The rain here is pretty spectacular. Little warning sprinkles give you a minute or two to find shelter or get your umbrella out - then wham! Downpour. In our wonderful little apartment, the bedrooms are on the top floor or the building, and the windows open onto the shared courtyard below. We heard the torrential downpour, then the drain pipes desperately trying to keep up with their massive job.
It is warm, but wet, and we are planning a trip to the rain forest tomorrow, so K wanted to find a jacket with a hood. Surprise, surprise, they don't seem to sell jackets with hoods in Old San Juan. Not even at Marshall's. However, they do sell ponchos. K got an orange one, mine was yellow.
K had found a place called The Butterfly People on Calle de la Cruz, so we popped in there. We saw a myriad of real butterflies that had been perfectly preserved and turned into art. They are mounted in either patterns or themes in glass boxes. One display called "Forest" had butterflies that use their wing designs as camouflage from predators, another was in a mandala pattern. They were breathtaking. We talked to the owner / artist and he told us that the butterflies are farmed, and when they die a natural death (apparently their lives are quite short), they are preserved and sent to him for mounting.
We braved the rain one more time to get home. Then we Ponchoed Down.
The day was full of rain and food. Marmalade was next on the list. The restaurant Marmalade, that is. It is considered one of the best restaurants in Puerto Rico, but it has that unfortunate "too hip" decor going on inside. Freakishly high-backed chairs, oddly placed drapes, people dining side by side on flat couches with colorful little pillows as back support (so they end up sort of awkwardly reclining or making out when they drink too much) - it doesn't exactly scream "comfortable."
Luckily, their food makes up for it. We gorged ourselves on white bean soup, paella sushi style (it is as good as it sounds), lobster risotto (ditto), tenderloin, and a wonderful creme brûlée.
One thing that I love about Puerto Rico is their food. This place knows how to cook. Serious cooking. Fun cooking. Spicy, salty cooking. A foodie tour of Puerto Rico would be a glorious thing.
It is warm, but wet, and we are planning a trip to the rain forest tomorrow, so K wanted to find a jacket with a hood. Surprise, surprise, they don't seem to sell jackets with hoods in Old San Juan. Not even at Marshall's. However, they do sell ponchos. K got an orange one, mine was yellow.
K had found a place called The Butterfly People on Calle de la Cruz, so we popped in there. We saw a myriad of real butterflies that had been perfectly preserved and turned into art. They are mounted in either patterns or themes in glass boxes. One display called "Forest" had butterflies that use their wing designs as camouflage from predators, another was in a mandala pattern. They were breathtaking. We talked to the owner / artist and he told us that the butterflies are farmed, and when they die a natural death (apparently their lives are quite short), they are preserved and sent to him for mounting.
Then it was time to Poncho Up! because it was pouring rain. We ran from shopping to our lunch spot. There was such a gush of water coming down the street that we were stepping into small rivers at each crossing. We made it, soaked from the thighs down. The ponchos weren't quite long enough. Mojitos helped. And tacos. Fish tacos help everything. We sat and ate, watching the monsoon from the covered sidewalk.
After the tacos (and the mojitos), we thought it would be funny to ride the tourist trolley around Old San Juan. So we Re-Ponchoed Up! and jumped on the train to Castillo San Cristobal. A huge stone fortress, it was built between 1634 and 1790 to protect the city and El Morro from land attack. Fun fact: it was designed by Irish-born Chief Engineer Thomas O'Daly. He served Spain because Spain was an enemy of Ireland's enemy England. A clear cut case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." It is the largest Spanish fortification in the New World. There are gloomy passageways leading to old dungeons. One wall still has graffiti from a former resident. Ships have been drawn on the walls. It is easy to imagine being trapped here - and slightly terrifying.
After the tacos (and the mojitos), we thought it would be funny to ride the tourist trolley around Old San Juan. So we Re-Ponchoed Up! and jumped on the train to Castillo San Cristobal. A huge stone fortress, it was built between 1634 and 1790 to protect the city and El Morro from land attack. Fun fact: it was designed by Irish-born Chief Engineer Thomas O'Daly. He served Spain because Spain was an enemy of Ireland's enemy England. A clear cut case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." It is the largest Spanish fortification in the New World. There are gloomy passageways leading to old dungeons. One wall still has graffiti from a former resident. Ships have been drawn on the walls. It is easy to imagine being trapped here - and slightly terrifying.
The day was full of rain and food. Marmalade was next on the list. The restaurant Marmalade, that is. It is considered one of the best restaurants in Puerto Rico, but it has that unfortunate "too hip" decor going on inside. Freakishly high-backed chairs, oddly placed drapes, people dining side by side on flat couches with colorful little pillows as back support (so they end up sort of awkwardly reclining or making out when they drink too much) - it doesn't exactly scream "comfortable."
Luckily, their food makes up for it. We gorged ourselves on white bean soup, paella sushi style (it is as good as it sounds), lobster risotto (ditto), tenderloin, and a wonderful creme brûlée.
One thing that I love about Puerto Rico is their food. This place knows how to cook. Serious cooking. Fun cooking. Spicy, salty cooking. A foodie tour of Puerto Rico would be a glorious thing.
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