We slept in until after 9am then decided to get out and go do something. It was a clear pretty day, so we decided to explore our little mountain. We still had yet to figure out how to drive up to the top. We took narrow winding roads up the hill and discovered a bunch of small farms and of course a couple of churches.
After that quick trip we decided we still had a lot of day left and steered toward Cartago. Cartago is a city about and hour or so from Escazu and is famous for La Negrita which is the Black Madonna. We knew of the tale vaguely, but not thoroughly enough to be sure if it was related to Cartago or one of the many other cities that were listed in the guide book. I thought Cartago was famous for a red metal church, but Brian was pretty sure Grecia had the famous red church.
Once we arrived we indeed found a red church, and several other churches of various colors shapes and sizes.
They had their doors open and were ready for business. We walked through one church because it had a La Negrita poster in front of it. Which reminded me of the myth, and hence why Cartago was a familiar name. I looked all over that cathedral, avoiding the kneeling, hand gestures, and in holy water-- signaling to the pious my profound wickedness. The church had many varieties of Jesus. They had dead Jesus, baby Jesus, mistreated Jesus, and others. Life sized.
But no, La Negrita. I found out later that she was in another church in town.
Here is an image I took off the web of La Negrita.
Any who, we had a good time in town. Walked around and noticed that there were panaderias on every corner and they smelled amazing. So, naturally we went to one and I purchased a delicious donut filled with yellow pudding and covered in chocolate.
We found an open aired market and it was attached to a covered market that had a very "what life might be like if we all moved underground" feel to it.
I have been experimenting with different features in the camera. Some of these pictures will be examples of my playing around.
I found a neat old place and took some pictures of the door and window. I can just kick myself for not taking a single one in color.
We stumbled upon some ruins in town. They are of a church that was destroyed during an earthquake. each time they tried to rebuild it was destroyed again by an earthquake. So, they just left it this way.
Costa Rican free range road perro in the ruins.
A cute little girl that was getting a drink of water and turned just as I snapped the picture.
This was just parked out on the street. Notice the car seat in the back.
Then we headed home full of sugary goodness.
After that quick trip we decided we still had a lot of day left and steered toward Cartago. Cartago is a city about and hour or so from Escazu and is famous for La Negrita which is the Black Madonna. We knew of the tale vaguely, but not thoroughly enough to be sure if it was related to Cartago or one of the many other cities that were listed in the guide book. I thought Cartago was famous for a red metal church, but Brian was pretty sure Grecia had the famous red church.
Once we arrived we indeed found a red church, and several other churches of various colors shapes and sizes.
They had their doors open and were ready for business. We walked through one church because it had a La Negrita poster in front of it. Which reminded me of the myth, and hence why Cartago was a familiar name. I looked all over that cathedral, avoiding the kneeling, hand gestures, and in holy water-- signaling to the pious my profound wickedness. The church had many varieties of Jesus. They had dead Jesus, baby Jesus, mistreated Jesus, and others. Life sized.
But no, La Negrita. I found out later that she was in another church in town.
Here is an image I took off the web of La Negrita.
I have a lot of thoughts as I look at this image. The main one is gullibility. Here is a quick summary of the story of La Negrita taken from this site http://www.facesofcostarica.com/catholicism/legend.htm.
"1635 was a special year for Costa Rica. It is the year that the country's Patron Saint, La Negrita, first made an appearance in the area of Cartago. La Negrita is the Tico nickname for the Virgin Mary.
A mestizo (mixed European and Indian heritage) woman was looking for firewood when she came across a small stone image standing on a large stone, according to the legend. Upon a closer look, she saw that the image was of the Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus in her arms. Excited by her find, the woman took the image home and put it in a basket.
The next day when she went out to collect firewood again, she found a carved image of a snake on the same stone in the same place. She brought this image home too. When she opened the basket, she found the the image of the Virgin Mary was missing. She locked the remaining image up so that no one could take it.
The next day she went out again, and found the image of the Virgin Mary on the same stone again. She took it home, and found the other image missing. This time she was scared, and took the image to the priest and told him the story. The priest took the image, and when he went to examine it the next day, it had disappeared. He went to the forest, and found it on the same stone. He took it back to the Church, and put it with the image of Jesus on the cross. The following day, when he went to give communion at Mass, the image had disappeared. He found her in the woods on the stone. Legend says she wanted a Church built in that spot, around her "throne", in order to unite the Costa Rican population.
The Basilica was built on the site where La Negrita was found. Inside the Basilica is a shrine to La Negrita, where the stands on an altar. The Costa Rican government declared La Negrita the Patron Saint of Costa Rica on September 23, 1824"
And that is all I will say about that.
Any who, we had a good time in town. Walked around and noticed that there were panaderias on every corner and they smelled amazing. So, naturally we went to one and I purchased a delicious donut filled with yellow pudding and covered in chocolate.
We found an open aired market and it was attached to a covered market that had a very "what life might be like if we all moved underground" feel to it.
I have been experimenting with different features in the camera. Some of these pictures will be examples of my playing around.
I found a neat old place and took some pictures of the door and window. I can just kick myself for not taking a single one in color.
We stumbled upon some ruins in town. They are of a church that was destroyed during an earthquake. each time they tried to rebuild it was destroyed again by an earthquake. So, they just left it this way.
Then we headed home full of sugary goodness.
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