La Lama

This is just a side story from one of the days when we got lost.

I think it was the day we went to Plaza las Americas. Like i had previously said- the gps on our Iphones weren't the most reliable thing. It took a while for satellite feed so our location on the gps was always delayed. The streets were confusing as it was, and with the drivers being so aggressive, Juju had to focus on the road while i watched the gps and tried to locate us on a map we were given at the hotel. Finally, i found our location both on the map and the gps. Turn right at the next light i told juj.

So he obliged and made the turn and on we went. The street was actually pretty clear, wasn't congested at all. The oncoming traffic was light, but oddly enough they had 2 lanes for traffic, whereas we only had one, I thought it was weird but nonetheless we continued. About 1.5 miles into the drive down this street i notice a cop pull up behind us, in the distance. At this point i realize that our gps says we are going away from the hotel rather then getting closer. So i tell juj to make a left into a parking lot so we can go the other way, so he does and as we are parked, looking at the map, the cop flashes his light and pulls up right behind us.

Oh my god, what did we do? i think to myself. I quickly go thru the sequence of events since we started traveling down this particular road. Then it comes to me. Juju sorta semi took a red light- in the puerto rican driving spirit. Im starting to panic, this is it. We are in trouble with the law. This is exactly how it happen on Locked up abroad. My mind is racing- what do we say, do we apologize and plea for a 'warning'? Do i tell him we are tourists? What if hes a crooked cop, Can we buy him off?

He approaches the car, Juju rolls down the window.

"Where are you heading" the cop asks

"Back to our hotel"

"Do you know where you were traveling in?"

"no" we both replied

"You were in the lama lane"

Blank stares...

"La lama, la lama" He urges.

Blank stares... And then i think, is there lamas in Puerto Rico?

"Are you Puerto Rican?"

"he is, I'm not" i say, clearing my name quickly. ( way to throw the new hubby under the bus huh?)

"you don't know what the lama is?" he asks

No-

"La wawa, el autobus, el camion"

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... We were in the bus lane. Not only that, but it happened to be a one way bus lane, and we were traveling towards the potential oncoming traffic.
We then explained we were tourist and lost our way trying to get back to the hotel. He said okay, he'd let us go with a warning, but to pay more attention to the traffic lane signs. He directed us to back to the hotel.

On our way back, i couldn't help but laugh... Of course it would happen to us, why wouldn't it? The thing that really got me, is that we were traveling the wrong way on this street for quite some time... and no one cared to tell us. Luckily nothing happened, we just walked away from it with another interesting story to add to our collection.

Day 4 Rockin' out Old San Juan

Here we are arriving in the quaint um- city, i think, of Old San Juan. It wasn't difficult to get there. It was hard to find parking though. As soon as we got out of the car, i wanted to snap away, but at the same time, since i knew that "La Perla" was in Old San Juan, i didnt want to seem too touristee, you know. So we walked along the small narrow streets, admiring the beautifully adorned house and buildings. There was old fashioned cobble stone streets and the city had a unique feel to it that was very charming.

The houses/ buildings were so colorful and bright, they actually reminded me of houses in Mexico. Even the width and the steepness of the street were very similar to many streets in Mexico. We explored the different buildings, from the outside only, we went into a few store that sold souvenirs. It was actually quiet busy because there was two cruises docked on the island. This made me a little nervous but at the same time since there was people everywhere i doubt anything would happen and go unnoticed.

We picked up a few magnets, mugs, bracelets, shot glasses, you know the usual. There was a few streets that were lined with luxury stores. On Calle Fortaleza there was Burberry, Coach, Ralph Lauren, and Guess to name a few.

There was plenty of places to eat authentic creole food. There was an abundance of restaurants and bars/grills. Most of the restaurants are located in SoFo. SoFo, is the trendy Old San Juan dining and nightlife area south of Calle Fortaleza which specializes in creative restaurants with traditional and nontraditional dishes using Latin, Caribbean and Asian flavors. I read about a restaurant called "Raises", which means roots. I definitely wanted to stop and have dinner there, but Juju and i were dressed very casual. We decided to have a burger at the Hard Rock Cafe. I've never been to the HRC, neither has juju. We were both starving at this point. We both order juicy burgers, juju had his Cuba Libre's and i had a fruity concoction in a tall hurricane glass.

His:

Hers:Here i am enjoying my huge mouth watering cheddar bacon cheeseburger.... mmmmmm.

Towards the end of our time at the HRC it began getting crowded. You could tell it was definitely a hang out spot by the bar area. Before we left i stopped in the HRC gift shop and purchased a hurricane glass like the one i had my drink from. I wanted to get a HRC t-shirt but juju argued that I'd never really wear it. (he's right- just don't tell him i said so though) We got back into our car, which we ended up parking in a structure because we couldn't find parking, and headed 'home'. It was a lot easier making our way back home since the streets were beginning to look somewhat familiar.
Im sure i have more pictures of this day- i'll have to look for them so i can post them.

Day 4

We decided to go to Old San Juan and Casa Bacardi on the same day since we spent most of the prior day being lost. We routed our trip out a little bit better this time.

We ate breakfest and headed to Casa Bacardi first, because it was logistically easier this way. It was drizzling as we drove there, but it cleared up once we arrived. Even when it was gloomy and rainy, it looked beautiful. Since it was so hot, the cool droplets of water felt good.

We werent quiet sure where the tour began, or where we got the tour information, so we entered the parking lot aimlessly and watched what other people were doing. We followed. We approched the entrace, got our tickets for 2 free drinks each and began the tour.

Here are some pictures below:

Here we are on the actual tour train thingy. Self shot-

  Kind strangers shot-

There are all hand painted tiles put together to make a mural. It depicts the history of Puerto Rico, from wars to farming, to Cristobal Colon

I wish i could go into more detail of what each mural's story was, but i was so busy trying to get a picture i wasnt paying to much attention.

The tour went through many different rooms, there was even a few where we couldnt take pictures. Below is a picture of the first Bacardi label. There was tons of original bottles of Bacardi and its' changes throughout the years, there was income tax statements, loan documents you name it. It was quite interesting.

Towards the end of the tour we got to smell (not taste) a Bacardi in the many distillation/fermentation stages it goes thru. My favorite is the original, Juju likes the gold. Below the bartender is showing us how to make a classic mojito, along with a Cuba Libre and a Daiquiri.


At the exit of the Bacardi tour there was a luminated wall filled with Bacardi bottles. Here is Juju and I.

After the tour was over we each got two drinks (they were tiny, just enough to wet your whistle) , were i found a new favorite flavor of Bacardi- Coco. I had Bacardi Coco and pineapple juice, and one with sprite. Yum! Juju had 2 Cuba Libres. After we finished our drinks we got back on the road and headed to Old San Juan.

Day 3- Lost

On day 2 we were able to get a rental. We had trouble getting a rental at the airport since it was memorial day weekend. Nestor, the head concierge, was very helpful and was able to get us a rental, a map and a few suggestions. When i was first planning our honeymoon i wanted it to be chuck full of activities. But as the planning progressed, i decided that i wanted it to be more relaxed than anything. The only reason why we wanted to rent a car was because we definitely wanted to go to Old San Juan and Casa Bacardi and we didn't want to take a taxi everywhere. Plus Juj is quite paranoid, thanks a lot 'Locked up Abroad' And to make things worse, Juju's cousin Cali, warned us not to go into a neighborhood called "La Perla". She told us it was the a dangerous gang and drug infested neighborhood.

So this spun us into researching "bad areas/neighborhoods" in Puerto Rico. We asked Nestor about this and he calmed my fears by explaining where the neighborhood was located and how there is only one way in and one way out and the entranced is guarded by an armed police officer. I was very relieved, Cali made it sound like we could make a wrong left turn and end up in the Perla, when in actuality you almost had to go out of your way to get there.

So with our map in hand we set off- Our destination: Puerto Rican Museum of Contemporary Art. Now driving in Puerto Rico, as is in Mexico, is somewhat challenging. People don't typically use signal lights, give you the right away, or obey all traffic signs. Juju was able to adjust well, before we knew it we were merging (cutting people off) with out a signal, taking yellowturningred light, tail gating and driving like a maniac. The streets are a lot more complex then they are here, the freeways, even worse. There is no adjacent northbound/southbound entrances, so if you miss your exit- your pretty much screwed. The streets are narrow and most of them are one ways. Our iphone's gps was slow to get us satellite locations so that made it even easier to get lost.

(We are lost here)

After a few wrong turns, actually a lot of wrong turns, we ended up in Plaza las Americas, the largest mall on the island. According to our iphone's gps we had arrived at our destination. huh? So we ended going into the mall. It was huge, and it had a lot of the store we had back home and then some. We did a little window shopping, and then i saw a BCBG store. My eyes lit up- a couple hundred dollars later i had me a dress and a pair of sunglasses. We went into a Ferragamo store, were they had some of the hottest shoes I've ever seen. And their price tags? even hotter. Juj tried some on and so did I, but i started feeling buyers remorse even before purchasing them.

We finally decided to have an late lunch at "Fuego de mi Tierra". The third or fourth level of the mall had actual sit down restaurants. We went to an Argentinian grill that turned out to be kinda fancy, at least fancier than what we were dressed for. We ordered Sangrias and browsed the menu. We decided to order 2 large samplers and share them.

These pictures aren't the greatest but this is one dish. They were churrasco and chorizo stuffed tostones. The tostones were made into the form of a cup almost like a cupcake. They they had grilled chorizo and fried churrasco, which is skirt steak.

Here is the sample platter that had empanada de pollo (not to be confused with empanadillas), tostones, sliced grilled chorizo, beef empanadillas, and yuca fries. The pictures dont do it justice, specially since their portions were big.On our way home we stopped to pick up some Medalla- La Cerveza de Puerto Rico! It was good. Juju said it tasted like Malta, but i dont really like malta's all that much, but i thought it was good anyway. They are definitely strong.Here is our mini fridge all stocked up. We had some Coronas along with the Medalla's. Can you believe a 6pk of Miller Lite was like 15 dollars?!? That bag next to the real lime Juice was our left overs from Fuego de mi Tierra.That pretty much concluded our day, we looked out from our balcony at the moon lit ocean. You could hear the waves crashing and the coqui chirping away. There is nothing like those sounds back home... only ambulances wailing and systems rattlin' in car trunks.