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Clustered around the main entrance to La Coca-Cola, off C 16, shops selling women's underwear, cosmetics and luggage compete for space with a variety of cheap snack bars and drinks stalls. Two blocks south, however, the atmosphere changes, as Av Central turns into Paseo Colon , a wide boulevard of upmarket shops, restaurants and car dealerships. At the very end of the paseo , the solid expanse of green today known as Parque La Sabana was until the 1940s San Jose's airport, and is now home to the country's key art museum. The bright orange neocolonial edifice of the old air terminal in Parque la Sabana has been converted into the attractive Museo de Arte Costarricense (Tues-Sun 10am-4pm; $2), with a good collection of mainly twentieth-century Costa Rican paintings. The Salon Dorado upstairs is remarkable: four full walls of bas-relief wooden carvings overlaid with sumptuous gold, portraying somewhat idealized scenes of Costa Rica's history since pre-Columbian times. On the southwest corner of Parque La Sabana, across the road in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock complex, is the quirky natural science museum, the Museo de Ciencias Naturales La Salle (Mon-Fri 8am-3pm; US$1). Walk right in, and after about 400m you'll see the painted wall proclaiming the museum; the entrance is at the back. Displays range from pickled fish and snakes coiled in formaldehyde to some rather forlorn taxidermy exhibits - age and humidity have taken their toll. Sabana is also the best place in San Jose to jog . The cement track is usually full of serious runners in training, but you can run fairly safely all around the park. There's a small, dank changing hut, shower and lavatory beside the track, and you can leave your bag securely with the senora who takes the money (10am-4pm only).
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