English Speaking Theater in San Jose, Costa Rica

! Opening night is finally here!

In addition to running tours, I've also reconnected with the stage. I am playing Frances in 'No sex please, we're British'. It has been rewarding to work with a team and be accountable to a project bigger than any one of us.

It's a special opportunity to participate in English-speaking theater in Costa Rica of all places. There truly is a thriving arts community here, both local and expat. If you enjoy theater check these groups out for regular performances here in San Jose, Costa Rica. Hope to see you at one of my shows.

• No Sex Please We're British
• The Little Theater Group
• Compania Nacional de Teatro
• Teatro Popular Melico Salazar
• Complete theater listing

Art City Tour in San Jose Costa Rica

The first art gallery tour of 2010 happened last night. It was pretty good but 2 hours was not enough time to visit all of the places.

This photo is from the Museo de Arte y Diseno Contemporaneo. The exhibit was Migracion al Sur. The pieces dealt with emotion, ideas, and concepts that pass when we relocate ourselves.

I was also able to visit the National Museum and Jacob Karpio Gallery for the first time. They were both nice enough, but I don't think I need to return to the national museum. You can check out all photos from the night on our Facebook page.

Moving forward in San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose, Costa Rica is exciting to me. Right now in 2010 there are a number of things happening to enrich the culture and pleasantness of the city.

• Barrio Escalante Urban Plan
• More fine dining restaurants/bars such as: Bar Morazan, El Steinvorth, Arte y Gusto Cafe, Kalu, and Wok and Noodles
• Possible new regulations on noise pollution (have seen them testing decible levels, haven't read any news about what will be done with the data)

In addition, galleries are coming together on a more regular basis to bring access to the arts for free or little charge. An example of this is this Wednesday's Art City Tour.

This is just the beginning of what I believe will be a great urban revitalization over the next two years. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for regular news and event updates.

Why tour San Jose

San Jose, Costa Rica is a special place where one can surf the internet on a cell phone while simultaneously buy eggs from a man pushing a cart in the street. It's a meeting of old and new, east and west, north and south. This makes for lots of interesting discoveries as you explore the city.

Tourists may read it is best to get in and out of this city as quickly as possible to enjoy all the nature Costa Rica has to offer. I however argue that one solid day should be passed here. There is a lot to learn that will provide greater context to Costa Rica's culture, food, transportation and relationships to the rest of the world. And the more you know about a place, the richer your journey.

Video San Jose Walking Tour

This little parade was a surprise on tour last week. Some final fun before a new semester starts again.

Our San Jose Walking Tours

The Bird's Nest: An introductory tour with over 40 stops, showing a variety of galleries, historic sites, parks, and buildings and public art of interest. We'll finish near a few special restaurants, with special tour discounts.

Cost $10 USD, 5,000 Colones, 9:45 am - 12 pm

Fiesta Bird: While any day is a good day to drink, this tour is best enjoyed on a rainy San Jose afternoon, because what else are you going to do? We'll stumble along between 5-8 dive bars, learning history and interesting facts you might not remember the next day. *So far we've only had two groups make it to the end.

Cost $10 USD, 5,000 Colones, Includes one free shot of guaro, Costa Rica's National liquor. 4 pm - 7 pm (Please note, the bars are cheap, but most cash only. Make sure you have cash on hand for beer and a taxi or two).

Professor Bird Specials: More interested in art, less in parks? Order a special 2 hour tour with focus on one of the following; art, churches, flora/fauna, architecture, history. Have a different idea? Let us know and we'll put something together.

Cost $20 USD, $10,000 Colones 9:45 am - 12 pm

Drinking in San Jose

While Costa Rica doesn't have a variety of native brews or wines to sample, there are plenty of interesting places to imbibe the cheap drink of your choice. We have put together a dive bar tour to show you the safest hole-in-the-wall bars, right in the middle of the city. Some are the oldest bars in San Jose. It doesn't get more real than this, especially with end of evening karaoke.

Make a reservation for this $10 tour today. Barriobird@gmail.com or (506) 89269867

Safety vs. Enjoyment

One reason I started this business is to give tourists a chance to relax in San Jose, Costa Rica. There are some tough spots you need to know about in order to get around without hassle.

So, taking one of our tours allows you to be more secure and not stop at every corner to look at your map and figure out where you are (there are no addresses in Costa Rica so I promise you will have to pull out a map if you walk alone), or worse yet, end up somewhere you shouldn't be.

Give us a call or email to discuss! barriobird@gmail.com or (506) 89269867.

Who we are

This is me, Stacey, at one of the numerous sites of some amazing graffiti art we see in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Introduction

Hello there, I am Stacey and this is the blog for my company Barrio Bird Walking Tours. We do $10 walking tours of San Jose, Costa Rica.

Over the years, San Jose has earned a bad reputation for tourists. I live in the city, and know that while some parts are rough around the edges, there are many beautiful sites to see.

So, I designed these walking tours to provide the tourists that have to pass through San Jose a chance to see its secret gems. We do a generic culture/history/art/architecture tour. We also do a bar tour. In addition, we can build a custom tour for you.

You can see specific tour info here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barrio-Bird-Walking-Tours/144658534609

Welcome to Barrio Bird Walking Tours
Stacey