Grecia & Sarchi
Today we played tourist and made a quick trip out to Grecia and Sarchi with Mark, Denise and the other Jason & Jennifer. Jason and Jenn were super awesome and drove us around as we still can’t drive our car (post coming soon).
Grecia
The town of Grecia is about 30 minutes away from where we live in Belen and is known for its car dealerships, like all the other dealerships just more of them, and their metal church. We weren’t originally planning to stop in Grecia but since the road to Sarchi takes you right by the church we decided to make a 5 minute stop. Originally built in the late 19th century the entire church was made in Belgium and then shipped here in boxes. I’m glad we made the quick stop as the church is quite impressive and doesn’t even look like it’s made of metal from a distance, but upon close inspection you can see the rivets. Knocking on the side of the church will confirm it’s metal with a nice hollow metal sound.
Sarchi
We weren’t exactly sure how to find Sarchi with minimal street signs (common in Costa Rica) but while driving somewhat in the right direction on some windy mountain roads we eventually found it. We also found this giant ox cart in the middle of Sarchi in front of the church. Sarchi is the cart/artisan center of Costa Rica. If you’re in the mood for souvenirs or muebles (furniture) this is where you go. We found many souvenir shops selling almost exactly the same things, had a nice lunch overlooking a coffee plantation and even saw a couple pet squirrels.
Overall it was a great day trip and it sure was good to get out of the city for a few hours. Big thanks to Jenn and Jay for taking us. You can view some more pictures on my flickr page.