Weekend trip...2

March 22, 2012

Part 2

Well we got to San Jose and spent an hour or so finding our hotel and the Cannon store. San Jose is a very interesting city, it has no addresses, or at least no one uses the addresses they do have. They have a grid system that could make finding places fairly easy, if only they used it. Avenidas run east/west and calles run north/south. And then the evens are on one side of Central and the odds on the other side for both Avenidas and Calles. This means there are 4 zones just like those wonderful quadrants we learned in Algebra oh so many years ago. So our hotel was on Avenida 9 Calle 5y7, which means it is on Ave 9 somewhere between 5 and 7 in the northeast quadrant. The only problem is that there are no street signs. Once in a while a corner may have the name of the street up on a building, but that is very hit and miss. The traffic is crazy and most of the downtown streets are one way, so driving around looking for an address is almost impossible.

We parked in a lot and asked the attendant where we were and how to get to where we wanted to go. He did not even know the names of the corner where he was working. He knew the calle was 2 but was unsure as to the avenida on the other side of the lot. In fact another attendant came over and the two of them proceeded to argue about the number of the avenida. It was hilarious.

We went east out of the lot down the unknown avenida knowing that we at least needed to head in that direction. We finally saw a building with a sign on the corner but it only had the calle sign. We kept walking because we still knew we had not reached 5 yet. Then we came to a couple of policemen and Mike asked for our address from them. They actually knew where we were and gave us directions. We had 2 blocks to go north and 2 east. We got to Avenida 9 and Calle 5 and proceeded down the street to find the hotel. Now this was not what we would consider a hotel. It melted in with the other buildings, in fact I passed the building and then looked back before I was able to see the sign. There was a small gate on the street and then you went up some steps that ran parallel to the street. At the top there was a gate on an open door. We rang the bell and someone came and let us in.

The lady informed us that we were in the right place but the manager had stepped out and would be back in a few minutes. We looked around the downstairs and at the garden area where they served breakfast. The place was very quaint. It looked like it maybe had been a large house at one time and then chopped up into rooms. It had 2 stories and something on street level that we never saw. When Denis came back he got us registered and showed us our room upstairs. The room was small but it had a bed and private bathroom, so I was happy.

We then asked Denis for help to find the Cannon Store. He actually was able to print out a map and showed us how many streets we would have to walk south and west. We then left saying we would be back in awhile with our luggage, but we needed to get to the store before they closed at 1:00.

We only missed the store by one block but were able to remedy that rather quickly. We got to the right street but could not see a sign for the store. But when the traffic and buses moved we realized we were across the street from it. It is funny, from the outside it is very hard to tell one store from another, but once we stepped up and walked through the door it was obvious we were in a camera store.

We got David the new battery and headed back to the parking lot to get our luggage. We now felt like we had the layout of the city figured out and were able to find the truck with very little difficulty. Since Mike had to go in the general direction of the hotel to leave he said he would drive us over and drop us off nearby. We only had taken a rolling backpack and rolling computer bag, so that was no problem.

We go into the hotel and up to our room. David plugs in his new battery to charge and I unpack. David wanted to see if the battery would charge. It was a little before noon by this time. When we went downstairs, Denis offered us some coffee or tea. We both opt for tea and go and sit in the garden area and relax. We both loved the garden, it is on a hill with 3 or 4 tables scattered around. It is walled and has some beautiful plants and flowers and feels a hundred miles away from the big city.

Around 12:30 we go and check the battery and find out that what the recharger says and what the camera says when the battery is in it are two different things. We know that we have to hurry back to the store before it closes. So off we go again to the Cannon store.

End part 2