Final trip: Cartago

Ok, so Cartago is a day trip, and I really only spent about two hours actually there, but I didn't really want to go overnight anywhere. I just want to go home. I did feel like I should go somewhere on my last weekend, though, so I went to Cartago because I heard it was a cool little town.

The town itself didn't really seem all that different than other Costa Rican towns I've been to (and live in): the doors and windows had bars, there were shops among the houses, and someone with a microphone was advertising their store, trying to attract the attention of the passers-by.

The things that make Cartago unique are La Basilica de Los Angeles and the ruins of another old church. La Basilica de Los Angeles is a big, beautiful, white, European-style cathedral at one end of town. It has a huge plaza in front of it, where people were sitting with their families (and where some entreprenurial-types had set up little toy booths, shouting "Navidena, Navidena!"). It made for some nice pictures, since the plaza was so open.
Inside the cathedral, it looked very similar to the gothic cathedrals in Germany, except that instead of everything being made of stone, everything was made of wood. I think the lighter coloring made it feel a lot nicer. There weren't a lot of tourists, but there were a few, so I didn't feel bad taking pictures even though some people were praying and others were crawling forward on their knees. I tried to figure out why they were doing that, but all I saw was that they would shuffle up through the pews until they got to the stage, and then pray there. I kept waiting for a priest to come and bless them or something, but I think they were just trying to pray more humbly.
After La Basilica, I walked through town to the old ruins. They were made of stone and black with age. Some workers were maintaining the garden inside. Regular people couldn't go inside, but I did take some pictures through the gates. I also got some of the outside, which contrasted nicely with the modern hum-drum shops standing near it. Apparently they aren't real ruins, but an unfinished church. It was supposed to be La Parroquia de Santiago Apostal, but it was damaged during construction and abandoned.


That was pretty much it for sights in Cartago, which disappointed me. I had been told that it was a neat little town in of itself, and I was expecting it to be all colonial-looking and stuff. I think I saw one building that had colonial architechture. Oh well, it was still a nice trip.