October 30 Old San Juan

October 30, 2012

We were fascinated with the statues on the streets, like this bronze man 

and pigeon sitting on a park bench. 

Today started slowly as we finally had the opportunity to make up for our lack of sleep.  

We packed our luggage and walked the block or two to the Hotel Casablanca.  What a fascinating place, very Moroccan...pillows and cushions everywhere.  The lobby was elegant and the rooms all had canopies made from mosquito netting.  

Sadly, the room we reserved was having hot water problems and we were offered an upgrade.  We weren't pleased with the upgrade as the room didn't have windows and the room we reserved actually had a balcony.  Still, we wanted hot water for showers in the morning, so they offered us the two rooms...one for us to sleep, and one for us to shower.

We then walked many of the streets in Viejo San Juan, occasionally going into the shops and browsing. I was very interested in all the Middle Eastern clothing and objects for sale.  I guess it isn't so surprising when I think of Spain's long involvement with many of those countries, especially prior to the 1500s when Puerto Rico developed.

We stopped for lunch in a typical Puerto Rican restaurant.  Not knowing many of the menu items, we took a chance and order their lunch special, mofonjo.  It was smashed plaintains with garlic and spices, and it came with your choice of meat as a side dish.  Neither of us were impressed with the lunch.  Plaintains, fixed this way, tasted much like potatoes.  

We returned to our room and spent awhile trying to get the blog and the photos to work properly.  We think we now have it mainly fixed.

We walked to dinner at a delightful tapas restaurant, and then back to the room to watch the devastation in the East on CNN.  It is incredible!  I am glued to the tv whenever we are in the room.  I am missing my daily Rachel Maddow fix on MSNBC as our only national station is CNN.

October 29, 2012 Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

October 29, 2012

We had quite an experience getting to our first hotel in San Juan.  The all-night flight was quick and uneventful, not even any turbulence from Hurricane Sandy.  We arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, and had 3.5 hours to kill before our flight to Puerto Rico.  We were tired, but happy to be in sunshine and excited to complete our trip and really rest.

We boarded our plane and it taxied out to sit on the tarmac for over 90 minutes.  It was warm inside and we were very hungry as we hadn't eaten anything since a small dinner the night before.   The problem was not with our plane, thank goodness.  It seems that both Jacksonville and Atlanta centers had lost radar, probably because of Sandy.  After about an hour, they finally allowed domestic flights to leave, but international flights south were delayed an additional 30 minutes.

This flight was a bit bumpy, but Sandy was still out to sea and hovering off North Carolina and Virginia.  

It was close to 90 degrees upon arrival in San Juan and we were anxious to get to our hotel and sleep.  We waited in a long line for a taxi only to find that the taxi drivers had gone on strike an hour before.  It seems that they work for a certain tourist agency that didn't like how the drivers were dressed or how clean their cars were.  The company started charging $100 for each offense and the drivers struck.  We finally found a taxi upstairs in the terminal.  It had another couple in it, but they agreed to share the car with us as few were available.  Our driver said that his father owned five cars and the sons could drive them as taxis, as long as they paid their father $40/day for the use of the car.  The driver said that all taxis were owned privately, but belonged to this group which gave out the fines.  He wasn't worried, though, because he always dressed appropriately and kept the car clean.  It sounded to us like he was a scab.   

The photo above is the street where Hotel Milano is located in Viejo San Juan.  The room was $145/night and very basic.  There weren't any windows, just two glass blocks high up on one wall.  At least we had good air conditioning, and the staff was friendly.  While we felt closed in, we were too tired to care.  After a walk in the area and dinner, we stayed in and watched Sandy on CNN, marveling at all the destruction.  7.5 million homes are without power and at least 16 people have died in the U.S.  Wow!

Ballots mailed....check!

Newspaper and mail cancelled.....check!

Police and bank notified.....check!

Arranged with sister for pet care.....check!

Arranged with Jeanine for airport transportation.....check!

Hotels reserved and airline tickets purchased.....check!

Car reserved.....check!

Now let's see, I have only tomorrow free before we leave. 

There must be something left to do.....I know, pack!

That will take some planning as well. It is 86 degrees today  in Puerto Rico

with 80% humidity...plus some rain every day.  I think we'll be swimming!

Before the trip

Jim and I are pouring over guide books for our trip.  We will be leaving on October 28th and returning on November 25th.  Our first stop will be San Juan, Puerto Rico.   We will stay on the island for two weeks before visiting some of the Southern Caribbean islands on Royal Caribbean.  We will be home one day before heading to Whistler for the Thanksgiving weekend.  

Once we arrive in San Juan, I am hoping to post each day that we have internet available.

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