I Went to Puerto Rico – Part One

MC • 3rd Feb 2009 • The Daily Nonsense • boyfriend, cuisine, dinner, flickr, food, latin, music, photo, photo post, Puerto Rico, travel

At first, I thought about writing a “Guide to Puerto Rico” but felt like if I couldn’t remember the name of a restaurant or a neighborhood then it wouldn’t be much of a guide. Then I thought I’d just write about the food we ate but realized that I didn’t take very many pictures of our meals even though we ate quite a bit.

So, now I’m just going to tell you exactly what we did in parts. My boyfriend and I spent 9 days in Puerto Rico, staying with my cousin in Bayamon which is just a 15 or 20 minute drive southwest of San Juan.

January 16th, Friday

After picking up our rental car in Luis Munoz International airport, we tried looking up my cousin’s address on the TomTom we borrowed from my sister. Supposedly, TomTom has an accurate satellite map of Puerto Rico but it couldn’t find my cousin’s house or even keep track of our position on the map – we appeared to be soaring over bodies of water and neighborhoods. TomTom would repeat the same meaningless mantra, “Turn left, then keep left, then turn left.”

To be fair, it wasn’t all TomTom’s fault. I’ll be frank – the highways and streets of Puerto Rico are a complete nightmare. Not only are the conditions of the roads in terrible shape (potholes, uneven pavements and faded lane lines) but unnamed streets aren’t an uncommon phenomenon. Puerto Ricans give directions by using landmarks, “When you see the McDonald’s and the car dealership on your left, you’re going the right way”.

Later that night, once we finally found our way and got situated, my cousin decided to take us to Willy’s Pinchos – a dingy, hole-in-the-wall kind of establishment where bums and yuppies of all shapes and sizes go to drink and eat pinchos, or kabobs. It had a certain grungy, watering-hole kind of charm but that isn’t what made it so memorable. Or should I say, notorious. I got astronomically, mind blowing, never-speak-of-this-again drunk on my first night in Puerto Rico. As a young transplant from Puerto Rico, I’ve lost most of my ability to speak the language fluently but after 4 vodka cranberries, I was speaking something that was neither English or Spanish. I know what you’re thinking: Only 4 vodka cranberries, what’d you do chug them? Yes.

I don’t remember much of that night except throwing up in the huge trash bin at the bar, then all over my cousin’s car and of course into the toilet bowl well into the wee hours of the morning. Now this the part where I give an enormous amount of thanks to my boyfriend, who is clearly out of is his mind for taking care of and sleeping next to someone with vomit in their hair. I love you.

January 17th, Saturday

I was hung over and embarrassed. But you already knew that.

My boyfriend and I headed over to Viejo San Juan despite the overcast weather and rain. But it just so happened that the San Sebastian street festival was happening over the weekend which explained the mad dash for parking (and paying for parking is just a reality of Puerto Rico, even if you’re shopping at a Walmart). The streets were lively, packed with costumed locals buying beer, snacks from food stands and dancing in the streets. It was crowded and a little overwhelming but an essential experience in Old San Juan – the music, the food and the people are genuine and really represent the essence of the island, we just can’t stop partying.

As the day went on, the weather cleared up, so we decided to visit Puerto Rico’s most famous fort, El Morro. It’s situated on the coast, so we got a spectacular view of the coastline and the waves crashing against the rocks below. There’s admittedly not much to do at the fort aside from admiring the ocean view, but the exploration through it’s 3 levels is worth the $4.00 entrance fee.

But Old San Juan is probably most known by it’s streets and brightly colored houses. The sidewalks are narrow, the streets are cobblestone and the balconies are painfully picturesque. We decided to head down streets away from the festival to get clean shots of the streets and the homes. The walk was pretty steep, or I’m insanely out of shape.

Old San Juan is undeniably beautiful but waves of tourists from docking cruises can either make or break the experience – their rush to get to souvenir shops before the ships leave was kind of perplexing. Like buying souvenirs at an airport on a layover – technically you were there but, seriously?

We walked south to the outside of El Morro wall and through El Paseo de la Princesa, a tree-lined plaza with park benches that lead to La Princesa Fountain and a lovely view of the ocean. For a few bucks, we bought a freshly peeled, sweet orange and freshly squeezed orange juice. Organic and vegan foodies would probably fawn over the fruits and vegetables sold in Puerto Rico. I gurantee nearly all of them are home-grown by local area farmers trying to earn money by selling their foods on the side of the road or at stands in plazas.

For dinner, we headed to Isla Verde, which is east of San Juan and an area packed with beachside resorts. There are restaurants, high rises (some undergoing much needed renovations) restaurants and high-end boutiques. We ate at Mi Casita Restaurant, a small place that specializes in mofongo, a dish made from mashing together fried plantains, spices and often filled with meat or seafood of your choice. It’s usually bathed in a sauce and served with rice. It’s probably one of my favorite Latin dishes and also the most expensive (since I always order the shrimp or lobster).