7/23/2024 (Tuesday)
San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital and largest city, sits on the island's Atlantic coast. Its widest beach fronts the Isla Verde resort strip, known for its bars, nightclubs and casinos. Cobblestoned Old San Juan features colorful Spanish colonial buildings and 16th-century landmarks including El Morro and La Fortaleza, massive fortresses with sweeping ocean views, as well as the Paseo de la Princesa bayside promenade.
For The Old Folks: Indulge in two popular Puerto Rican pastimes: sightseeing and eating. Your friendly and informative guide will lead you past Old San Juan's colonial treasures and important historic sites such as the San Juan Gate, Princess Pathway and Prison, Museum of Doña Fela, Plaza de Armas and San Juan Cathedral. The walking tour ends at a local restaurant where you'll be welcomed into a private dining area and treated to delicious Puerto Rican hors d'oeuvres.
Then, the chef will prepare mofongo, Puerto Rico's famous native dish. Observe how deep-fried cassava or green plantains are mashed together with other ingredients such as garlic and other seasoning to later be paired with delicious creole chicken. Also on the menu is a mojito cocktail made with rum, mint, lime juice, sugar and splash of tonic. Following the demo, you'll sit down with both for a hearty and memorable lunch before returning to the pier.
At the crack of dawn, precisely 6:30, my eyes creaked open. I stealthily tip-toed out of bed, leaving Her Majesty, the queen of snoring, peacefully serenading the neighborhood with her comical symphony of sounds.
I sorted out the last of last night's photos and finished off the Daily Diary for today. We needed to be rested for the all-day walk of San Juan. To be prepared, I looked up the emergency number in San Juan, and it is Nine-Juan-Juan!
Breakfast finally showed up, and we awkwardly nibbled at the random bits while juggling showering and loading up for the journey. It was a chaotic scene, with toast crumbs flying and shampoo bottles dodging oranges.
Once we got on the pier, Mary notified me it was a walking tour (NOT a cooking class) and I should be prepared for any eventuality.
The loading area was airconditioned!
The fort in on the hill, we are on the hill, we had to walk up 66,543,45 stairs from the ship to arrive on that derned hill. My first clue about it being high was the man selling oxygen on the corner at $4/puff. My tennis shoes had melted onto the cobblestone streets due to the excessive heat (M-m-m-m-m-m, is 98 degrees excessive?)
The first thing I noticed were the cobblestone streets and their peculiar blue-gray color. They serve as the first indicator of olden-day pavements, as the bricks were imported from Liverpool, England. Before they were implemented in 1883 and 1890, the streets of Old San Juan were paved by river stones.
Castillo San Felipe del Morro (also known as "El Morro"), perhaps the most iconic fortification built by the Spanish in the Americas, covers a 14,000 foot-high promontory at the entrance to the Bay of San Juan. (OK, I added a few zeros).
Can you believe it? We actually visited a church of all places! We even ventured down into the crypt where it was surprisingly cool. I was almost tempted to set up camp and spend the rest of the day there!
The old and the new!
Cute haircuts!
Mary gets upclose!
The wood crvings were quite well done!
We walked and walked and walked and walked! The street were a bit narrow but we managed to stay on the sidewalk and not get run over. Apparently, the neighborhood decided to embrace the rainbow color palette and now it looks like a giant, colorful patchwork quilt. It's like the whole street is competing in a 'who-can-have-the-wildest-house' contest. I guess the upside is that no one will ever forget where they live!
Remember, according to the law, you are not allowed to paint your house or establishment the same color as your neighbor's house or establishment.
We finally stopped for a while and did some "cooking". OK, not really cooking but we learned a few things. First, we made a real Majito.
Havana, Cuba, is the birthplace of the mojito, although its exact origin is a subject of debate. It was known that the native people had remedies for various tropical illnesses, so a small boarding party went ashore on Cuba and came back with ingredients for an effective medicine.
After the majito, we made Mafongo. Mofongo is a popular Caribbean dish that originated in Puerto Rico. It is made from fried green plantains, seasoned with garlic, fat (olive oil, butter, or lard) and pork cracklings, then mashed. Mofongo is usually served with a fried meat and a chicken broth soup.
I chose my weapon!
I mashed the potato flatter than a pancake! After beating it to death, it formed a bowl!
Sergio was a great leader for the activity. He not only spoke perfect English but had a killer sense of humor! We tossed some chicken pieces and pork rind into the bowl, and voila! Mofongo magic happened.
He had cooked the chicken elsewhere in the restaurant, then brought it into the room and added it to the bowl.
You can find motar and pestles made of stone, like granite or marble, or other materials like ceramic or wood. Mortar and pestles are great tools to mix, grind, smash, pulverize, and pound both wet and dry ingredients. A mortar and pestle are among the oldest tools, and they're not limited to the kitchen.
The bell rang, the whip snapped, and our fearless leader dramatically declared it was time to march on into the wilds of San Juan. After what felt like an eternity, we finally got to take a seat. Thank goodness for the wind today, because without that breeze, we would have turned into human puddles. Mary had a little friend; he was kind of a birdbrain.
Little did the bird know that Dr. Mary could carve him up with surgical precision.
Time to walk some more! We saw another church and thank goodness it was closed. It was built in the 1700s and was on the top of the fort wall.
The sanctuary was built in honor of a rider who lost control of his horse along Calle del Cristo during a fiesta. Plunging off the top of the stone wall onto the cliffs below, the rider was said to have miraculously survived. Over the years, faithful Puerto Ricans have flocked to the chapel to pray for miracle cures and leave milagros, tiny silver charms representing parts of the body, at its altar.
Mary suggested I leave part of my body there but after her suggestion, I quickly ran the other direction.
The view from the fort wall was amazing and it gave the defenders an unparalleled view of any attackers coming in their direction. For many years, no house or business could be more than one story so that the three major forts in the city had a view to the bay without any obstructions.
When the tour guide set us free at the harbor, we made our way to the ship without causing any chaos. Our quest for essentials led us to Walgreens, but upon seeing the line that twisted and turned like a confused snake inside the store, we decided to walk out and take our business elsewhere.
Inside the boarding area it was cool and we just walked right on board but only after I requested an entire body cavity search. My request was turned down – several times.
After taking 7,500 steps around the city, we realized our dire need for some liquid courage. So, we plopped down at the bar and chugged down a greyhound faster than you can say "are we there yet?" I'm pretty sure we set a world record for the fastest greyhound consumption.
We returned to our room and watched the end of a science fiction movie before getting ready for dinner at The Catch!
Mary's eyes were glue to the display as we walked in. Little did she know the crabs served a purpose!
Dig those crab dishes!
We did the oysters and caviar!
Amazing pewter pots!
Careful, he looks hungry!
"I can't believe I ate the who;e thing!"
Our waiter was from Serbia and he was OUTSTANDING!
De-boning is an art!
This would make a great hair comb!
Not a bone remains!
Colleen take the requisite food picture!
Only 234,334 calories (not counting the strawberries)
We were all tired so we crashed!
