San Juan, The Vacation begins

Flight time, part 2, back down the jetway… find our seats… stuff bags in the overhead... Next stop San Juan...

It is starting to feel tropical.... The jetway was warm...   We fly the length of the Bahamas... Deep blue water… Light blue shallows… White sand beaches with fluffy white clouds... Another nap, and I am starting to feel ready to take on San Juan.

Now in San Juan…

The plane landed, the luggage arrived on the carrousel as expected.  We walked outside… found the taxi stand and another couple headed for the Sheraton… we shared a ride… the charge is per taxi, not per person (but is per bag, and between 4 of us we have 5)

San Juan is a big city, but as tourists, we generally only see Old San Juan… Its safe… its touristy… the ships stop there…  From the taxi we at least get a glimpse of some of the rest of the city…  We are staying in Old San Juan in the Sheraton… it is a hotel, a casino, on the water (the bay side)… 

Evidence of the San Sebastian festival is everywhere… in our hotel there is extra security… Upon checking in, we have to sign that we won’t have more than 4 people in our room… we get wrist bands, with the serial numbers recorded… They are assuring we will have a sanctuary in the midst of chaos.  We are good with that.  We go to the room, drop bags and change, and go out to explore…

It is too early for the festival… it is the first day and they are setting up… We find the Barrachina… a bar, a restaurant, where the Pina Colada was invented… Tony was there… Now we are…  It is in what was once likely a classic Spanish style home with a interior courtyard… the bar is in the courtyard… with tables… under umbrellas… they have seating inside as well… we are seated at a table in the courtyard.

The Pina Colada’s are served from a automatic machine… we knew this before coming… many reviewers criticize them for this, but this was a quest, no, a mission to go to the place where they were invented, and have a Pina Colada… I ordered a Pina Colada, and was offered, with or without rum… not a good sign… I had it with… to have it without would be a sacrilege.   Tina ordered a Corona.  We ordered the appetizer platter for two… So… the Pina Colada was good… very good… about half the frozen concoction from the automatic machine, floated on a generous portion of rum… and a straw, and a little umbrella with a slice of pineapple and a cherry (the umbrella seals the deal, I am on vacation)… and instructions to stir it… I played with more or less rum, by where in the concoction I drew my drink from… Tina samples my drink, and liked it… all was good…

The appetizers arrived, various fried things (calamari, grooper, some fritters which we could not identify, and some mixes of shrimp and such on a something fried… dipping sauces as well… we ate it, talked to the waiter and go advice about the festival (it wouldn’t start for an hour) and had two more rounds of drinks… 

Back on the street, we find the Plaza de Armas, one of the festival sites, then find Calle St Sabastion, the street of the festival, of the parade… then wait… it is clearly the street of the festival… crowded with people, and eventually the parade comes… about 6:00… carrying a beer in a festival glass, we explore a bit more, buy a cat tile from a local shop (the Poet’s passage) then return to the hotel… way too early, but at this point we have not seen a bed in some 40 hours… yes we have slept in the plane… but not in a bed… the bed wins…