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Horses, Beer and Beautiful
Women, An Annual Tradition
Horse riding and beer go good
together, especially for the
Cerverceria Costa Rica - brewers
of Imperial, Pilsen and most
other beer brands sold in Costa
Rica - as thousands came out for
the traditional "Tope Nacional".
The beer company is the major
sponsor of the event, along with
other sponsors promoting their
products like mortadela and
hamburgers. The Banco de Costa
Rica got in the action as well,
heading the Tope with a large
banner held up by a half dozen
scantily clad young women, while
another half dozen handed out
free visors to the crowd.
More than 2.600 on horseback
took over Paseo Colón and
Avenida Segunda for more than 4
hours starting shortly after 1pm
that were met by thousands of
spectators who cheered them on.
The tope was not the exclusivity
of horses alone, as during
midway through the celebrations
the water buffalos made their
annual appearance.
Only 600 "jinetes"(cowboys) were
registered for the event.
However, some 2.000 "piratas"
(pirate) cowboys - the official
count - also participated in the
event.
Several politicians made an
appearance. Presidential
candidates Ottón Solís and Otto
Guevara traded in their
presidential hopefuls for cowboy
hats as they made their way
through the crowds, their
appearance played down.
Presidential election rules
prohibits any type of propaganda
during the holiday season.
Police and Red Cross workers
reported no major incident. The
Tope was calm and orderly.
Transit police detoured
vehicular traffic to avoid
congestion. Paseo Colon was
closed off at noon.
The Tope closed with light rain
in the last minutes, helping out
the Municipal workers who were
left with cleaning up the doo
doo. The rain helped wash away
most of the waste that is common
during the Tope.
Today, the same route will hold
the Carnaval.
Horses, beautiful women and beer
are all part
of the annual tradition.
Katherina Vargas, Miss Tica
Linda
Modern cowboy.
Keeping an eye on things.
BCR is our favourite bank.
Click
here for more photos of the Tope
Nacional.
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