Arrival
Arriving in San Jose is relatively stress-free: all the machinery to get you into town is well oiled and there is less opportunistic theft than at other Central American arrival points. San Jose's compact, frenzied city centre is contained within about fifteen blocks running east-west, and four blocks north-south. To the west, the main approach is the four-lane Paseo Colon , lined with car-rental agencies, upscale hotels, and office buildings. The centre of town is bisected by the largely pedestrianized Avenida Central , a very pleasant place to stroll, while most commercial activity is concentrated in the streets between Avenida Central and Avenida 7. The nondescript Plaza de la Cultura is considered to be the centre of town. Near the post office, in the streets immediately west of Calle 2 is the frantic and sometimes insalubrious Mercado Central area, four blocks west of which is the Coca Cola bus station . The centre is subdivided into little neighbourhoods (barrios) that flow seamlessly in and out of one another: Barrios Amon and Otoya , in the north, are the prettiest, lined with the genteel mansions of former coffee barons, while further outtoward San Pedro, La California, Escalante and Los Yoses are home to comfortable houses, the odd embassy and the Toruma youth hostel. Further east, Avenida Central widens, heading out to the studenty suburb of San Pedro, home of the cool, leafy campus of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), one of the finest in Central America. The three or four square blocks surrounding the university are lined with some of the liveliest bars and restaurants in San Jose, though in most of them you'll feel more comfortable if you're under thirty. Many of San Jose's residents live in the suburbs surrounding the city - many shopping malls and embassies are located in the eastern suburb of Curridabat and nearby Escazu , a mountain town to the north and west of San Jose.
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