Today was a free day to spend however we liked in San Jose! A sleep in was so warranted. We slept in until about 7.30 which seemed like a lot later especially when we got up at 3.45 yesterday morning. Washing our hair was also a must. Initially I thought I was going to have to wash my hair in a cold shower (again) but was surprised that after I shampooed my hair the hot water kicked in, so I may have given my hair a second shampoo today just because I was actually enjoying a hot shower. In fact one hotel we stayed in didn't have hot water at all. Thank goodness it was so hot there that it was refreshing!! I have come to realise just how lucky we really are in Australia. Not just with the hot water, but the fact that we can quite happily flush toilet paper down the toilet without fear that you will be walking through the entire hotels sewage the following morning! Whilst it actually took a while to get used to - it's second nature now. I just hope I can remember to convert back to flushing toilet paper down the toilet when I return home!!
Anyway back to today. So after we were ready Joyce and I walked around downtown San Jose. We stopped at a couple of parks to take some photos. The first park we walked through, by day is a small and beautiful little park filled with chairs and statues, by night it converts into a transvestite prostitute park..... so I won't be walking through there at night on my own. The second park we walked through was a peace garden. This garden had a beautiful fountain in the middle, along with a stunning mosaic wall, which depicted a girl swinging on a swing.
We then dodged a bit of traffic to find our way to the main pedestrian walkway. After a nice leisurely coffee and chat we hit the shops. To be honest the prices are not any cheaper here than at home. However when you need supplies you are grateful that you need them in a place like San Jose. San Jose definitely has the shops to cover everyone's needs. I lashed out and bought a new toothbrush. Dental hygiene is very important! I also managed to find myself a new pair of converse!! Yay..... I have shoes again!!!
Like I said, of all the places that my old converse shoes were wrecked, I'm so glad that San Jose was our next stop!!
We took some time out and had some lunch at a little cafe located on the city square. We sat and ate our lunch from a balcony overlooking the square, quite happily watching the people and families enjoying their Sunday afternoon! Then out of nowhere a massive clap of thunder erupted above the city square. I swear I have never seen a thousand people jump with fear and scream all at once until then. I couldn't stop laughing.
But that was our queue to hightail it back to the hotel. We watched as the big dark clouds descended on San Jose and knew that rain is inevitable. Although in saying that we still had time to stop and take photos along the way. We went past the famous Casino 'Hotel DelRey'. Which isn't so much a casino but a really really big brothel!! We stopped off at a few more places to take photos...and made it back to the hotel before the rain hit. When it rains here it pours... So more than happy to come back to the hotel and chill out for a while.