charliedoggett.net
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| “Peace Dove” by an artist in El Salvador Now hanging on my year around Christmas Tree |
In my living room last Christmas I added a tree on which I hung crafted birds from all over Central America. Some I bought locally and others came from UNICEF. Every purchase from them helps care for children all around the world! I encourage you to consider buying a new tree ornament or other hand-crafted Christmas gift from:
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| Front Entrance to Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Tile Paintings of Farm Life on outside walls Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| A tile painting depicting farm life on outside walls Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Don Quixote Tiles Next Door Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Private House Next Door to Hotel Don Carlos San Jose, Costa Rica |
Or my San Jose Gallery with photos from several trips to the capital.
And a separate gallery for Costa Rica Churches, most in San Jose
AND A FUN EXTRA:
10 Great Reasons for Living Abroad an article on internations.org
LO SIENTO
I did not intend to post 3 articles on one day! But here they are and now I’m finished with all my posts on two trips, Villa Blanca and San Jose. Back to the boring daily stuff! 🙂
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| Statue honoring women who fought in Battle of Rivas, Nicaragua which kept American William Walker from making us a slave state. National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Tour guide Michael Miller explaining the statue. National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Great-tailed Grackle male National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Zoom on statue on a cloudy day. National Park Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
Or my San Jose Gallery with photos from several trips to the capital.
And a separate gallery for Costa Rica Churches, most in San Jose
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| Research Center For possibly humorous reasons, named “El Cohombro,” the cucumber. Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Research Center Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Research Center Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Guide & Researcher at Research Center Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| One of Many Trails in the Reserve Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Research Center Helps Maintain Educational Trails Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Center San Ramon, Costa Rica |
National Geographic has done research here and they show some of their films made here. And of course many universities use the research facilities for research in the cloud forest here. Interesting!
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| Anne Frank Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
And if you think it is unusual to find a statue of Anne Frank in Costa Rica next to a Catholic Cathedral, in another park of downtown, maybe 8-10 blocks away, in front of a Catholic Church and near the entrance to Chinatown, is a life-size statue of John Lennon sitting on a park bench beside whom you can sit and have your photo made. 🙂
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| Historic Building Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| “The Yellow House” A government building where foreign representatives are met. President Obama met with CR president here. Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| The Mexican Embassy (through a moving bus window) So much more inviting than the razor-wired concrete bunker for USA. Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| A bunch of old expats listening to a San Jose Guide. Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Our Tour Bus for the Day Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| Graffiti Wall like many Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
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| The old historic building our guide lived in Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica |
Or my San Jose Gallery with photos from several trips to the capital.
And a separate gallery for Costa Rica Churches, most in San Jose
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| Mariana Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Flowers in front of Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Oxcart in front of Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Villa Blanca’s Mariana Wedding Chapel was the 50th anniversary-wedding gift from former President Rodrigo Carazo Odio to First Lady Estrella Carazo Zeledon. Its unique hand painted ceramic ceiling depicts the history of the Virgin Mary when first introduced into Latin America by Christian missionaries. It is located on a grassy knoll overlooking the farm village and hacienda of Villa Blanca. The Chapel’s backdrop is the 840 Ha (2000 acre) Los Angeles Cloud Forest, with over 300 listed bird species included within a variety of flora and fauna in this protected habitat and serene mountain setting. The chapel, a replica of a 17th century chapel in Rome, features a high beam ceiling composed of 840 individual ceramic plates, all of them hand drawn and painted with high temperature enamel paints. Each side of the ceiling has 15 panels of 28 plates divided in two vertical rows of 14 plates. Each one of the columns formed by the 14 plates conveys a theme allusive to a Latin-American virgin and her country of origin.
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| My favorite art work there is this statue of the Pope’s visit to San Jose in 1983 by a Costa Rican sculpture. |
Or my San Jose Gallery with photos from several trips to the capital.
And a separate gallery for Costa Rica Churches, most in San Jose
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| One of many vistas from Villa Blanca |
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| The main building seen from the chapel. |
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| sign at entrance gate |
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| Traffic on the road coming up to Villa Blanca. |
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| One view from outside dining area. White spot is chapel on the campus. |
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| You can come here each morning and milk a cow if you wish! |
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| One of many hiking trails. |
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| Trail exit to a hummingbird garden |
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| One row of cabins. There are a total of 36. |
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| Greenhouse |
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| There are nearly always clouds in the cloud forest! |
On top of the hill, the center of everything that happens at Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel:
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| The epicenter of a 6.5 Earthquake was about 40-50 miles southwest of where I live in Atenas. The house shook violently for about 30 seconds around 8:30 pm and then an aftershock a minute or so later. Only damage for me was pictures hanging on wall are crooked now. 🙂 In Jaco grocery store shelves were emptied. |
READ ABOUT IT IN:
EarthquakeTrack.com