View from my window seat before landing
Our car for the TRIP
Tourist map of OLD SAN JUAN
En route to Old San Juan
In Old San Juan
(more photos go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17724&l=3d683&id=575810425)
WED 10.10.07 I get home after hanging out with a friend. I get home and watch the Reunion show for TOP CHEF season three won by Hung Hyunh. The fan favorite was Casey (no surprise) though I did think CJ or Tre would give her a great run for her money though to get it.
I packed the night before so I was all set. I was able to go to bed by 12:30am.
THURS 10.11.07 I get up at 3:30am shower, get some breakfast and start waiting for my ride with DLEE and GCHENThey are a little late as I start waiting at 4:20am. I get picked up at 4:45. There is some light rain. We head to Malden on Third Street to GCHEN's place , grab the cab and then head to CCHAN’s place.
We go to the airport and make it by 5:20ish. DL and GC have to check in and we waltz in with tons of people at the security line. Our gate for American is Gate 28 right by security. CCHAN and I are lucky, we have our own row. I sit by the window to get some shots of Puerto Rico (almost four hours later) when we land. Now since there is no more food we are given some fruit and sandwiches from DLEE. I do some sudoku and finish a lot of old TIME magazines I brought along to read. The cover of the American Way has Kerri Russell waxing poetic on Nantucket. She mentions Menemsha, a place my good friend SKING was a nanny at for one summer.
We land and find a phone to get picked up by USAVE rental car agency. The van gets us and it is extremely humid and hot at least 90’s. We get to the rental agency within 10 minutes. We get our four door white sedan. (We really tax the car during our four days in Puerto Rico over hills in Route 3 and everywhere in between Yunque Rain Forest etc.) We get a little lost and a nice person tells us we are going the wrong way to Old San Juan.
As we finally go on our way to Old San Juan. I find it very colorful, full of cute balconies reminiscent of New Orleans French Quarter. The cobblestones are quaint but not fun to walk on. The main tourist information building by the water is closed due to renovations. We find the other one a few blocks away and get some good information. We find two big parking lots beside each other, we go to the that does NOT have the person waving and flagging people to enter their parking lot. This one is packed to the gills being only 1:15pm. We are able to walk to Café Puerto Rico (suggestion by the woman at the Tourist Information Desk). The lunch special seems great so three of us get it and my friend CCHAN gets the regular Mahi Mahi entrée. I get the tostones rellenos de camerones with salad. DLEE got the ternera en fricasé (veal stew) which was great. Then got the tres leches for $4 and we shared it. It was really good. A bit sweet but with four people sharing it was the right amount of sweetness. We really liked the décor as you are surrounded by tons of bottles of wine.
After our meal, we walk outside to Christopher Columbus Square (we find out that the next day is the Puerto Rican holiday to celebrate Columbus Day). We had just celebrated it back in Boston as the Federal Holiday. We walk Sebastian Street to head to some museums. We noticed the architectture and we take tons of pics. This is the street of shops and boutiques. I go to Spanish Cellist Pablo Casals. It is only $1.06 admission to this two floor building. You see the mold of the hands, his photos attending the White House during JFK’s administration, personal photos and certificates.
From there it is only a 2-3 minute walk to Casa Blanca which was the family home of Ponce De Leon’s family. It is only $4 admittance with no photos allowed in the home. It was the oldest home and built before El Morro (1620) Ponce De Leon never lived here but was in Cuba. But his family lived here for a bit of time. The doors are cool and the view lovely of the water.
Casa Blanca was built by the son-in-law of Juan Ponce de León as the great conquistador's island home (he never actually lived here). La Casa Blanca – This house was built as a home for Governor Juan Ponce de Leon who died in Florida before he could live there. His family lived here for 250 years.
Museo de Las Americas – Archaelogical findings, santos (woodcarvings of saints), crafts and more. Located in El Cuartel Ballajá. I paid $4 to see the special exhibit as the museum floor is on the first floor overlooking the courtyard. The special exhibit chronicled the various Indians living in South America and North America. Special characteristics, language, some notes of the culture and a statue of a person representing the tribe. The weird one was the actual shrunken head. Then I saw some modern art and a history of slaves chronicled on the island (with photos and some items all in Spanish though). Then there was this cool painting/sketching exhibit of the female form doodles.
From there we take a break and get some water for $1. We head to EL Morro (the fort). It only costs $4 (It is only 3:30). El Morro is as awe-inspiring as it sounds: the largest fortification in the Caribbean and named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. It was built by the Spaniards between 1540 and 1783 to honor King Phillip II. Located on a rocky point on San Juan Bay, the fortress rises 180 feet above the sea and features 18-foot thick walls.
It is hard not to take any bad photos from this vantage point in Old San Juan. We pass by a few other plazas one celebrating 500 years with goats (near the Museo de Las Americas). Since it is so hot we decide we want some ice cream. We head to the Ben and Jerry’s and I wanted to have some lemon tart. My friend CCHAN gets the ice cream vanilla, almond, chocolate bits and coconut flakes. Then we head over to some of the outlets we saw earlier.
I went some outlets to check out stuff Doone Burke and Coach. The one at Coach was an eye opener! My friends are excited despite the 7% tax does note stop us from our enthusiasm. Now it is almost sunset around 6pm and I want to get a bunch of post cards. I get some at this place and the owner is Cantonese. We head over to Aguaviva. DLY told me the best ceviche he ever had was here and it is next to Dragonstar. Even the women at the tourist information desk mentioned that the restaurant is excellent for local flavors and seafood.
Dinner is nice. We go water and walk around and take pics. We find where the cruise ships doc and see Old Town San Juan’s Sheraton. We realize we do not know how to get to Humacao to our Four Points Palmas del Mar beach front hotel. I had printed some instructions but with some wrong turns and MANDY (GCHEN’s GPS machine) we don’t find the place. It takes us a bit over an hour. Luckily CC has great signal in Puerto Rico. I have signal but it is not great all the timego there. His Cingular phone was great and Verizon charges a ton in roaming fees to DLEE.
We finally go there at 11:30pm. I sleep at 12:30pm after watching tv and write some postcards.
Photos of museums-Pabla casals, Art of Americas and Casa Blanca:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17727&l=a9165&id=575810425
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