Dear Reader who’s enjoying  Friday (Viernes here),

Yo.  After years of doing this blog (literally), I figured out the thing to do is to put something other than food as the first picture so that the thumbnail that pops up isn’t like our breakfast (which was quite good). 

The morning’s first funny convo (after, OC EH complaining AGAIN! That her room [yes she has her own room in the 2 bedroom “suite”] has no window. “It’s a cave!!!”) was about where we were eating breakfast.  RR wanted to look for someplace “nearby,” which was code for “not uphill.”  I said the place was “about a block away.” 😂. It was a good 3 blocks (thus “about a block “) and the last two blocks were straight uphill, by which I mean like a 30% grade.  I was chastised.🥲

OTOH, the place was good.  The coffee was almost espresso and the food good.  The woman next to me (we had to sit at the bar as they were full) had avocado toast, which looked great, though I don’t partake. I think EH’s pancakes won the best looking award, so here they are, food porn 1 of the day. 

I also offer up a picture of RR’s because a) our food came with French fries, b) the brioche is actually toasted — thus “toast” (for those of you remembering yesterday). 

Our goal this morning was Castle San Cristobel. It was part of the castle/fortress complex going back to the beginnings.  There are still parts that were built to look for submarines in WW2 (I’m just repeating the signs) — as this picture shows, you can look at a lot of the Caribbean from there. 

It was quite warm. 

Our next goal was the cemetery, which sits on the coast between the two castles — in the top picture, you can recognize it because the reddish colored dome in the far distance, at the base of the green hill up to El Moro, is the chapel at the west end of the cemetery.  

On the way, we tried to stay “low” (avoiding hills) and went through “La Perla”, the Pearls, which is the not touristy part of San Juan.  The streets were so tight only one car could pass (which they demonstrated for us a couple times) and the streets were full of chickens — not dogs or cats. Another side of town.  

We then climbed the hill to the Iglesia de San Jose, which is from the 16th century, though more modern looking than the cathedral (see Wednesday) a few blocks away. 

The usual (gelato) for lunch (no pic) and back to room to rest from 4 miles of hiking from the heat.

Dinner was a block straight up the hill from the hotel.  It wasn’t really food porn worthy, but I’ll give you this of the lobster risotto. 

It was a little dark outside under an awning. Yes, we’ve eaten outside each night. It’s been nice at dinner time.

I did make one friend at dinner. 

I was not given a name.  Lola is already taken. 😂

Then, on EH’s suggestion, we trekked up hill three blocks to a chocolate cafe.  What?!?!?  Here comes the food porn. 

Some kind of chocolate alcoholic drink, obviously with whipped cream.

Puerto Rican hot chocolate (80% cocoa).

Chocolate-tini.

Some kind of hard shelled chocolate, hazelnut cake thing that’s not on the regular menu.

The classic molten lava cake. Yes, it was scrumptious. 

It’s sad to say we go home in the afternoon tomorrow.  I hear it’s not 85 there. ):  It’s been fun.  Thanks for following along.  Not sure if the next trip will be London or Croatia, but we’ll see you in May. 

Buenos noches

Day 2: what Lola wants and the power of the hand

 Hi Freezing Cold Readers,

It was 85 today with 75% humidity here.  Just so you know. 

I was told yesterday’s blog was “a lot to read.”  This one might kill. 😄

We started with a mundane breakfast, unworthy of food porn (two of us had omelettes and RR had sausage and eggs).  But here’s a philosophical question: what IS toast? The restaurant had it as a side but said “there’s only ciabatta” as an option.  No wheat, no English muffins.  Ciabatta.  Okay.

When it came, it was not toasted.  Never seen a toaster, skillet, grill, etc.  Is it toast then?  I know this is a Sheldon Cooper convo, but inquiring minds want to know.  And forget. 

Snorkeling.  I was texted and asked if I’d rather come at 9 instead of 11 (and be there half hour early) and I said no, thanks.  It took a bit of doing to get around, get breakfast (if I need to state the obvious, wait staff here are on “island time.”), get suited up and walk down, grab the taxi, then walk through the park to the “wooden hut” where we assembled.  We were there a minute or two late, but the “director” (I swear he was 12) was later and we waited. 

We snorkeled in an area known as Normandie, which is an ocean preserve.  So lots of sea life.  Sometimes even a manatee.  

I will give you pictures and not mention my struggle with every piece of equipment (my flippers slipped off 6 times, but who’s counting) and just say we had a grand time.  Our guide, Abdiel, floated us around the lagoon and pointed out sea life.  There was a small but gnarly looking lobster, an octopus only EH saw, lots of fish (did you know blue tangs start out yellow and small? Saw lots of them of various sizes), then…sea turtles!   Here’s video of one:

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM6zetIlSmlww2Xg_kIh0augiGkXaycc56LVTfw

And here’s RR tenuously holding a sea urchin.  A real one, not like one of our children back in the day. 😂

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM-5RmWTiQg1gr8LmLYamFtNEA_SyvCT0Zrt4aH

As I struggled to keep up, I was swimming toward the assembled circle and looked down and there was the biggest fish I’d seen yet.  Okay.  It was long, lean and a lovely jade color.  Then I noticed the teeth.  Nice!

According to Abdiel, her name is Lola and she’s a barracuda, about five feet long, and she shows up in the lagoon regularly.  He didn’t see her today.  She was about five feet from me today.  

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM_x4mleBuqJ-UJj4oT8QSkerkiB_C-w1Bpa8ZU

(The links work better on my end; it won’t upload the full videos; I hope they work for everyone)

Then we are going to shore and RR is beside me and we both saw her!!!! Close beneath.  RR says she tried to yell “big fish” and sucked in water (an occupational hazard of snorkeling) and I watched her swim beneath us ominously and looked down far enough to put my tube underwater.  This is NOT recommended. 😡  We can all attest to the fact the sea water in the lagoon was VERY salty.  I will not salt my food for a week.  

It was a great time, though.  Lots of fish.  Lots of fun.  Maybe too much sun and too much exercise for us olds, but still…RR and I had not been snorkeling since the Bahamas, pre-k’s.  A coon’s age as my father used to say. 

The Uber back to the hotel was half the price of the taxi out and picked us up where we stood, not on the other end of the park.  Worth it.  Then we rested, showered and went to the Museum of the Americas. 

In case I haven’t mentioned it, Old San Juan sits on the side of a hill.  (Not the one from Teddy Roosevelt fame, but still). The cruise ships (there were 4 this morning, including what is purportedly the largest one in the world from Royal Caribbean) are at the bottom and the main castle/fortress at the top.  The museum is near the castle — you can look from its front up the walk to the whole fortress complex. 

Did I mention 85 and humid?

The museum was interesting.  The first rooms were contemporary art, the first of a poster maker — thus the title of the blog —was a variation of the cry on the wall.  The artist, Garvin Sierra (his name means saw and it is appropriate because his work has an edge — so said the intro), likes the notion of cell phones and selfies.  It was interesting. 

EH and I had a brief discussion of the curator’s write ups on the intros — they were very academese.  You know “the work is the neo post modern multimedia approach to nuanced messaging about the integrity of art in the cultural milieu.”  Who knows what it meant. 

The museum, which is in this huge palace-like building from way back, is under renovation for their 30th anniversary.  We negotiated various bits of construction (there was almost no one else there) to get from the contemporary rooms to the other side, which was the cultural history side, taking you back to the Indigenous people, the Europeans, the Africans, and with lots of exhibits with all kinds of cultural artifacts, from clothes, to a recreated wooden chapel from a small village, to chains from slave ships, and, no shit, a wooden cigar store Native American.  No shit.  They’ve made cigars here since 1502.  Supposedly. 

We walked down the hill and EH (a great guide!) led us to a gelato place for lunch.  As some readers will know, it is a thing for us to have ice cream for lunch, going back to early travels with Bing and Dorothy.  😁

Dinner was at the best place in Old San Juan, according to lots of sources including eH, who ate there in May.  It was very good.  I was disappointed with the beef stroganoff, which I ordered because I both like it and you never see it on a menu.  But the sauce was blah.  But the women loved theirs, as you can see they both had seafood Italian — risotto and pasta — and a bottle of New Zealand sav blanc.  Fernando did a nice job waiting on us.  

There’s your quality food porn. :)

We then walked around the bay side to the fountain at the west edge of Old Town, where there is a fountain.  Here. 

And then we walked uphill, then down, to the hotel to collapse.

OUr current plan for tomorrow is to see the small fortress nearby and then 🤷. There has been talk of boat rides…🤢

Till then…

San Juan 1 (& some funny? stories)

 So, Envy-us Reader,

It was day 1 of our Christmas present: 3/4 days in San Juan. 

It was “only” 82’ with high humidity and clear skies.  Sunny.   Not something we see in the winter in Gloomsburg, much. 

At one point around noon, I thought we were eating our way through San Juan, as all of my pictures were of food. :)  Breakfast in the hotel was quite good.  For you lefties, here’s the avocado toast. 

Then off a the long way to the great fortress — the main structure is known as El Moro.  It dates from 1521 (no typo) and is the first such construction in the Americas.  San Juan was chosen because it was the first deep water, fresh water port coming from Europe (especially Spain).  It was refortified after the Seven Years War, so the current fortress has been like this since 1790.  

The views are great to the north across open water (the Caribbean?).  

It should be noted that it is not a nothing climb to the top of the hill and the castle.   As this shows.  Did I say it was mid80s and humid?

After this, we walked back through Old San Juan (which is old, though it doesn’t look like it goes back nearly to 1521 :))  We passed several groups of sheep following someone with a staff with a cruise line name on the sign. 😕

On the way back, we stopped here, at the Catherdal Basilica of San Juan Bautista.  It is famous as the restIng place of Ponce de Leon.   

After that there was a session for “the girls” in the rooftop tubs — the appeal of the Hotel Casa Blanca (they run the movie downstairs on a loop) — here’s a shot from the top first east towards part of the fortress, then south towards the cruise ships.

Then to dinner.  Tonight we went for the best Puerto Rican place in Old Town.  EH had been there on her trip here last May (now known as a lookyloo [more later]) and had eaten there.  I insert RR’s filled avocado and EH’s ceviche in a plantain.  

Then we stopped for popsicles.  The best in San Juan (the sign said).  No pics.  Are popsicles really food porn, even if they are like strawberry with sauce and coconut dribbled on them?  NCW.  IMHO.

When I came out from doing reservations for tomorrow night old school (they actually had a real book), they were in the nearby park and called me over.  The following pic needs no further comment. 🙂

And now for today’s story.  (John can stop reading here, if he made it this far 😂). Which is either “funny” or “ironic,” you be the judge: EH & I were sitting in the courtyard of the fortress while RR went to the bathroom and a woman says “Hey, Purdue, woo woo” or words to that affect.   I was wearing a Purdue hat.  So, she came over and “chatted” (we will need a working definition of chat, but okay).  She was a Purdue grad, met her husband at Purdue, AND her father was an entomology professor at Purdue.   She grew up in Lafayette.  Her son was with her and never really said a word.  I kept wondering what was taking RR so long in the bathroom (I realize that maybe I shouldn’t admit this).  Suzanne, because I ended up with her card, told all kinds of stories.  She went to school with Fletcher Loyer’s mother.  And more.  I finally had to ask: do you mind telling me when you were there?  She said the late 90s (to protect the damaged I won’t be exact) to which EH says “makes you feel old, huh, dad?”  Yeah, thanks.  I tell her she was barely born when I was there.  Which is true, or close enough.  I didn’t hang with many entomologists.  And she was a PR major, anyway, which came as no surprise.  Then RR showed up and I laughed and said now you get to meet the talker.  Turns out Suzanne is a travel agent and this was a work trip.  As she called it “a lookyloo” for further business.  Here her kid piped in “that’s what she calls getting to go on these trips.”  We ended up talking about each of us making a prospective trip to Croatia (for her another “lookyloo”) in May.  She kept saying “do this…oh, yeah, you don’t do boats.”  LOL.  No, 2 of us get sick at the sound of the word “ship.”  I got her card and we said we would keep in touch, just in case we were to go the same place or something in the future. 

After dinner, we are walking down to the ATM and this woman stops me and asks if this is a Virgin Island (no, it wasn’t a setup for a joke).  In the end, we talked for so long I went to the ATM and came back and they were still chatting.  They were an elderly couple, turns out from New York, though at first I wasn’t sure about their English, and they were on Norwegian cruise and this was their first stop.  They go to the Virgin Islands tomorrow.  7 islands in 7 days, but it’s 11 days because it’s 2 days back and forth out of New York harbor.  They were nice.  Seemed to be surprised by the concept of flying in and staying…wherever we were. 😂