One of the largest cities in Costa Rica, after San Jose, is Heredia. Actually it is hard to determine where one leaves off and the other starts as the towns run into each other in this area.
Heredia has a big university and is a busy place. It has a lovely square complete with church, fountains and pigeons. One of the children's favorite things is to buy bags of corn and feed the pigeons and to eat the shave ice from the carts there. We have learned to limit the leche on the shave ice as they liberally pour powdered milk, condensed milk and syrup over ice. It's delicious for the first few bites but the sugar rush leaves you shaking for hours!
Pictures here of Heredia church:
