Plaza del Banco Central

Plaza del Banco Central Review

An extension of Avenida Central, this plaza is popular with hawkers, money changers, and retired men, and can be a good place to get a shoe shine and listen to street musicians. Outside the western end of Costa Rica's modern federal-reserve bank building, don't miss Presentes, 10 sculpted, smaller-than-life figures of bedraggled campesinos (peasants). La Chola, a bronze 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) statue of a buxom rural woman, resides at sidewalk level on the small, shady plaza south of the bank. It's public art at its best. Beware: the money changers here are notorious for circulating counterfeit bills and using doctored calculators to shortchange unwitting tourists. Instead, change money at banks or through cash machines, where you get the best rate.