Back in Fresno

It was a long and tiresome flight home, each leg was delayed, an hour & twenty minutes in Puerto Rico, 50mins in Miami, and 40mins in LA. But we finally got home at about 10:45 last night. We had dinner at Mangosteen (there was nothing to eat along the way). It was good to be home. The dogs missed us and we the dogs. Now it's to the business of getting back to business. Trying to get things back in order. Tomorrow is Easter, it'll be good to see the family. We're going to get film developed to take over.

We usually do up a pretty extensive vegan Easter lunch, but I think we're going to keep it simple this year.

It's good to be back, but Puerto Rico is still pretty fresh in our memories.

Hopefully it's not goodbye Puerto Rico, but we'll see you next time...

Goodbye Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a wonderful place. For such a small island, it packs a lot in. We barely scratched the surface. Even so, it's time to go home. We're packing up getting ready to head down for one last breakfast. We fly out at 11am for a marathon trip home (two stops along the way), we land in Fresno 10pm.

Last Night in Puerto Rico

It was a good way to finish our trip. We started with dinner at the Italian place down the street. Then we came back to the hotel for some drinks (actually had some sangria with dinner) swimming and relaxing, which included smoking the cigars we picked up in San Juan on the second day.


Aside from the fact that the pool was as crowded as it's ever been, everything went about as well as it could for a last night.


We mostly talked, drank, and smoked. It's always bittersweet on the last night of a trip with friends you don't see very often...laughs mixed with, "we're going to miss you," and "can't wait to get together again." There were more laughs than anything, and that's all you can ask for.

We finished up our cigars then headed off to bed...early morning.

Day 5: Arecibo, etc

Today didn't turn out quite as we planned, but in many ways, it turned out better.

The first oddity was our attempt to go to the caverns at Camuy, which came highly recommended by several acquaintances and the travel books. When we bought the tickets at about 9am, they said it would be about a 25 minute wait until our tour. The music in the waiting area was true hell - it was literally one song with bad vocals on a continuous loop. The same awful song over and over and over... When we asked about our tour again at 10am, they said it wouldn't be until 11:30 because of the tour buses. It was frustrating at first, and then we just said heck with it (or words to that effect) and left. It was somewhat liberating to be able to let go of a plan like that.

So we went to our next intended destination, Arecibo, the largest radio telescope in the world (also where they shot parts of the films Contact and Golden Eye 007). Arecibo was great. We got there before much of a crowd was there, so it was pleasantly low key. The telescope was impressive and expansive, and some of the astronomy exhibits were nice.

Next we went to a restaurant Lisa had read about and had a pretty nice lunch. Puerto Rican food exhibits a much greater appreciation for yuca root than I imagined possible, so that's been fun. At lunch, we had yuca fries, mashed yuca, fried, formed into something about the size of a fried zucchini stick. Good sangria at this place, too. The best part was definitely the view, since we were eating outside right on the beach.

On our way to the restaurant, we had spotted a great looking beach. We didn't have swim suits or towels with us, but the beach was so enticing we had to swim in it anyway. So we went to a nearby drug store and bought some towels, then went back to the beach and just swam in our cloths. It was definitely worth it. The waves were pretty strong, so we didn't go out far, but we had a blast.

All in all the day felt fun and spontaneous, yet we were still able to cross something off of our wish list of things to do, so it was a fantastic way to spend our last full day in Puerto Rico.

Tonight we'll just hang out at the hotel: have a drink, smoke some cigars, maybe swim, and just chill...make the most of our last evening to hang out with Mike and Lisa!

Day 4: Relaxing at the beach

Today we took a break from our busy touring to spend some time relaxing at the beach. The beach out our hotel isn't great, but we were able to identify a good beach on the northern coast of Puerto Rico that was good for swimming (this is a bit rare on this coast: too rocky) and that wasn't too far away (Carlos said he's getting tired of driving). We ended up at Cerro Gordo beach, and it was a great place to spend the afternoon. We swam and lounged. The water was the perfect temperature, and the beach wasn't too rocky. Lots of people were out (many of the local kids are on spring break), but it didn't feel overcrowded. Carlos saw some parrots. Mike and Lisa ate some street-vendor food.

On the way back to Dorado, we stopped by an open-air sport bar for some sangria and mofongo. It's tough to imagine life without mofongo at this point, so I'll have to figure out how to make it. The sangria was bright green and very different. It had kiwi, grapefruit, lime, and wine. Tart, but good.

Tonight we'll just spend some time relaxing at the hotel, maybe take a late night swim. Tomorrow - our last full day in Puerto Rico - will likely be a full day.

Day 3: At El Yunque National Forest

Carlos says I make too many comments about food, but I have to say we had an interesting little adventure on our way to El Yunque National Forest. We went to a grocery story (a Ralphs) to get a few deli sandwiches to take with us on the hike. Lisa and Mike ordered sandwiches as well as a couple of pastries. The sandwiches were still being made when a lady working behind the counter handed Lisa a styrofoam container with the pastries. Lisa asked if they would wrap them in foil (since we didn't want a lot of bulk on the trip). The first lady didn't speak English, so we got the guy who did. Lisa asked for foil and - bless his heart - he wrapped the *styrofoam container* in foil... and plastic wrap. They must've thought we were crazy for "wanting that." But Carlos and I got two sandwiches with just veggies, and they only charged us 75 cents per sandwich. We also got a couple of cups of their coffee (which was excellent) for just 80 cents each. So we spent about three bucks on lunch.

Next, we were off to El Yunque National Forest, a rainforest inland a ways. When we first got to the visitors center, we became concerned that there seemed to be a lot of people there. So when we drove by the trail heads for a couple of the easier hikes we had hoped to do and saw lots of people milling about, we decided to do the tougher hike "first" ... that's right, we actually thought we'd do more than one hike. We were wrong.

Fortunately, we were wrong in a good way, because the hike we chose was spectacular. It was the El Yunque trail, about five miles long round trip. It was a "strenuous" hike, and there were some rough/rocky areas that were a bit tough. There was also an impressive (we thought) elevation gain of 1400 feet along the way, going to El Yunque Peak, the second highest peak in the forest. We saw some gorgeous views along the way, from the beautiful trees and ferns surrounding us to breathtaking views of the ocean several miles away.

Much of the trail was through the "Cloud Forest," also called the "Dwarf Forest" or "Elfin Forest," so called because the winds and rain in the higher elevations stunt the growth of the trees. Most of the trees seem to be about 12 feet tall, and they were covered in moss.

We didn't see a lot of wildlife, but we heard a lot of it: lots of birds and frogs. We saw a few birds and lizards, though.

We were pretty tired towards the end of the hike, so coming upon a small, cool stream to soak our feet in for a few minutes truly seemed like a gift. By the time we finished the hike and got back to the car, we felt a great sense of accomplishment - it was a pretty tough hike! And it was well worth it. Of course, we didn't have any time (or will) for an additional hike, so we headed back to the hotel. We got some mojito stuff back at grocery store, so at the hotel we made ourselves a pitcher of mojitos to drink in the pool and called it a day.

Out and about on Day 2

Our first stop was the Bacardi factory. There were good points and odd points about this stop. Good points were that it was free and they give you a couple of drinks. Of the several "tour guides" involved in the ordeal, one (Thomas) was really fun and nice. Odd points were that parts of the "tour" were lame and boring (like the video they make point of telling you not to record... who would record this?!). You don't get to see any of the factory. AND, there were a surprising amount of kids on the "tour," and it's surreal and somewhat disappointing to see their parents buying them Bacardi t-shirts. I did buy a mint muddler thingy, though, to commemorate the occasion, and I hope there are many mojito-making days in my future.

Our next stop, where we spent the rest of the day, was back in Old San Juan. We went to lunch at El Jibarito, a place the tour books noted was "off the beaten path," "away from the hustle and bustle," a place with "great authentic food" and "horrible service." The books were right on all accounts. Seriously, I don't know if I've ever had to wait so long for food, and we felt a little ignored. Once we got someone's attention, ordered, and got our food, it was absolutely wonderful. Carlos and I had plantains, red beans, white rice, and mofongo (a vegetable dish). Carlos had a plantain mofongo that was so so, but I had a yuca root one that was outstanding. It's like a fried bowl-shaped yuca thing. Very good (we had some later in the day with a lot of garlic in it). The beans really were some of the best ever. I also enjoyed the sweet fried plantains.




Next we went to the other fort, Castillo de San Felipe del Morro (El Morro). This fort was smaller than San Cristobal, but in some ways nicer. One of the first things you encounter is a large green space area as you're walking to the entrance, and there were dozens of people hanging out and flying kites. Inside the fort, with everything fairly compact, you're just engulfed in angles. There are several cannons about and some really spectacular views. Again, it's neat to see such an old building, and it's striking that the walls are so thick. I'm very glad we got to see both forts, and that we went to them on different days. I think it would have been overwhelming to tour both on the same day, and it would be too tough to differentiate the memories. We may actually take Lisa and Mike to San Cristobal later in the week, if there's time.



























We spent several hours just wandering around Old San Juan. The cobble stone streets and building facades have so much character. We've encountered really friendly people who will just stop and chat with you for a while about their city. We had a great drink at a beautiful restaurant, and later we had wonderful coffee from a small kiosk in a plaza. All the plazas built into the city are great, both as places to sit and as a break for your eyes. We wandered in and out of a few shops.

We had dinner at Cafe Berlin (where we had breakfast on Sunday). I was very happy with my Criollo Tofu, and Carlos had a good vegetarian Philadelphia "steak" sandwich. After dinner, we made our way back to the car (which was quite a ways away, since we had walked so much (we got a parking ticket, some locals who parked behind us told us to disregard the sign that said no parking, "they never give tickets.")) and headed back to the hotel.



We had big plans to hang out more, but we called it a night at a decent hour because we have a big day tomorrow: El Yunque National Forest, the rainforest. We'll take a lot of pictures and post them tonight.

You can see all of our pictures from each day of the trip at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48817538@N04/

Day 2

We had a brilliant idea at breakfast at the hotel, and I can't believe I never thought of this before. At the "made to order omelet bar," we asked for omelets with no eggs: just sauteed vegetables. It turned out to be an excellent plan, and it was nice to not just eat bread for breakfast. The fruit was not as exciting as we thought it would be, so we'll seek out better fruit outside the hotel.

We're all a bit less energized than we thought we would be this morning. So instead of a big adventurous day that we thought we would have, we decided that something more low key was in order.

For starters we're heading out to the Bacardi Factory for a tour (a couple of drinks, and may buy a bottle. It so hard to find a bottle of Bacardi back home???) And then head back out to Old San Juan. I think we will probably checkout the other fort and then just walk around. Old San Juan is fast becoming one of my favorite places.

Sunday evening dinner with Mike and Lisa

We picked up our Wisconsin friends, Mike and Lisa, from the airport. So fun to see them! We had an interesting episode where we took the car back to the rental place by the airport while we were at it because we couldn't figure out how to work the dashboard lights. The guy shows us this little dial on the dashboard that is also the trip odometer dial, and apparently that was how you make the dash lights come on. The dial had a tiny little lightbulb on it. Come on, it's dark, how are you supposed to see that?! But at least Carlos can see how fast he's driving at night now.

We ate dinner at PuraVida, a vegetarian restaurant in a small boutique hotel. I figured we'd hit the two restaurants I knew of as being vegetarian friendly early on, and from now on we'll just be adventurous and see what we find. We liked PuraVida quite a lot. Neat looking restaurant. The food was really great, as was the sangria. Lisa had planned to order (but they were out) the Dulce de papaya hecho en casa for dessert. It was described in the menu as "Home made typical caramelized papaya slices." We thought it was amusing to see the word "typical" in a menu description, and it is now one of our catch phrases for the trip. So often, when something happens, we'll kind of shake our heads and say, "Typical."

The next catch phrase we acquired was, "I don't like to call it an upgrade." When we got back to the hotel so Mike and Lisa could check in, it turned out the hotel didn't have any more rooms left of the category they had reserved, so the hotel put them in a *different* room for one night, and then the next day Mike and Lisa would either switch back to their other room or asked about staying the in the other room for their *inconvenience.* The desk lady said, "I don't like to call it an upgrade," explaining that some people don't actually prefer the original rooms. But this other room was bigger and had a nicer balcony, better furniture, a full kitchen, an ocean view, and a jacuzzi. My and Carlos's room has none of these things. And we don't point this out in a complaining spirit: we're not going to be spending much time in these rooms, and really, this is just funny. It's funny because Mike and Lisa always have amazing luck when they travel with us (last time they were with us, their car rental place upgraded then from a compact to a convertible for hardly any extra cost). And most importantly, "I don't like to call it an upgrade" is absolutely absurd. So we have another fun catch phrase for the trip, whenever something is better."

As a sort of aside our room has a wonderful view of a roof, half a floor below us, and construction in the background. You can see it in our flicker page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/48817538@N04/

Carlos & Jessi's First Day in Puerto Rico

Pictures from our first day in Puerto Rico:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48817538@N04/

Spent some time in Old San Juan

We arrived in Puerto Rico today. Carlos, unfortunately, didn't get much sleep on the flight, but since we couldn't check into the hotel yet anyway, we took a few hours to explore all the same.

We ate breakfast at Cafe Berlin, which we had read about as being vegetarian friendly. It was, and breakfast was wonderful: tofu scramble, grilled vegetables, potatoes, and toast. They had really good coffee, and we were adventurous enough to try a zucchini juice blend. Some people at the table next to us had one of the most amazing pancakes I'd ever seen. It was probably half an inch thick, 10 inches in diameter, and it apparently had bananas, pecans, brown sugar, etc. The people at said table caught us enamored with their pancake, but after we laughed and apologized for staring, we had a lovely chat with them (who were locals) about stuff to do in Puerto Rico.

We walked around Old San Juan a bit, mostly spending time at one of the forts, San Cristobal. It was intriguing walking around something both so old and so European... It was the kind of place I'd like to run around sword fighting in. Not that I sword fight. But I wish I did for this place (I'd imagine they'd frown upon this type of thing, actually). The walls were really thick, and there were some really cool lookout areas. We read that over the 400 years of people watching for attacks here, the fort had only been attacked five times. There were some neat tunnels and a dungeon area. The dungeon had ship drawings on the walls, and the exhibit text said that they were believed to have been drawn by a Spanish captain awaiting execution for mutiny.


The grounds were fairly expansive... to the point that we got tired rather suddenly and made our way out of the fort to leave San Juan. I hope to make it to the other fort (El Morro) before the end of the trip.

Our impressions of Puerto Rico so far are very good. People are nice and the place has a great vibe. I'm a bit skeptical of the driving, which is exacerbated by narrow lanes and street signs that don't always match what mapquest told me. We're getting by, though!