Colorful Day in Sarchi

Sarchi is considered the artisan center of Costa Rica and is known especially for its colorfully painted oxcarts.  In the past, the oxcarts carried the coffee beans to market and were painted to represent the design of the region. So you would know which region the coffee was from.  One of the spots we visited has craftsmen still making the oxcarts including forging metal for the wheels and hinges. We also found numerous shops selling handmade furniture from the beautiful hardwoods of the country.

The world's largest oxcart is here, in Sarchi. Who knew! To get an idea of the size, see the children are walking around under it

I loved the detailed paintings of wildlife found on many of the buildings. Not sure I'll get to see the real-life versions, so I captured these guys on the walls!

Frogs

Near Sarchi is the town of Grecia that has an interesting, and beautiful church,  Cathedral de la Mercedes. The gothic-style church is constructed of brick-red metal panes, built in Belgium and shipped to Costa Rica in 1987. The panes were shipped as individual slabs to the port city of Limon where they were carried by oxcart, piece by piece, to Grecia.

Traveling is not complete without the discovery of something odd.  I spotted this tree on the side of the road and wondered what was hanging from it.  The turk turned the car around - quite a challenging task in the narrow, windy, hilly road with a stickshift car with no power.  Upon a closer view, I saw bicycles, car parts, a Christmas reindeer and other assorted items hanging from this tree.   

Art Tree!