The crowds of people, vendors, and street entertainers at the Plaza de la Cultura—it's a favored spot for local marimba bands, clowns, jugglers, and colorfully dressed South Americans playing Andean music—hide the fact that the expanse is really just a mass of concrete. The ornate Teatro Nacional, one of San José's signature buildings, dominates the plaza's southern half. Pop in and buy a ticket for an evening performance—the prices are amazingly reasonable. The Museo del Oro Precolombino, with its highly visited exhibits of gold, lies under the plaza. The plaza's western edge is defined by the Gran Hotel Costa Rica, with its 24-hour Café 1930.
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