Mar
20
Beach & Bacardi
Filed Under Puerto Rico 2007
Today was a day of rest, and boy was it great! I didn’t get going until 11:30 a.m., but I made the 5-min walk to Condado Beach with my book, bikini, and shades. I found a place on the small beach, along with about 20 others, and stretched out to devote my time to some good reading. I took a couple of breaks to cool down in the water. A guy who is originally from the Dominican Republic, but who moved to Chicago, was on a 3-week vacation (he’s a realtor) and struck up a short conversation with me. We both agreed that this weather is much better than the cold, upper midwest.
Around 1:30, I was able to let the security guard at the adjacent Condado Plaza Hotel allow me onto the property to have lunch at their outdoor restaurant. Upon the waiter’s suggestion, I ordered ceviche, a marinated seafood “salad,” this one comprised of fresh, raw mahi-mahi, salmon, and tuna. A delicious choice! After that, I went back to the beach for a bit longer before heading back to the hotel.
After a quick shower, my parents and I took the bus to Old San Juan to catch the ferry to another part of the city where the Bacardi Rum distillery is located. Before the free tour, we were each given two tickets which we could turn in for Bacardi drinks of choice. I had a piña colada (served in small, plastic cups) before the tour and a Bacardi Razz and Coke after. The tour was kind of disappointing; you don’t get to see any real part of the distilling process, just some basic history spoken by tour guides, a short film, a recreation of the original factory in Cuba, a couple of original–now each worth $1M–Bacardi bottles with hand-written labels, and a quick demo by a bartender. Eh. I did buy some glasses at the store and a mixer, so I suppose it wasn’t all bad.
The day was rounded off by having dinner outside in Old San Juan. I ordered red snapper ($18) but it wasn’t too news-worthy. By the time we walked along the pier back to the bus station, a couple of cruise ships had already pulled out, but a few were still docked and blazing in all of their electric glory. This is the first time I’ve seen a cruise ship up close, and wow do they amaze me. The size of them is just jaw-dropping, and I can’t even begin to imagine how many rooms, how much gas, electricity, water, waste, employees, etc is use. I think I would love taking a cruise in order to leave the thinking and planning up to the ship, spending my days lounging outside and reading.
Tomorrow will provide more free time and another day for me to consume yet another piña colada. ;o)
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