Puerto Rico, Saturday

                                “Voyage, travel, and change of place impart vigor” – Seneca

Cafe Berlin, from their website

  Saturday morning I woke and got ready for my day in Old San Juan.  I called a cab as I had read a lot about the very erratic and slow bus service, and just didn’t feel like dealing with that.   As I got out of the cab in Old San Juan the skies opened up, so I decided to eat lunch a bit early and ducked into one of the nearest places, Café Berlin.  I must say it was good, and the young bartender who grew up in Puerto Rico, and recently home after a stint in the Navy was quite enjoyable.  I decided to get another dish that Everyone said was a must.  Mafooto is a true Puerto Rican dish.  I watched as the chef ground the yucca in a large mortar with pestle.  It is then fried, and served in my case with a chicken in a red pepper and olive sauce.  Glad I tried it, didn’t love it.

Castillo San Cristobal

      Then off to explore, literally, as I headed over the to the fortress that was the protection of San Juan dating back to 1790.  Castillo San Cristóbal  is now a National Historic Site, and really something to be seen and enjoyed.  I roamed around the fortress, climbed the walls, slinked through the tunnels, and visited the dungeon for awhile.  
  
         Walking up and down the cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan truly is a step back in time.  It feels like a pastel European city since the buildings are painted in beautiful Caribbean colors, unlike the muted tones of Europe.   I just walked and walked finding cute shops, lots of ticky tacky ones as found in any touristy area (alas even at the Trevi Fountain in Rome there is much ticky tacky being sold), and something I didn’t expect, many Designer outlets (not thinking that San Juan is probably one of the largest ports for cruise ships in the Caribbean).

Courtyard @ El Convento, from their website

                I wandered the walls out-skirting the city and meandered onto the lawns of El Morro, another fortress that protected San Juan.  It was an awesome site, as hundreds of families gather there to fly kites.  Really cool.  I then found myself by the Cathedral where I rested for a bit, and did thank God for my good fortunes.  Then I went into a lovely old convent that has been converted into a beautiful hotel, aptly named El Convento, where upon I decided to quench my thirst with a mojito in their lovely courtyard.

Chapel of Christ the Saviour

              Continued my meandering and found myself at a lovely little chapel covered with pigeons, and a small park next to it filled with pigeons that children feed and chase around, or scream from fear. This chapel sits at the wall and is apparently the site of a miracle.

                My mini miracle appeared in the site of a cute spa offering cheap foot massages.  When I entered I discovered that Anam doubled as a small bar!  Great concept!  My feet were sore, and having developed the lovely gift of plantar fasciitis, I decided I owed it to myself.  When I entered the spa area I saw a young family where Mom and Daughter, about 10ish, were having pedicures, and Dad waiting looking totally bored.  I asked why he wasn’t treating himself like his family.  Being a typical beefy American “Man”, he just looked at me whereupon I explained that in New York City I witnessed as many men having pedicures as women.  He just continued looking at me.  He seemed to lighten up when he was delivered a cocktail.

 A free rum punch accompanied any spa service, and if that wasn’t to your liking any other cocktail was only $5.  As I sipped my Margarita waiting my turn for my treatment, I perused a tour book of Puerto Rico.  A Gentleman came up behind me and asked if I needed any help in my planning.  We had a brief chat where I discovered his Son lived in the Boston area and was an attorney.  I then entered the spa room, and the Gentleman got a drink and hung around. 

As I got ready to leave following my wonderful foot massage, said Gentleman started chatting again, whereupon he introduced himself, Kevin, and asked what I was doing later.  I was so caught off-guard, I believed I just blushed, and started babbling, and finally explained that I was actually meeting a Patient and her Family for dinner.  Beefy American Man at this point was being thoroughly entertained as I saw him laughing at the scene he was now witnessing.  Kevin asked where I was meeting my Patient as he said he had learned the restaurants well in his stay in Puerto Rico.  I naively told him, and he announced that he may show up and if it was okay, may join me.. I’m not sure how I exited, but I do know my mind was baffled.

"Let's go fly a kite" @ El Morro

I made my way up to El Morro, again, this time to meet my Patient, her Husband, and Daughter.  "Missy" (not her real name) who was just shy of age 2, loved the kite flying families as she had been enamored of Mary Poppins, watching many times til her Mom decided perhaps it was best to put it away for awhile!  A few weeks before when Mom was in my chair at work, we had chatted about my Winter in Manhattan Odyssey (She had lived and worked in Manhattan for many years, and still owns her small apartment on the UWS..I have asked for first refusal if she ever sells!). I told her about the 70 year old Man who my Daughter tells me was hitting on me at the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis!  We then discovered our mutual plans to head to Puerto Rico as a reward to ourselves for surviving this year’s wicked winter.   My Patient invited me to join she and her family for dinner, so that I wouldn’t have to deal with being picked up by older men.

Baru, from their website

So, as we started walking to Baru, a restaurant nestled in the cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan for dinner,  I laughingly explained what had just happened at the spa.  I promised Husband, whom I had just met for the first time, that I truly did not make it a habit of picking up men when I travel.  I had been married for 19 years. I do not know how to play that game anymore, nor had any desire to play that game anymore!  Well, when we arrived at Baru, there sat Kevin at the bar.  Awkward…He ended up joining us, and we ordered a lot of different great tapas (including a mahi mahi ceviche, plaintain chips in really interesting bean dip, tuna, manchega cheese and Serrano ham plate, and a great spinach salad) enjoyed with a great sangria.  It was, as I said an awkward time, though enjoyable, and my Patient and her Husband were tremendous sports. 

We, again awkwardly, bade Kevin a goodnight outside the restaurant, and then Family and I shared a cab back to our respective Puerto Rico homes for the weekend.  I went to bed, catching up on that week’s “Grey’s Anatomy” on my laptop after texting my lovely Patient that I was indeed, ensconced in my nice little room, happy and alone!!