Category: Places

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More Flame Vine Pix

Close-up of an open bloom, Flamevine or TriquiTraque in Costa Rica
In my garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
My favorite shot so far.

At first the blooms are “capsules” or little tubes before opening up.
My TriquiTraque in Atenas, Costa Rica

TriquiTraque looks best when massed on a wall like I have in my garden.
Atenas, Costa Rica

There is not much online about this flower in the way of information. As “Flamevine” the best I could find was at the University of Florida website. When I Google triquitraque it is my blog that comes up in addition to a lot of photos by different people. So I can’t tell you much about them. I did find this page article in a botanical gardens book which is kind of scientific. And I think I have already noted that in Spanish dictionaries triquitraque means “clattering noise” or a “string of firecrackers.”

🙂
See also my Costa Rica photo gallery called Flora & Forests
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Temple of Music

Ceiling of the acoustically perfect band shelter in
Morazan Park, San Jose, Costa Rica

“Temple of Music”
Morazan Park, San Jose, Costa Rica
Photographed last week on a trip to San Jose.

The Morazan Park was built in 1887 and was the place where New Year’s Eve festivities were celebrated in the late XIX century. Also music recitals were held in this place and still are nowadays.

This is why in 1920 an investment was made for the construction of the Temple of Music, which has an almost perfect acoustic.

The temple was used for political speeches and also for the exchange of the Power of the Republic. Nowadays, several concerts are presented, from the National Symphonic Orchestra to contemporary music groups.

The Temple of Music is a duplicate of the Temple of Love and Music of Versailles. Its Neoclassical design was made by the architect and painter Jose Francisco Salazar, who also designed the Club Union, the Law School of the University of Costa Rica and the Drugstore of the former University.

The above copied from:
http://www.costaricaexplorerguide.com/php/atracciones2.php?idm=2&atract=65

See the glass building behind the band shelter? It’s Holiday Inn Aurora.
The last night of my 2010 Caravan.com tour of Costa Rica was there and
I’m spending two nights there this week on a “Concrete Jungle” photo trip.
This photo copied from the web.

My trip this week will be to photograph old churches and other interesting or historic old buildings in central San Jose on my walking tour. I discovered a great app for my phone to guide me on many walking tours of San Jose from GPSmyCity.com   with my personal guide, maps, and voice directions each step of the way. Wow! Travel has gotten easier!

I hope to be adding a lot more photos to my already existing photo gallery on San Jose and also to the gallery of Costa Rica Churches. 

The rainforests and cloud forests are my favorite parts of Costa Rica, but sometimes it is exciting to plan on a city visit too! And there is a lot in San Jose for my short Thursday-Saturday trip. Getting there by bus of course!  🙂  Then some taxis though mostly walking. 
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Triquitraque or Flame Vine Blooming for This Year

The brilliant orange flowers of Triquitraque or Flame Vine is a great contrast to the blue Plumbago flowers.
I saturated the color so they’re not really this red, but are a deeper orange than next untouched photos.

If I remember correctly they will bloom 2 to maybe 3 months, February-April. I had hoped for year around blooms like some of my other plants, but this gives me something special for this time of year. And this year they cover more of my stark concrete wall, which is what I wanted! 🙂  ¡Me gusta!

AND PHOTOS FROM LAST YEAR: 

See also my photo gallery Flora & Forests
And read about Flamevine which Costa Ricans call Triquitraque, Spanish for “a string of firecrackers” or sometimes can mean “creaking” or “rattling” in colorful conversations.  🙂
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Atenas Clinic Murals-Graffiti

In the alley/back street to the back entrance of the public clinic of Atenas is this graffiti + the next photos

To the right of the above 3-pix panorama is this painting.

And around the corner on the cross alley seen when you walk out the door. 

There is a lot of this kind of graffiti or “public art” in Atenas. I don’t know the origin or if someone is helping to keep kids out of trouble, or art class projects, “professional artists,” or what? But it is interesting for a small rural town and does add a lot of color to the community. If you go to the front door of the clinic you might not see these, but this door is more convenient for most of us walkers which is most of the patients! 

I personally like “Public Art” for all cities and towns even when the style or images are not appealing to me. It seems prudent to me for a community to have a local committee or Art Commission as my former hometown of Nashville had to manage it, the locations, and even the nature of the art. I do not know if Atenas has such a group. 
See my photo gallery of MORE PUBLIC ART IN ATENAS

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Flowers Up Close and Personal

 

Heliconia & Blue Plumbago
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
Red Ginger among the Maraca Plants
My Home Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica
“Parrot Flower” or a type of Heliconia

Fern
My Home Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

See also my photo gallery of Flora & Forests

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¡tenga paz! Stay Calm!

My new Tico T-shirt (la camiseta)
It has a local slang expression to ask another person to “stay calm.”

For locals, I got this at Arteria, a little shop with many items using local slang, located on 1st Avenue in San Jose, across from Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones.  (The link tells of other locations.)

I will wear it to my Su Espacio Lingua Fiesta tonight.  🙂

LITERAL TRANSLATION?
SpanishDict.com & GoogleTranslate both say:  “have peace”