It was New Year's eve, 2014. From absolutely no plans to an exaggerated-expense vacation - I found myself marking Puerto Rico off the list.
The best way to get there from the west coast of USA is to fly via east coast (Florida) to San Juan - the capital.
It is better to have some fluency in Spanish.. or prepare to have your plans changed/your pockets raided. There is tropical-ish vegetation, climate, heavy-on-the-salt food (I am not complaining..), not much in place of traffic rules, sky-rise buildings standing opposite graffiti embossed broken structures... I might have been in Bombay.
The place of stay was Evelyn's remodelled home on the 4th floor in the centre of Old San Juan - a street away from the famous San Sebastian where most college kids travel to party (you get to drink - ID or no ID in Puerto Rico ;)). We sure got free music and chatter at nights when we lay on the bed with the balcony open and a slow fan overhead. The view from the home was rows and rows of colourful houses, cobbled streets leading down to the sea and merry cafes and restaurants.
Old San Juan: Its worth it to travel to Puerto Rico just for OSJ. The place has been under the French, Spanish, English rules at different points in time. It is not hard to see why. USA's own little Murano, Italy, it is bright, beautiful, with colourful homes lined up very close to one another. There is a park on every other street that they call 'plaza' for public to get together, celebrate or protest :) Restaurants are aplenty. Some government buildings, museums, colleges, a big bus station and malls occupy this landmark.
And oh... you must know the celebrities that live here...? Meow!
Two sturdy forts - Castillo de San Cristobal and San Felipe stand guarding OSJ from sea enemies.
You will find multiple creative nooks like the 'Poet's Passage' - where you are welcome to scribble something nice and submit.
Did you know this island is home to 'BarraChina' the place where Pina Colada was born? It sure tasted authentic - whatever that is :) OSJ folks seemed to be quite laid back, not bothering to pull their socks up for the insane New Year's crowd in restaurants. We must have easily waited 2 hours before we were served anywhere.
Sunday brunches at St. Germain's cafe and Waffle-era, lunch at Carthage Express, dinners at Toro Salao, Cafe Berlin and BarraChina.. even Subway ;), coffee at Cuatro Sombres and 'Bad Ass Coffee' , dessert at Ben & Jerry's - I am glad no one took me for a turkey. Toro Salao's Moroccan Hummus needs special mention - just try cumin powder with hummus and taste the exotic!
One place I wanted to try but couldn't was "Verde Mesa', a vegan restaurant which seemed to be overbooked... next time maybe. Mofongo seemed like the staple food - rice, eggplant, bananas on one platter.
OSJ also is home to the quite famous hotel El Convento and the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista.
The Mayor has an enviable mansion by the sea (which was all dressed up for Christmas) where he can also view the Norwegian Cruise Line that stops here. There is a beautiful statue of the first sailors who set foot on the island and all along the walk up to there was stalls lined up for Feliz Navidad..
I could have spent all 5 days in OSJ nevertheless I did venture out a bit.
Isla Verde: Took a bus ride (was quite sweaty and unpredictable) to Isla Verde - a far off downtown, just to walk around the beach and check-out the downtown. Wasn't too bad.
Condado: This is a good beach in San Juan, the capital. Don't grab one of the hundreds of chaises lying on the beach that are for residents only (unless you want to be shoo-ed away).
El Yunque: Lush green rain-forest which is an hour's drive away. Since we hadn't pre-booked any transport and it turned out impossible to get one in the holidays, we went on a guided tour with Jaime (fun guy but plenty glib). The rain forest itself was cool, with many small water falls trickling down. We ate at a 'hill-billy' place.. which I suggest you avoid.. dont ask me for the name. Jaime went on about how rain-forests are important for coqui frogs and their mating life..ahem.
Luquillo Beach: On the way back from El Yunque, Jaime stopped for a brief respite out here. And then he ushered some to go on to watch the bio-luminescence (I forget where that was). But I skipped having seen one back home in Southern California.
The best way to get there from the west coast of USA is to fly via east coast (Florida) to San Juan - the capital.
It is better to have some fluency in Spanish.. or prepare to have your plans changed/your pockets raided. There is tropical-ish vegetation, climate, heavy-on-the-salt food (I am not complaining..), not much in place of traffic rules, sky-rise buildings standing opposite graffiti embossed broken structures... I might have been in Bombay.
The place of stay was Evelyn's remodelled home on the 4th floor in the centre of Old San Juan - a street away from the famous San Sebastian where most college kids travel to party (you get to drink - ID or no ID in Puerto Rico ;)). We sure got free music and chatter at nights when we lay on the bed with the balcony open and a slow fan overhead. The view from the home was rows and rows of colourful houses, cobbled streets leading down to the sea and merry cafes and restaurants.
Old San Juan: Its worth it to travel to Puerto Rico just for OSJ. The place has been under the French, Spanish, English rules at different points in time. It is not hard to see why. USA's own little Murano, Italy, it is bright, beautiful, with colourful homes lined up very close to one another. There is a park on every other street that they call 'plaza' for public to get together, celebrate or protest :) Restaurants are aplenty. Some government buildings, museums, colleges, a big bus station and malls occupy this landmark.
And oh... you must know the celebrities that live here...? Meow!
Two sturdy forts - Castillo de San Cristobal and San Felipe stand guarding OSJ from sea enemies.
You will find multiple creative nooks like the 'Poet's Passage' - where you are welcome to scribble something nice and submit.
Did you know this island is home to 'BarraChina' the place where Pina Colada was born? It sure tasted authentic - whatever that is :) OSJ folks seemed to be quite laid back, not bothering to pull their socks up for the insane New Year's crowd in restaurants. We must have easily waited 2 hours before we were served anywhere.
Sunday brunches at St. Germain's cafe and Waffle-era, lunch at Carthage Express, dinners at Toro Salao, Cafe Berlin and BarraChina.. even Subway ;), coffee at Cuatro Sombres and 'Bad Ass Coffee' , dessert at Ben & Jerry's - I am glad no one took me for a turkey. Toro Salao's Moroccan Hummus needs special mention - just try cumin powder with hummus and taste the exotic!
One place I wanted to try but couldn't was "Verde Mesa', a vegan restaurant which seemed to be overbooked... next time maybe. Mofongo seemed like the staple food - rice, eggplant, bananas on one platter.
OSJ also is home to the quite famous hotel El Convento and the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista.
The Mayor has an enviable mansion by the sea (which was all dressed up for Christmas) where he can also view the Norwegian Cruise Line that stops here. There is a beautiful statue of the first sailors who set foot on the island and all along the walk up to there was stalls lined up for Feliz Navidad..
I could have spent all 5 days in OSJ nevertheless I did venture out a bit.
Isla Verde: Took a bus ride (was quite sweaty and unpredictable) to Isla Verde - a far off downtown, just to walk around the beach and check-out the downtown. Wasn't too bad.
Condado: This is a good beach in San Juan, the capital. Don't grab one of the hundreds of chaises lying on the beach that are for residents only (unless you want to be shoo-ed away).
El Yunque: Lush green rain-forest which is an hour's drive away. Since we hadn't pre-booked any transport and it turned out impossible to get one in the holidays, we went on a guided tour with Jaime (fun guy but plenty glib). The rain forest itself was cool, with many small water falls trickling down. We ate at a 'hill-billy' place.. which I suggest you avoid.. dont ask me for the name. Jaime went on about how rain-forests are important for coqui frogs and their mating life..ahem.
Luquillo Beach: On the way back from El Yunque, Jaime stopped for a brief respite out here. And then he ushered some to go on to watch the bio-luminescence (I forget where that was). But I skipped having seen one back home in Southern California.
Would highly recommend Old San Juan in Puerto Rico to anyone who loves traveling. There is Rincon for surfers and Vieques (which I hope to go to some day) - another couple famous islands in PR.
Signing off with some memorable images..
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