, harvested and made into the coffee we drink. (At the end of our trip Bill said several times "I never had a bad cup of coffee in Costa Rica!" We toured the factory and were entertained by very funny Cafe Britt tour actors.
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| Coffee Beans |
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| Packaging |
Another interesting find at Cafe Britt was the display of masks worn at the "Barva Masquerades" which commemorate special events such as Patron Saints celebrations.
Later we arrived in San Jose to check into our hotel the Real Intercontinental.
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