Puerto Rico 2003

Puerto Rico 2003 - First outings

After I checked in, I went out on my first outing. I had dinner at a little Puerto Rican chain restaurant called El Meson Grill. Basically just sandwiches, but they didn't speak English (or didn't let on that they did!) so it was somewhat of a challenge. I got a roast beef sandwich.

Then I walked around. Here are some night-time scenes in Old San Juan.

The steps in the alley behind the El Convento Hotel

Here is a cool picture. It's in a street somewhere near the Hotel. In the middle you can see barely make out a stray cat in the street. But behind it are four more cats that apparently were looking at my camera - you can see the reflection of the flash bulb in their eyes.

Here are some more cats at night. I don't know if the stray cats are a problem or not, but there are lots of them in Old San Juan. I assume they help out in rodent control. They're all over the place, but you especially see them at night.

The next evening I went to what would become one of my favorite restaurants, near the Hotel El Convento. It was Amadeus. They had a varied menu. I considered getting a dish called Ceviche, but the waitress said it was cold, and I felt like something warm, so I ordered grilled Mahi Mahi. She offered to give me a small taste of the Ceviche anyway, so I accepted it, and it was delicious. It turns out it was marinated raw fish! I found that idea somewhat revolting, but it did taste great, and I ended up eating Ceviche at Amadeus and a couple other restuarants a few more times. Amadeus' version was the best. Here is the waitress, William, and an exterior shot:

Sometime early in the first week (probably Tuesday) I went to the beach in the morning. It turned out there wasn't much I could do in the office during the day, so planned my days so that I would do something fun in the morning and then go to the office after lunch and then stay until very late. Better than going in early and staying late!

There were a number of beaches to choose from - primarily the beaches behind the high-rise condominiums and hotels in the Condado - but I was too confused by the setup there, and ended up in Ocean Park. It is an area of San Juan somewhere between the airport and Old San Juan, that had a reputation of being very rough and dangerous not too long ago. I was assured that was not the case now. It had a municipal beach that was accessible from a medium size park (Parque Barbosa) - no condominiums in front! It was a little bit unnerving because I was the only one there - occasionally somebody would walk by on the sand, but no one else went swimming. Well the sun was great, and the water was too. I went back several more times.
One morning early in my trip I walked down to the pier area of Old San Juan, where the cruise ships come in. Here is a shot from the southern wall of the city, with a cruise ship docked in the distance.
Here is a shot of the wall itself, and some shots of the Bastion de las Palmas de San José
Absurdly, one of my favorite outings was to the laundromat. I had learned to pack light from traveling around in my Miata, so I only brought four day's clothing with me on this trip (originally planned as a three week trip, but extended to five weeks). So I did laundry often!

The laundromat was about two blocks from the hotel. It appeared to be a favored gathering place, as people would come here to read the paper, drink coffee, eat pastries, talk, listen to music, and enjoy the photographic exhibitions on the walls. Here's the laundromat, and my favorite laundrette:
Sometime early in my trip, I lost my wallet. I had to deal with replacing credit cards and stuff. In addition, I had a moderate amount of traveler's checks in the wallet. American Express told me to go to a travel agency in the Condado to get the checks replaced, so one morning I ventured there. Afterward I went to the public beach at Ocean Park, and here's proof that my feet were there.
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