Friday, January 19, 2007 - Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico "So, you’re going upstairs later on?" Ricardo, my Hard Rock Café waiter asked me while delivering my second refill of cold Mt. Dew to my table. Meanwhile, I was struggling with my whole chicken, fried plantains and Spanish rice. "What’s upstairs?" I blinked. Surely he wasn’t talking about the deserted second floor of Hard Rock Café? "What?! You don’t know what’s going on? Why do you think people are packing up the streets of San Juan this weekend?" "Err … Fiestas de la Calle [View Full Entry]

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12/18/06 We left San Juan harbor at 0900, having enjoyed being in the United States again, flying our Puerto Rican courtesy flag. Our beautiful San Juan filly, with all her horsepower, left the harbor and bucked straight into large swells (again). She handles them all very well, but it made for another couple of uncomfortable hours. Encountered our first lobster pots, or whatever they were, in one section, and suddenly realized that we missed the flying fish that had accompanied us so many miles of our journey. We continued east to Pasaje de San Juan, itching to go visit Isla Palominos [View Full Entry]

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Puerto Rico was beautiful at night, just which we could have seen it during the day. We took a tour of San Juan. What we could see was very beautiful. We had a tour guide who would start his sentence in English and finish in Spanish. Everything he said must have been funny because he laughed after every sentence. I spent most of my time in a shopping area of San Juan looking for a Tree Frog that my Grandson Wes requested. Since, he was the only one in my family that knew about tree frogs I thought he deserved me [View Full Entry]

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...starting at San Juan Gate! Built around 1635, just north of La Fortaleza, several blocks downhill from the cathedral, was the main point of entry into San Juan if you arrived by ship in the 17th and 18th centuries. The gate is the only one remaining of the several that once pierced the fortifications of the old walled city. For centuries it was closed at sundown to cut off access to the historic old town. The city walls around San Juan were built in 1630 to protect the town against both European invaders and Caribbean pirates. The city walls that remain [View Full Entry]

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I just realized how important blogging has become for me... After only 3 hours of sleep, here I am sitting in front of the computer typing this entry about Shanti Lucia and our experience. I know Omar has said that Shanti was born after only 2-3 hours of labor... In reality, I had been feeling contractions since 2pm the day before and woke up at 3am in pain and could not go back to sleep again. We got to the hospital at 11 am and the pain was so strong that I could barely walk during contractions. Shanti Lucia was born [View Full Entry]

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My last day in Puerto Rico was on June 18th, Father's Day, I decided t go with my father to Mass that Sunday. I had not been to Mass in Puerto Rico probably over a year. I had forgotten how diffeence the Mass isin the Spanish culture. I understand it because the Catholic ceremony is the same world wide but different language. One thing did strike me different this time, was how much prayer time and reflection is given through out the Mass. Here at home (New Jersey) I have yet to notice this difference. So on the flight back I [View Full Entry]

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With little time to digest the full experience of the rainforest it was on to our next adventure. In my life I have very few memories of horses. I remember going with Mom to pick up Birka from riding lessons but at that time I was more interested in making the fences my playground. I also remember being extremely uncomfortable behind my father as the whole family went for a trail ride on the beach. I would love to tell the story of big sis Birka and Salty the horse but that is another story for another time. If you have [View Full Entry]

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I have been on vacation in Puerto Rico for week now, and in the central part of the island things never seem to change, staus quo. Every one laid back no rush to get things accommplished. I fine myself sometimes at a lost and bored. Still managing to have a great time. I always use this time to spend with family, one thing I tend to loose focus of when I'm home. One big difference in listening and talking to people, is they always want to the United States and make money, but the cuklture is so different because of the [View Full Entry]

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With only a week left here in Puerto Rico i have been trying to do as much as possible. Being limited by day trips because of practices and games both Gusatvo and i have been surprised at the number of things there are to do around the island. one of the more interesting things we found was the only rainforest in the US national park system. We were told that "El Yunque" rainforest is a must for anyone visiting the island, and since it was only an hour away we packed our bags and headed out. Having never been to a [View Full Entry]

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Trip Itinerary Snorkeling in Fajardo [View Full Entry]

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