We spent a very pleasant Christmas afternoon and evening over at Norman and Annie's in Whitestone, after picking up Pickle in Manhattan. This was a big family get together, bringing together lots of young people we had not seen in a lot of years. Norman and Annie's older son, Justin, had recently been married. His wife, Sera - the younger, and her parents (Paul and Sera - the older) were there. We also met husbands and wives of family members that were little children last time we saw them. Eva and Nels and Maya, Kim and Mike, Lauren, Amy and Donald, Cindy, Roger and Lisa, were all there.
The best story of the whole night was that of Kim and Mike, who met in college. When Kim mentioned meeting Mike to her parents, they told her that they knew his parents from a long time ago. Well, it turned out that Kim's grandma and Mike's grandma were good friends in China before they emigrated to the US. And Kim and Mike had met before, when they were 2 years old! Kim's family had a picture of her and Mike holding hands at 2 years! Apparently Mike's family moved, and the two families drifted apart, only to be brought back together when the two met again. It really had the feeling of kismet!
Interesting work: Eva/Nels - gold leaf work and decorating, Mike - former ADA in the Bronx, now moving to a Manhattan law firm, Roger - interior decoration. I always enjoy hearing about people who lead a much different lifestyle than E and I.
Norman and Annie laid on a huge amount of food, easily enough for 50 people. We tried our best, but couldn't even get half way on it. One of the dishes was Chinese broccoli, with long stalks.When people had difficulty with it, Aunt Annie got out her kitchen shears and wandered around the house, cutting up the stalks on people's plates so they could eat it more easily. She also got to the strips of barbecued beef, which were a little difficult to cut with a fork. Bradley, their younger son, showed a taste for cooking and hospitality. He had taken a small watermelon and cut a decorative cap from it, then filled it with watermelon juice laced with Korean rice wine/brandy. The drink is apparently a traditional Korean libation called (phonetically) showju. Not my cuppa, but his strawberry daiquiris were.
Lots of people brought desserts, some homemade. There were also cookies from the Stork's pastry shop, a famous German bakery in Whitestone. They were terrific.
Poor Pickle woke up just as we were getting ready to go home. Somebody fixed her a plate to take along so she would have some dinner back at her apartment.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
J and L get married in Orlando
The whole reason for the Orlando stopover was to attend a nephew's wedding. E's brother P and his wife D married off their oldest son. J has been an educational miracle, with a bachelor's, a couple of master's, and now his dentistry degree. He married L, the daughter of an established Orlando family that emigrated from Taiwan. They are business people with a large circle of contacts in the South of the US.
The wedding was quite a production, held at the JW Marriott Resort in Orlando. Half the story was the pomp and circumstance, half was the get together with E's family. Both were entertaining.
Before, during, and after the ceremony a harpist played beautifully.
P (E's oldest brother) and his wife D looked good as everyone milled around waiting for the outdoor ceremony. Thank goodness it wasn't summer. As it was, the temperature was in the 80s.
One of E's other brothers, another P, looked sharp. I was under-dressed in gray slacks, a blazer, and a polo shirt.
The bride looked terrific in a gown that was modest and elegant. The long train looked inconvenient, but manageable. Here she is during the vows, in a "You be Frank, and I'll be Earnest" moment!
After the ceremony, they jumped (slight exaggeration) into a horse-drawn carriage.
And disappeared along the lovely lake (probably no alligators, but it's your guess).
P and daughter L in a quiet moment.
The reception was in the main hotel building (the place is immense). The tables were dressed beautifully. We had to grab votive candles with Chinese good luck characters (drawn in the wrong direction...), and find our table number. We sat with people we knew, luckily. Stilted conversations annoy me.
Here are the bride and groom with Mrs. W (D's mother) and her sister, at our table. They got around to everybody eventually. This must have been an exhausting day.
There was lots of drinking and dancing and speeches, stirred up by a loud and somewhat obnoxious MC-type person. Here are the best pumps of the evening. The legs weren't bad, either!
The bride's father stumbled through a speech written down by one of his other daughters. He couldn't read it very well (and was kind of tipsy besides). The audience was cheerful and forgiving, applauding him when he finished.
Finally they got around to the cake moment. The cake was pretty, but not too tasty, though.
This looks like a "What the hell is that?" or "I thought I would see that later" moment to me. Anybody else got any ideas?
After a bubble pipe exit for the bride and groom (no rice and no bird seed - I'm a fossil), we all gave up and left for the hotel where we stayed. A good time was had by all until they left and got a $16 parking bill on their way out.
The wedding was quite a production, held at the JW Marriott Resort in Orlando. Half the story was the pomp and circumstance, half was the get together with E's family. Both were entertaining.
Before, during, and after the ceremony a harpist played beautifully.
P (E's oldest brother) and his wife D looked good as everyone milled around waiting for the outdoor ceremony. Thank goodness it wasn't summer. As it was, the temperature was in the 80s.
One of E's other brothers, another P, looked sharp. I was under-dressed in gray slacks, a blazer, and a polo shirt.
Uncle J, his wife M (E's sister), and our niece L (P's daughter) were all happy to attend.
The bride looked terrific in a gown that was modest and elegant. The long train looked inconvenient, but manageable. Here she is during the vows, in a "You be Frank, and I'll be Earnest" moment!
After the ceremony, they jumped (slight exaggeration) into a horse-drawn carriage.
And disappeared along the lovely lake (probably no alligators, but it's your guess).
P and daughter L in a quiet moment.
The reception was in the main hotel building (the place is immense). The tables were dressed beautifully. We had to grab votive candles with Chinese good luck characters (drawn in the wrong direction...), and find our table number. We sat with people we knew, luckily. Stilted conversations annoy me.
Here are the bride and groom with Mrs. W (D's mother) and her sister, at our table. They got around to everybody eventually. This must have been an exhausting day.
There was lots of drinking and dancing and speeches, stirred up by a loud and somewhat obnoxious MC-type person. Here are the best pumps of the evening. The legs weren't bad, either!
The bride's father stumbled through a speech written down by one of his other daughters. He couldn't read it very well (and was kind of tipsy besides). The audience was cheerful and forgiving, applauding him when he finished.
Finally they got around to the cake moment. The cake was pretty, but not too tasty, though.
This looks like a "What the hell is that?" or "I thought I would see that later" moment to me. Anybody else got any ideas?
After a bubble pipe exit for the bride and groom (no rice and no bird seed - I'm a fossil), we all gave up and left for the hotel where we stayed. A good time was had by all until they left and got a $16 parking bill on their way out.
The next morning we had a really fun talk with P (#2) and L, making plans to return to Jamaica. Then we set out on another boring drive back home (in three steps).
East from Austin
This was kind of a boring trip, in the early part. First night we stayed in Butt's Nub (Jennings), Louisiana. This is kind of a dead town with not much to recommend it. Following that we passed through eastern Louisiana, passing throught the Atchafalaya Basin early. There was a great deal of fog, giving the cypress trees in the basin a ghostly, beautiful look.
Then we passed through Alabama, seeing the USS Alabama in the same fog. The effect was also lovely.
We stopped for the next night in Pensacola, followed by Gainesville. That was our anniversary night (32 years)! We met up briefly with Bennie Smith, a graduate student from our years who came back to be a professor. We also saw Nic Omenetto, who post-doc'd with Dr. Winefordner during our time in his group. Nic also joined the faculty at University of Florida, giving up on his native Italy.
Since we had seen S on the way down to Texas, we thought of looking for our old apartment. S lived downstairs from us for a year or two. We had a missed attempt, but finally found 1309 NW 6th Street! It was just as I remembered it from 30 odd years ago.
The next night we were on to Orlando, in preparation for a wedding. On the first afternoon we went on to Cocoa Beach to meet with a former colleague of E's from Celanese. Then we went on to D's parents home to deliver presents and have a nice home-cooked meal. They live in a small development directly on the inland waterway. The house is really nice, with a screened pool overlooking the water. Apparently all manner of wildlife are evident here, including manatees. This was a really enjoyable day. It was good to get to know D's folks a little better. They are easy to talk to and a lot of fun.
Then we returned to Orlando to meet up with Esther's relatives. More in the next post.
Texas and eastward
We had a great time in Texas (Austin) this time. It was a different experience, as H and D both had jobs this time. We had to have fun around their schedules to some extent. But it was also, in part, a celebration of their lives becoming more stable and established in a place they enjoy a lot. This time was enhanced by L (our older daughter) joining us from NYC for a vacation. Here we are in the park on a map of Texas, sitting around Austin.
It was really good to see H & L together again! They are good sisters and enjoy each other a lot.
I am happy to report that Austin is lively (and weird) in the winter, too. This city is active! The events are possibly a little more sparse than summer, but not much. Here is a sampling.
One evening (at the full moon) we went down to the Zilker Park Barton Springs Pool. Rumor had it that every full moon there is a "Howl at the Moon" night. Nobody was howling, but the pool was beautiful in the moonlight. We also went down to the pool during daylight. As cool as the temps were at times (flurries in the air one day), there were always lap swimmers doing the length of the pool!
Here is a peek in the kettle corn (popcorn) tent. These guys were going a mile a minute, popping and emptying the kettle. They stirred continuously, with the popcorn inactive until it burst all at once, filling the kettle with sugary corn. The light was low, so you can't see the the individual corns.
It's a toys for tots kind of parade. Many kids attend, bringing toys to put in trucks and shopping carts that are part of the parade.
Among the bands, choirs, tiny ponies, etc. are some examples of "Keeping Austin Weird", a continuing theme stemming from the 1960's and a bohemian atmosphere that has persisted.
The armored 'dillo is a mascot here. This one squirted flames out its nose on occasion.
We were at the end of the parade and got to watch the balloons go horizontal to pass under wires on the Congress Street bridge.
Austin is certainly all about music. They have a LOT of free concerts. We went to see a City Hall Plaza concert while we were there. There is a really nice setting with sunshade (not needed that day) and a stage for bands. The group at this concert was Chicken City Strut, a funk and jazz band. They play at Guerro's regularly. The music was really good, reminiscent of the 60s and my early days. The guys were fairly young, except for the keyboardist, but they had a really good feel for this music. We enjoyed it a lot.
Another day we went back to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for a free day. This place is captivating! The stonework is really nice. There is something soothing about limestone. A favorite spot is this pond at the entrance. In the summer there is wildlife. In winter it is less populated, but still draws people.
There is quite a bit of sculpture around, and it changes from time to time. I would call these whimsical. Good to see that Americans can do whimsical as well as the French.
We didn't do as much hiking this time as last, probably due to H & D working as well as our own sloth and laptop addiction. We did get to the Wild Basin, a preserve close to Austin. This one is only here due to a stubborn group of women dedicated to keeping some wildness around as Austin grows. It is a nice area with several trails traversing the limestone hills and a beautiful creek area. We enjoyed it a lot, even getting a giggle when we passed a freakshow next to some limestone boulders. A guy with a beard was laughing along with his girlfriend, under a sheet on the ground. They were smoking a J and getting it on, interrupted only momentarily as we passed. Things are dry in Texas this time of year. Be careful with your roach!
It was really good to see H & L together again! They are good sisters and enjoy each other a lot.
I am happy to report that Austin is lively (and weird) in the winter, too. This city is active! The events are possibly a little more sparse than summer, but not much. Here is a sampling.
One evening (at the full moon) we went down to the Zilker Park Barton Springs Pool. Rumor had it that every full moon there is a "Howl at the Moon" night. Nobody was howling, but the pool was beautiful in the moonlight. We also went down to the pool during daylight. As cool as the temps were at times (flurries in the air one day), there were always lap swimmers doing the length of the pool!
During Christmas season the park is decorated. Austin retains a Moon Tower in the park, a remnant of an earlier lighting scheme that placed lights on a high tower to cover a wide area. In this season they dress it up as a Christmas tree, strung with lights. It is quite impressive. If you stand inside the lights, as a whole crowd does, the effect is dizzying.
Here is a peek in the kettle corn (popcorn) tent. These guys were going a mile a minute, popping and emptying the kettle. They stirred continuously, with the popcorn inactive until it burst all at once, filling the kettle with sugary corn. The light was low, so you can't see the the individual corns.
A little earlier in the stay we went to see the Chuy's Christmas Parade on Congress Street. Chuy's is a well known TexMex eating place on Barton Springs Road (the site of some embarrassing behavior by one of the Bush twins). Chuy's sponsors a parade each Christmas.
This was a pretty big parade, with lots of participants of many types.
It's a toys for tots kind of parade. Many kids attend, bringing toys to put in trucks and shopping carts that are part of the parade.
Among the bands, choirs, tiny ponies, etc. are some examples of "Keeping Austin Weird", a continuing theme stemming from the 1960's and a bohemian atmosphere that has persisted.
The armored 'dillo is a mascot here. This one squirted flames out its nose on occasion.
We were at the end of the parade and got to watch the balloons go horizontal to pass under wires on the Congress Street bridge.
Austin is certainly all about music. They have a LOT of free concerts. We went to see a City Hall Plaza concert while we were there. There is a really nice setting with sunshade (not needed that day) and a stage for bands. The group at this concert was Chicken City Strut, a funk and jazz band. They play at Guerro's regularly. The music was really good, reminiscent of the 60s and my early days. The guys were fairly young, except for the keyboardist, but they had a really good feel for this music. We enjoyed it a lot.
Another day we went back to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for a free day. This place is captivating! The stonework is really nice. There is something soothing about limestone. A favorite spot is this pond at the entrance. In the summer there is wildlife. In winter it is less populated, but still draws people.
There is quite a bit of sculpture around, and it changes from time to time. I would call these whimsical. Good to see that Americans can do whimsical as well as the French.
We didn't do as much hiking this time as last, probably due to H & D working as well as our own sloth and laptop addiction. We did get to the Wild Basin, a preserve close to Austin. This one is only here due to a stubborn group of women dedicated to keeping some wildness around as Austin grows. It is a nice area with several trails traversing the limestone hills and a beautiful creek area. We enjoyed it a lot, even getting a giggle when we passed a freakshow next to some limestone boulders. A guy with a beard was laughing along with his girlfriend, under a sheet on the ground. They were smoking a J and getting it on, interrupted only momentarily as we passed. Things are dry in Texas this time of year. Be careful with your roach!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Recalcitrant writer recaps road trip
The second road trip to Austin began last week. This was a different kind of road trip, concentrating on people rather than sights. Our first stop was in Chincoteague at our normal haunt.
The second stop brought us to Raleigh, NC, to reconnect with an old friend from grad school. Sam (and wife Ilona) were very kind to us, putting us up for the night, wining and dining us, and providing great conversation. Sam was in the class after me at UF, and was a neighbor for a year or two. We spent a lot of time together. He was brash, young, very bright, and full of energy. He still is! Sam regularly bikes 60 miles to a lakeside home in Virginia. He lectures, writes, consults, and starts companies. We had a great time and will probably trade visits from now on. It felt like we picked up exactly where we left off 30-odd years ago.
The third stop was in Decatur to see one of E's cousins. We had reconnected in Mandeville, Jamaica once before. The family also maintains a home in Georgia, where the jobs were. We had a delightful evening accompanied by white rum, then visited another cousin the next day. E's cousin is married to Conrad, who has two brothers Winston and Tyrone. The brothers sound like they should be movie starts! Winston is a Ph.D. biologist who had a long career at the CDC in Atlanta, studying hemorrhagic diseases. Conrad is a grocer, part of the Mandeville Moo Penn family. This also was a very enjoyable visit.
The fourth stop was in Jackson, MS, after a long and boring drive. This route took us on US 20, which doesn't seem nearly as entertaining as US 30. At any rate, this drive took us through a monsoon. We had wipers on full and still couldn't see the road properly. This made for miserable driving with trucks throwing up nasty spray and cars driving at 20 mph under their normal speeds.
The fifth stop took us to Terrell, TX, where we met Monalisa at our motel. Monalisa was a vivacious, pretty woman with a great attitude. She was cheerful, helpful, and welcoming. She told me her mother named her for the song, sung by Nat King Cole, Elvis, and Willie Nelson, among others.
Then we went on to Austin, picking up H at school. She is taking extra courses to qualify for nurse training. Apparently it takes more than a BS in biology to get in. It is nice to reach here and see H and D. Now for some family adventures. Our other daughter L will join us for 10 days. We'll see what evolves.
The second stop brought us to Raleigh, NC, to reconnect with an old friend from grad school. Sam (and wife Ilona) were very kind to us, putting us up for the night, wining and dining us, and providing great conversation. Sam was in the class after me at UF, and was a neighbor for a year or two. We spent a lot of time together. He was brash, young, very bright, and full of energy. He still is! Sam regularly bikes 60 miles to a lakeside home in Virginia. He lectures, writes, consults, and starts companies. We had a great time and will probably trade visits from now on. It felt like we picked up exactly where we left off 30-odd years ago.
The third stop was in Decatur to see one of E's cousins. We had reconnected in Mandeville, Jamaica once before. The family also maintains a home in Georgia, where the jobs were. We had a delightful evening accompanied by white rum, then visited another cousin the next day. E's cousin is married to Conrad, who has two brothers Winston and Tyrone. The brothers sound like they should be movie starts! Winston is a Ph.D. biologist who had a long career at the CDC in Atlanta, studying hemorrhagic diseases. Conrad is a grocer, part of the Mandeville Moo Penn family. This also was a very enjoyable visit.
The fourth stop was in Jackson, MS, after a long and boring drive. This route took us on US 20, which doesn't seem nearly as entertaining as US 30. At any rate, this drive took us through a monsoon. We had wipers on full and still couldn't see the road properly. This made for miserable driving with trucks throwing up nasty spray and cars driving at 20 mph under their normal speeds.
The fifth stop took us to Terrell, TX, where we met Monalisa at our motel. Monalisa was a vivacious, pretty woman with a great attitude. She was cheerful, helpful, and welcoming. She told me her mother named her for the song, sung by Nat King Cole, Elvis, and Willie Nelson, among others.
Then we went on to Austin, picking up H at school. She is taking extra courses to qualify for nurse training. Apparently it takes more than a BS in biology to get in. It is nice to reach here and see H and D. Now for some family adventures. Our other daughter L will join us for 10 days. We'll see what evolves.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Puerto Rico off season
Well, I never really wanted to go to Puerto Rico. It is a territory of the US, and I figured it would be too US-like for me. I was partly right and partly wrong. E and Pickle and I just returned from a week vacation on the west coast near Rincon. Here is the result.
There seem to be a lot of varieties of crabs, some of which are edible.
And a retired zoologist showed us his ball python, his friend for a long time.
Beaches
There are tons of them. We were near Rincon, supposedly known for its surfing. Take a look here! No waves! A bit further north there is more of an Atlantic character, though, bringing bigger waves.
The off season seems nice here. The place we stayed was deserted during the week. On weekends the local people book it up a bit more. We had the beach pretty much to ourselves. We couldn't veg for very long, though. About midweek we got going to see a bit more. This is the "surfing" beach near the lighthouse north of Rincon.
The character of the beaches seems to be quite natural, though some that are in cities or parks are tended a little more carefully. Unlike other places, you can still see and collect sea glass here.
Politics
Politics seems to be big business here. We were told that about 90% of eligible voters participate in elections. People are very participative. While we were there, the election preparations were going on. Every Saturday, and sometimes in between, there are parades of cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Some of them, like this one, have HUGE loud speakers on them, blaring out messages in Spanish along with music. While almost everyone here can speak English, the overwhelming everyday language is Spanish.
Other vehicle have people in, hanging onto, sticking out of, and on top of them. Apparently there is no regard for safety! The cops evident in all these parades seem to ignore that.
It is not uncommon to see 40 or 50 vehicles all driving along together, honking horns, shouting, and blaring music in support of their candidate. They double up, they pass each other, they peel out, they take up the wrong lanes; it is just plain crazy!
Old friends
One of the days we met up with one of E's old friends from graduate school. Carmencita is a multi-talented woman, a professor of chemistry at the Mayaguez branch of the University of Puerto Rico , a musician, a talented poet, the founder of the Mayaguez Symphony Orchestra, and a hell of a lot of fun. She and E pal'ed around together in Gainesville quite a while ago. To give you an idea, Carmen once won a wet t-shirt contest without baring herself, just by dancing the rumba island-style.
With Carmen we visited a lot of local places. We started with lunch at a little town called Joyuda, on the beach near Mayaguez.
We ate at El Gatito (the little cat), which had fresh seafood and appetizers that were very good. A bottle of Medalla, the local beer, went really well with that.
Then we went to see San German, the very first Spanish settlement in the Western Hemisphere. This was a beautiful small town with a central square surrounded with gorgeous houses and a restored church.
Carmen got us in to see the church, despite it being closed. She is quite a wheeler-dealer, and knew the historian who happened to be inside.
Most of the roof had been restored. However, the inside columns were original, made of a wood so hard that you cannot hammer nails into it. There were a lot of beautiful artifacts inside, like this tile of the Tower of Babel, situated on the steps leading to the pulpit.
This gives you an idea of its size, as well as showing some of the original columns and an original carving.
We ended the day visiting the University Campus, which has a planting of some 50+ varieties of palm trees spread across the campus.
It also has some really beautiful sculptures like this Tree of Life with Pickle sitting next to it. This is quite an old campus. The government is currently restoring some of the original buildings.
Exploring a bit
Other days we had more adventures. One evening we reached La Parguera on the south coast right after dusk. Here there is a mangrove lagoon that has a bioluminescent character. John's Boat Tours took us out to see the "must see" natural phenomenon.
About 20 of us piled into this boat to splash through the shallows into the lagoon. There a young man jumped into the water and started swimming around in it. Then about half the people on the boat jumped in and swam around, stirring up the water. Then the mosquitoes came and attacked the rest of us!
This is the best picture I took of the phosphorescence. It was VERY pale, almost to the point of SO WHAT? Oh, well, live and learn. For $6 what do you want?
Another day we headed off to see a church in Hormigueros, a small town along the Route 2 expressway. Since we were early in the day we stopped off at a well known bakery for breakfast. Bakeries here are a little strange. They have the obvious, bread and sweet confections. They also have comida criollas (Creole food) and sandwiches. They serve anything from breakfast through dinner, and are open early and late. This one (Ricomini) is really good.
We knew the established route to Hormigueros, but spotted a sign that pointed us along the way much earlier than we expected. It took us onto a tiny (1 1/2 lane) country road that just got smaller and smaller as we drove. Along the way we saw this beautiful horse who clearly expected to be fed something. Unfortunately we were traveling sans carrots.
After a while the road dwindled into one lane and started winding up and down hill, skirting ravines and jungle. I love this kind of thing, and am used to driving on minimal roads. I learned to drive when I was eleven, and drove woods roads a lot. Unfortunately, this is a very scary thing for Pickle, who screeches a lot and accuses me of trying to kill her. So, when confronted with a tree half across the road I turned back, ultimately resulting in a visit to a gomera. We had seen signs everywhere for gomeras, but couldn't tell what they were. You really don't want to know!
This picture should give you a hint! As we drove off the hill we began to notice a thump, thump, thump sound. I stopped twice to look at the tires, but did not notice any problem. Soon enough, though, we knew what had happened.
The timing could not have been worse! Remember the afternoon thunder shower mentioned above? As we were driving through Mayaguez, the afternoon shower began. Soon I had the wipers on full speed. We began to notice flooding on the expressway and streams running down roads. Everyone slowed down to about 10 mph. The thump, thump, thump then resolved itself into a flat tire. I ended up replacing the tire in a freaking monsoon! Seriously, I thought I would get washed away before I could put on the spare. We had picked up metal spikes on the back road. So, the next day I discovered what a gomera was. Gomas are tires, and the gomeras replace or fix them. At least it was cheap ($8 for a patch).
What else?
Sunsets are good here, at least if you can see to the west! If it doesn't rain you should hang out around sunset and see if anything happens.
The farmer's market in San Sebastian is pretty entertaining. It's a bit windy and twisty, roadwise, to get there. The market site is really unusual. They have constructed a long, concrete-roofed, winding market place. It meanders over a couple of acres next to a big parking lot.
There is a lot of stuff that you would not usually see. Some very strange roots are in evidence. There are lots of varieties of yams.
There are about a billion and one kinds of bananas. You can get anything from one to a bunch.
You can get these stubby, thick, vaguely disturbing ones, too. I wouldn't go for that kind, though.
They also have a wide variety of animals for sale, everything from these goldfish...
to baby rabbits, puppies, prize hens and roosters, and these tropical birds.
Food
We were a bit disappointed. There is a LOT of fried stuff here. There is also mofongo, with its sort of ghetto epithet sound. Mofongo is mashed plaintain with other stuff - e.g., bacon fat and garlic. It is often served relleno - stuffed. You can get it stuffed with lobster, shrimp, fish, or chicken. You can even get a gob stuffed with meat and fried - alcapurrias. Edible, but nobodies favorite.
Last day - San Juan
Everybody says you have to see Old San Juan. On our last day we drove the southern route, through Ponce and over the mountains to San Juan. The mountains can be a challenge. Your squirrel cage rental car will be in second gear for a looooong time, creeping up and up and up. Add in a downburst from a cloud that's about 10 feet over your head and you have an unusual trip. Along the way we got gas, leaving the toll road just after paying $1.75 toll. Following the signs back to the toll road we found ourselves - guess where - back on the pay again side of the toll. What the hell?
Reaching San Juan we found parking just at the entrance of the walls to the fort. The fort is pretty impressive, with really thick and high walls. It is a traditional star-shaped fort, able to defend from two directions (star points) against an attack at the same time.
Inside now are lots of buildings, beautiful sculptures, and tourist traps. It was sweltering hot and reaching toward 100% humidity. The thunderstorms we drove through to get there were approaching while we were walking through the old town dripping.
Losing ten pounds of water while walking tended to ruin our curiosity. So we walked down the hill inside the fort toward the harbor and our parking garage. We paid our $1.87 for two hours of parking and left. (I don't believe I ever saw a parking garage return $0.13 as change before.) Sure enough, as soon as we were out of the garage, the downpour started again.
After a brief 4 hours wait at the airport and paying $45 to ship our bags back on the airplane with us we were off to the states again.
Conclusion
While this is an unusual place with lots of attractions, we probably will not go back for a while. There are lots of other islands to see. The only one compelling for us for extra visits is Jamaica, since there is family there. So, go, explore, taste, and enjoy. Make your own conclusions. Be sure to explore, though! There is always something new and different around the corner.
There is absolutely no doubt of US influence on the island. All you have to do is to see all the McDonalds, Burger Kings, Pizza Huts, Church's Chicken, Walmart, Walgreens, Home Depots, and other US brand stores fly by as you drive. You also can't help but notice the (good) quality of the roads, signage, street lighting, level of housing, and types of cars that show up as you travel. After that, though, the flavor begins to assert itself. There are a lot of ways in which Puerto Rico distinguishes itself.
Tropical with a capital T
There is no doubt you are in the tropics. This is not just Florida hot and humid. This is wringing wet at times, surrounded by the sea and always feeling its effects. It is almond trees on the beach. (By the way, don't sit under them - despite the great shade - unless you are willing to have a knot on your head when an almond in its husk falls on your head. They are heavy.)
It is daily thunderstorm wet. More on that later.
You can even drive through a cloud (and torrential rain) as you go from the south coast over the mountains to the north coast.
Animals
Some are really strange to us temperate climate types. Of course we have all seen frogs and lizards. But these are really big! This guy sat about 5 inches tall. We thought it was the infamous Coqui frog, but it turns out that that one is a little guy (about the size of a quarter). The Coqui is the frog that sings out with a powerful voice each night. We're not sure what this guy was doing, other than sitting there patiently while we took its picture.
The lizards are also pretty big. This guys was one of many, easily hanging on a vertical concrete column, motionless for minutes at a time.
Tropical with a capital T
There is no doubt you are in the tropics. This is not just Florida hot and humid. This is wringing wet at times, surrounded by the sea and always feeling its effects. It is almond trees on the beach. (By the way, don't sit under them - despite the great shade - unless you are willing to have a knot on your head when an almond in its husk falls on your head. They are heavy.)
It is daily thunderstorm wet. More on that later.
You can even drive through a cloud (and torrential rain) as you go from the south coast over the mountains to the north coast.
Animals
Some are really strange to us temperate climate types. Of course we have all seen frogs and lizards. But these are really big! This guy sat about 5 inches tall. We thought it was the infamous Coqui frog, but it turns out that that one is a little guy (about the size of a quarter). The Coqui is the frog that sings out with a powerful voice each night. We're not sure what this guy was doing, other than sitting there patiently while we took its picture.
The lizards are also pretty big. This guys was one of many, easily hanging on a vertical concrete column, motionless for minutes at a time.
There seem to be a lot of varieties of crabs, some of which are edible.
And a retired zoologist showed us his ball python, his friend for a long time.
Beaches
There are tons of them. We were near Rincon, supposedly known for its surfing. Take a look here! No waves! A bit further north there is more of an Atlantic character, though, bringing bigger waves.
The off season seems nice here. The place we stayed was deserted during the week. On weekends the local people book it up a bit more. We had the beach pretty much to ourselves. We couldn't veg for very long, though. About midweek we got going to see a bit more. This is the "surfing" beach near the lighthouse north of Rincon.
The character of the beaches seems to be quite natural, though some that are in cities or parks are tended a little more carefully. Unlike other places, you can still see and collect sea glass here.
Politics
Politics seems to be big business here. We were told that about 90% of eligible voters participate in elections. People are very participative. While we were there, the election preparations were going on. Every Saturday, and sometimes in between, there are parades of cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Some of them, like this one, have HUGE loud speakers on them, blaring out messages in Spanish along with music. While almost everyone here can speak English, the overwhelming everyday language is Spanish.
Other vehicle have people in, hanging onto, sticking out of, and on top of them. Apparently there is no regard for safety! The cops evident in all these parades seem to ignore that.
It is not uncommon to see 40 or 50 vehicles all driving along together, honking horns, shouting, and blaring music in support of their candidate. They double up, they pass each other, they peel out, they take up the wrong lanes; it is just plain crazy!
Old friends
One of the days we met up with one of E's old friends from graduate school. Carmencita is a multi-talented woman, a professor of chemistry at the Mayaguez branch of the University of Puerto Rico , a musician, a talented poet, the founder of the Mayaguez Symphony Orchestra, and a hell of a lot of fun. She and E pal'ed around together in Gainesville quite a while ago. To give you an idea, Carmen once won a wet t-shirt contest without baring herself, just by dancing the rumba island-style.
With Carmen we visited a lot of local places. We started with lunch at a little town called Joyuda, on the beach near Mayaguez.
We ate at El Gatito (the little cat), which had fresh seafood and appetizers that were very good. A bottle of Medalla, the local beer, went really well with that.
Then we went to see San German, the very first Spanish settlement in the Western Hemisphere. This was a beautiful small town with a central square surrounded with gorgeous houses and a restored church.
Carmen got us in to see the church, despite it being closed. She is quite a wheeler-dealer, and knew the historian who happened to be inside.
Most of the roof had been restored. However, the inside columns were original, made of a wood so hard that you cannot hammer nails into it. There were a lot of beautiful artifacts inside, like this tile of the Tower of Babel, situated on the steps leading to the pulpit.
This gives you an idea of its size, as well as showing some of the original columns and an original carving.
We ended the day visiting the University Campus, which has a planting of some 50+ varieties of palm trees spread across the campus.
It also has some really beautiful sculptures like this Tree of Life with Pickle sitting next to it. This is quite an old campus. The government is currently restoring some of the original buildings.
Exploring a bit
Other days we had more adventures. One evening we reached La Parguera on the south coast right after dusk. Here there is a mangrove lagoon that has a bioluminescent character. John's Boat Tours took us out to see the "must see" natural phenomenon.
About 20 of us piled into this boat to splash through the shallows into the lagoon. There a young man jumped into the water and started swimming around in it. Then about half the people on the boat jumped in and swam around, stirring up the water. Then the mosquitoes came and attacked the rest of us!
This is the best picture I took of the phosphorescence. It was VERY pale, almost to the point of SO WHAT? Oh, well, live and learn. For $6 what do you want?
Another day we headed off to see a church in Hormigueros, a small town along the Route 2 expressway. Since we were early in the day we stopped off at a well known bakery for breakfast. Bakeries here are a little strange. They have the obvious, bread and sweet confections. They also have comida criollas (Creole food) and sandwiches. They serve anything from breakfast through dinner, and are open early and late. This one (Ricomini) is really good.
We knew the established route to Hormigueros, but spotted a sign that pointed us along the way much earlier than we expected. It took us onto a tiny (1 1/2 lane) country road that just got smaller and smaller as we drove. Along the way we saw this beautiful horse who clearly expected to be fed something. Unfortunately we were traveling sans carrots.
After a while the road dwindled into one lane and started winding up and down hill, skirting ravines and jungle. I love this kind of thing, and am used to driving on minimal roads. I learned to drive when I was eleven, and drove woods roads a lot. Unfortunately, this is a very scary thing for Pickle, who screeches a lot and accuses me of trying to kill her. So, when confronted with a tree half across the road I turned back, ultimately resulting in a visit to a gomera. We had seen signs everywhere for gomeras, but couldn't tell what they were. You really don't want to know!
This picture should give you a hint! As we drove off the hill we began to notice a thump, thump, thump sound. I stopped twice to look at the tires, but did not notice any problem. Soon enough, though, we knew what had happened.
The timing could not have been worse! Remember the afternoon thunder shower mentioned above? As we were driving through Mayaguez, the afternoon shower began. Soon I had the wipers on full speed. We began to notice flooding on the expressway and streams running down roads. Everyone slowed down to about 10 mph. The thump, thump, thump then resolved itself into a flat tire. I ended up replacing the tire in a freaking monsoon! Seriously, I thought I would get washed away before I could put on the spare. We had picked up metal spikes on the back road. So, the next day I discovered what a gomera was. Gomas are tires, and the gomeras replace or fix them. At least it was cheap ($8 for a patch).
What else?
Sunsets are good here, at least if you can see to the west! If it doesn't rain you should hang out around sunset and see if anything happens.
The farmer's market in San Sebastian is pretty entertaining. It's a bit windy and twisty, roadwise, to get there. The market site is really unusual. They have constructed a long, concrete-roofed, winding market place. It meanders over a couple of acres next to a big parking lot.
There is a lot of stuff that you would not usually see. Some very strange roots are in evidence. There are lots of varieties of yams.
There are about a billion and one kinds of bananas. You can get anything from one to a bunch.
You can get these stubby, thick, vaguely disturbing ones, too. I wouldn't go for that kind, though.
They also have a wide variety of animals for sale, everything from these goldfish...
to baby rabbits, puppies, prize hens and roosters, and these tropical birds.
Food
We were a bit disappointed. There is a LOT of fried stuff here. There is also mofongo, with its sort of ghetto epithet sound. Mofongo is mashed plaintain with other stuff - e.g., bacon fat and garlic. It is often served relleno - stuffed. You can get it stuffed with lobster, shrimp, fish, or chicken. You can even get a gob stuffed with meat and fried - alcapurrias. Edible, but nobodies favorite.
Last day - San Juan
Everybody says you have to see Old San Juan. On our last day we drove the southern route, through Ponce and over the mountains to San Juan. The mountains can be a challenge. Your squirrel cage rental car will be in second gear for a looooong time, creeping up and up and up. Add in a downburst from a cloud that's about 10 feet over your head and you have an unusual trip. Along the way we got gas, leaving the toll road just after paying $1.75 toll. Following the signs back to the toll road we found ourselves - guess where - back on the pay again side of the toll. What the hell?
Reaching San Juan we found parking just at the entrance of the walls to the fort. The fort is pretty impressive, with really thick and high walls. It is a traditional star-shaped fort, able to defend from two directions (star points) against an attack at the same time.
Inside now are lots of buildings, beautiful sculptures, and tourist traps. It was sweltering hot and reaching toward 100% humidity. The thunderstorms we drove through to get there were approaching while we were walking through the old town dripping.
Losing ten pounds of water while walking tended to ruin our curiosity. So we walked down the hill inside the fort toward the harbor and our parking garage. We paid our $1.87 for two hours of parking and left. (I don't believe I ever saw a parking garage return $0.13 as change before.) Sure enough, as soon as we were out of the garage, the downpour started again.
After a brief 4 hours wait at the airport and paying $45 to ship our bags back on the airplane with us we were off to the states again.
Conclusion
While this is an unusual place with lots of attractions, we probably will not go back for a while. There are lots of other islands to see. The only one compelling for us for extra visits is Jamaica, since there is family there. So, go, explore, taste, and enjoy. Make your own conclusions. Be sure to explore, though! There is always something new and different around the corner.
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