St Maarten is certainly my favorite port in this part of the Carribean. There’s a nice docking facility for cruise ships and an extensive “duty free” shopping terminal district if you don’t want to walk into Philipsburg, the town just adjacent to the cruise facility. There they have souvenir shops, booze & butts stores, island clothing and jewelry stores and a few outdoor places to get a drink or five. There’s also usually a live band playing somewhere in the square and, of course, the ever-present taxi drivers trying to get you to hire them to take you around the island.

That might not be a bad idea, though. St Maarten is half Dutch and half French. We dock on the Dutch side and it requires a vehicle of some kind to get to the French side which I hear is very nice, although I have not been there. I like Philipsburg so much that I haven’t gotten around to it, although I hope to before my contract is up. I’ll have to talk to Eric the glassblower about that. He’s good at those things.

It’s about a 15 minute walk to the town of Philipsburg. Just follow the crowd through the taxi drivers and excursion vans and soon you’ll make a left onto a street, walk for a bit and then hang another left and go through a small parking lot and over a foot bridge and you’ll enter one end of the promenade that follows the beach for quite a distance. The beach is to the left. The sand and water are beautiful, although not good for snorkling. If you want snorkling, you have to go to other parts of the island, like the French side. The beach has rows of lounge chairs and umbrellas, grouped by colors. I suppose different people run the tending of these ammenities and color grouping keeps it all organized.

You will get offers from attendants for beach facilities and there are signs with various combinations of services. I was soon approached by a pleasant black fellow who goes by “Big Al”. He said that for $5 I could get a lounge chair, an umbrella and bottle of water and access to the showers for the whole day. Since this is exactly what I was in the mood for, I considered it a bargain. However I told Big Al that I wanted to walk around for a while first, which was true, and that I would be back, but I don’t think he believed me. I did continue my walk and was approached by other attendants offering various deals that included beer or food, and one who was smoking a particularly fragrant spliff and just shook his head when I told him I worked on the cruise ship. However, I was good to my word and went back to Big Al and his orange umbrellas and got my chair and water and laid in the shade of the umbrella, taking an occasional swim and chatting with the people who ended up next to me, pasty white older folks from Scotland who were actually pretty funny. It was an altogether pleasant afternoon. So when you go to St Maarten, make sure you ask for Big Al, or look for the guy with the spliff if that’s your thing.

A few of the other nice things about Philipsburg: There are outdoor bars and cafes, live musicians scattered about, it’s only one dollar for a Carrib Beer which is pretty tasty stuff, and there’s a ton of shops for those who enjoy the shopping experience. Of course there are palm trees and flowers and, for the Carribean, they do a decent job up keeping the place clean and tidy.

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Ever since we’d left the Mediterranean, I felt like I was suddenly getting scheduled for way more hours than I had been during the previous two and a half months. At first I thought it was just because of the crossing, but it continued during the first cruise. It’s getting close to 30 days since I had a day off and my voice is getting weary. So I gathered the daily schedules for all of the musical acts from the past ten days and added up everybodys stage time. Lo and behold, I was scheduled for more stage time than any other act except the party band by a significant amount. So I composed nicely worded emails to the new Bandmaster and the Cruise Director, both of whom are nice guys by the way, and pointed out the scheduling imbalance, the degradation of my vocal ability and my lack of a full days vocal rest for a long period of time.

It took two days, but they have cut my scheduled stage time to a much more civilized degree, at least for a few days, and the Cruise Director has assured me that a day off is in the works. They also thanked me for all of my hard work and told me how happy they are that I am here. This happy outcome is in stark contrast to the response I got last year on the Constellation when I expressed my concerns and was basically told to just shut up, do the job and deal with it or quit. I don’t know how long this reprieve will last, but I’m glad it’s here now, not a minute too soon. I know that the Cruise Director is under the gun from both the Hotel Director and the Miami offices to work the hell out of us, but they are musicians and performers too and they know how important the recuperation time is for singers and other entertainers.

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Further exploration of San Juan (J’s are pronounced like H’s in Spanish so the correct pronounciation is San Hwon) during the daytime showed it to be a very clean, graffiti-free city with a very visible police presense and a variety of things to do and see. If you hang a left at the end of the cruise ship pier and follow the street past the Senor Frog’s and a few eateries that feature cheap Carrib Beer and local food, you soon come to a walkway that runs along the harborline. The harbor is gigantic and very scenic. The promenade is at the base of a long fortress wall which, no longer being used to keep people out, is now dotted with gardens, sculptures, fountains and little shops and water-ice stands. It’s very pleasant and eventually brings you to a gate which long ago was the main gate for anyone entering the city, especially if you were arriving by ship. You were supposed to go through this gate to register your arrival and proceed up the street to the beautiful cathedral to thank God for your safe passage. So I stopped in the cathedral and thanked God for my safe passage.

So now you’re in the Old Town and it’s a grid of shops, places to eat, parks, fountains and monuments. I like it a lot. The local people seem cool with all the tourists walking around. There were a few Christmas trees in the squares, nativity scenes and other Christmas decorations. Christmas in the tropics. They have fake snow for decoration. Our timing there is a little weird. We arrive at 2:00 PM and one week we leave at 8:00 PM and the next week we leave at 10:0PM. For some reason they give me a 5:30 set which makes it tough to spend any serious time in town, but next week, if I’m done by 6:15, I figure Donna and I can head into town and get a good couple of hours of nightlife in San Juan. At least that’s my plan.

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Speaking of Donna, it should be fairly obvious by now that we’re getting pretty tight. Our time together in the Mediterranean was magical and I have a feelling that our week together for the New Year’s cruise is going to be yet another week to remember, to put it mildly. It is probably also obvious that this puts a whole different wrinkle on spending six months a year on a cruise ship. I’m extremely grateful that she is willing and able to join me here, but that still leaves long periods of time that we’re not together. We talk about it often, mostly via email, and we are both supportive of one another’s lives and don’t want to get in one another’s way as far as the living of our lives, but you know how love goes. It tends to change things.

So I’m not saying anything is changing…….yet. However, this blog is about my experiences here on the ship and this particular aspect of my life occupies a lot of my mental and emotional time, so it colors the rest of the experience. I will likely include this new monkey wrench in the machine as I relate my ongoing adventures. Hey, a little bit of romance is good for an epic tale, right?

That said, I should also include that in the many months I’ve spent on the ships, both this contract and on the Constellation, I never “hooked up” with any women, even when I was completely unattached. There were a few I was interested in and got to know as friends, and maybe even wanted to hook up with, but something inside of me kept me from pursuing it. Certainly if I were twenty years younger it would be different, but I’m kind of glad I never did. I see the kind of drama that plays out sometimes and I just don’t have the energy for that type of casual, but in-your-face-all-the-time kind of connection. Not anymore. Funny how age has tempered and perhaps refined my drives. I’m cool with that, finally.

Donna arrives on Sunday, two days after Christmas, so I’m getting my Christmas present a little late, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a real good one. Merry Christmas everybody.

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El Morro, San Juan

San Juan is a big, sprawling city with an “old city” section that is near the ship and a big, built-up section where there are high-rises and all the major shopping outlets you can imagine. It is a U.S. territory after all. Many of the crew were anxious to hop on the shuttle that takes them to Walmart. I saw them on I-95 carrying huge bags of supplies. I didn’t have the time to make it to the Walmart, although I need to go. Maybe next time. Because of the way my sets went, I had to wait until after my last set, which ended at 6:15, to get off the ship. The ship didn’t leave until 10:00 PM, unusual for us.

It was dark, of course, and I didn’t know my way around, so I played it safe and wandered around the well-lit part of town and explored as much as I could. It certainly is a bustling place. It has both an American and a Latin feel to it, although the vast majority of the conversation I heard was in Spanish. There was a lot of music coming out of the bars and bistros, all rhythm-heavy, and there were street vendors and guys with parrots who would take your picture with them for a couple of bucks. There was a Senor Frog’s, which you see a lot of down in the Carribean. They are sort of like an island chain, kind of like Margaritaville. People do some serious drinking in these places. I looked in the window as I walked by and saw the Bandmaster sitting at a table with his girlfriend wearing a big balloon hat. I wasn’t in a mood for serious drinking or wearing a big balloon hat, so I kept on walking. We will be hitting San Juan on every cruise, so by March I should know it fairly well.

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I am now past the halfway point in my contract. The first three months were really fantastic. The Mediterranean is unbelievable and left me with a strong desire to return to Europe on my own and do an extended tour featuring a heavy dose of Italy. Italy rocks. I am hoping that the dollar gains on the euro over the next few years so that such an adventure would be a bit more affordable.

Now that we are in the Carribean, the mood changed almost overnight. My aloha shirt heavy wardrobe is suddenly perfectly adequate and a tropical laid-back feel has begun to take us all over. The Solstice will be staying in the Carribean for the rest of the year and 2010 also. I am currently contracted to return to the Solstice again next September, doing these week-long cruises for six months. The next three months will give me a good idea as to whether I can deal with that or not. My schedule has gotten very consistently heavy for some reason but it’s gotta beat winter in New Jersey, right?

We are doing two slightly different cruises, alternating them from week to week. They go like this: Cruise 1 – Fort Lauderdale, at sea, San Juan, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, at sea, at sea. Cruise 2 – Fort Lauderdale, at sea, San Juan, St. Maarten, Tortola, Labadee, at sea. I’ve not been to Tortola, BVI or Labadee, Haiti, yet, so I’m looking forward to exploring new places. As you can see, there are a lot of sea days involved which are long days for the entertainers as is embarcation day, so we’ll certainly earn our twice-monthly pay.

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The activities for the crew have been a little weak lately. Every once in a while they decide to give us a barbeque up on deck 6 forward which is pretty much the same food they give us in the mess but with a few more incentives like corn on the cob, beans and little steaks. It’s an open-air crew facility by the helipad with a bar and a few tables. On the Constellation they had a jacuzzi on deck 6 forward, but the Solstice has this thing that looks like those showers that you use to rinse off your feet at the Jersey shore. I’ll have to go up there sometime and see if there’s actually anything to do when there aren’t activities going on.

And then there’s karaoke night in Mingles, the non-smoking bar that I tend to frequent after my sets are done for the evening. Eric the glassblower and I were sitting in there one night when karaoke started up. Eric signed on the same day as I did and we got to be friends very quickly. He was a part of our Rome expedition and was also a major organizer of the Naples pizza fest. He’s a very nice guy and very funny, with a quick wit.

The bar was fairly full that night and by then Eric and I had loosened up a bit. We bemoaned the beginning of karaoke which is heavily dominated by Philipinos and while the Philipinos in the bands are all top-notch, the karaoke singers are a little weak. Occasionally we’re surprised by some great voices, but this night was not one of them. Eric and I were commenting from time to time and he mentioned we seemed like the two old guys on the Muppets who sit up in the balcony and comment on the show. So of course we became those two old guys, doing their voices and yelling things like “Bring back the frog. He was funny” and doing their laughs, the “haw, haw,haw”s. We at least found ourselves very entertaining and I hope we didn’t offend the karaoke participants too much. However, “bring back the frog” has become a catch phrase that takes on new life as events unfold. Hey, we can’t take ourselves too seriously here, you know?

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We have cabin stewards who change our bed linens, clean our bathrooms, change our towels and vacuum our floors. While we don’t get the attention that the guests get, it’s a great service and one I greatly miss when I return home to New Jersey. I am on my third cabin steward. They have all been very good. The first, Pablo, signed off soon after I arrived. Next we had Devin from Jamaica. He was very good also and even called me “boss” and “sir”. He left about two weeks ago. Now we have an Asian fellow named Sung. He actually asked me how often I wanted my room done and what times of the day I would most likely be gone. We are expected to tip our attendants and, like everywhere, you get what you pay for. So a good tip around payday ensures a pleasant living condition which makes everybody happy. I have great respect for the cabin stewards. They work really hard and I don’t think they make much money.

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We had a lot of crew turnover in the last week. Mike the Bandmaster, my good friend and drinking buddy left on the 20th. I was sorry to see him go, but his girlfriend, who works on the ship, is REALLY sorry to see him go. The new Bandmaster is Aaron, the trumpet player in the orchestra. He’s a good guy too. This is his first time as a Bandmaster. I’ll let you know how it goes. I already emailed him to remind him that it’s been 25 days since I’ve had a day off. My voice could really use one, but everything is still working, maybe not 100%, but working.

We got a new solo piano player. He’s a 22 year old guy who sings and plays like Harry Connick. His name is Wil Foraker. He’s amazing and this is his first contract, his first time on a cruise ship. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit. Everybody needs friends when they first come on a ship. He’s also very knowledgable about the music I play and we’re planning on doing a set together. I will be great to play with another musician again, especially one so talented. I mean, he gave me a list of songs he’d like to do without even seeing my songlist and there were songs on there from The Band, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Grateful Dead and The Beatles. I like this kid. I think we’re going to get along fine.

We also got a guy who plays the steel pan drums along with tracks. He’s perfect for these Carribean cruises and actually he should take some of the heat off me, especially poolside sets and Grand Foyer sets. I’m playing more in the Ensemble Lounge which is kind of a jazz bar setting, but I get a nice sound in there. The lighting is low and I can get this cool blue light onstage which makes me feel good for some reason.

We also got a new party band, five guys from Guyana. I haven’t had a chance to catch them yet, but I’ve met most of them. They are very nice, low-key fellows and word on I-95 is that they really good. So we’ve definitely upgraded our entertainment now that we’re in the Carribean. We are just beginning our second cruise as of this writing and we’re hitting two ports that I’ve never been to. Off we go.

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This cruise will include Christmas, which we will spend in Labadee, Haiti. We have something like 250 kids onboard and they are a bit unruly, to say the least. I’m hoping it’s just the excitement of the beginning of the cruise and they’ll settle down, but with all the sweets available at all times, I can’t help but think that we’re going to have a few hundred kids on sugar highs for the rest of the cruise. Merry Christmas.

Donna Delany, who joined me for a cruise in the Mediterranean in November, is returning to the ship for the next cruise which will include New Year’s and ring in 2010. It will be great to see her again. So in the next installment I’ll fill you in on Holidays on a cruise ship and the adventures of Donna & Dave in the Carribean.

The Solstice Grand Foyer

It was 52 Christmases ago when a small department store located along Rizal Avenue in Manila thought of a creative gimmick to entice prospective shoppers to go to their store.

Without much funds to do advertisements on print and radio, Alex Rosario thought of putting up a belly dancer plaster doll which was fitted to the motor of an electric fan to make it move. It became a hit for his department store known as Manila C.O.D.

Who would have thought that this simple marketing strategy would be the beginning of what would become a well-loved Christmas tradition? Who would have foreseen that it would soon evolve into a tradition that has found its way to become a staple of Christmas in the city, a spectacle which has meant more to generations beyond what supposed to be Christmastime advertising?

From its humble beginnings in downtown Manila to its move to the then-booming Cubao commercial district in the 60’s, (which was part of Manila C.O.D.’s expansion at that time) the moving Christmas displays each year have endeared its way into the hearts of generations of those who saw them as the years went by. This urban roamer has some nostalgic recollections watching them as a child wondering if these figures are mechanical or are live actors on the stage located at the upper levels of the C.O.D. building.

the former Manila C.O.D. department store in Cubao, now home to a branch of a supermarket chain

While Manila C.O.D. has sadly ceased existence in 2002, it is heartening to know the tradition of the moving Christmas displays marches on, this time on its new home on top of the Greenhills Shopping Center, continuing the magic it has weaved over the years for future generations.

This year, the theme of the moving Christmas displays is about the first Christmas. I guess it’s a story we are all familiar with. Nevertheless, it is a timeless tale that never fails to inspire those who get to hear it.

A very blessed and merry Christmas to each and all!

additional sources: Inquirer

© The Urban Roamer

On the second week of December, at the Arsenal de la Puntilla in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the awaited National Art Exhibit opened its doors to the public. Curated by Marilú Purcell, María Arlette de la Serna and Juan Carlos López Quintero, the show included established as well as emerging Puerto Rican artists such as Jorge Díaz and Elsa Meléndez. And although many noteworthy artists were definitely missing, this year the show presented a well organized and carefully chosen body of work that succeeded in displaying the forte of Puerto Rican artists working with contemporary themes.

However, I was not so happy to find in an exhibition setting a vague and failed attempt to protest massive cuts in government funding towards the arts. In an act of ‘solidarity’ with ongoing protesters, a handful of artists decided to cover their work with a black veil, declaring their art in mourning. This didn’t stop me or other viewers from unveiling the works and taking a peek, but it sure made me think about how confused and utterly lost the art world sometimes seems to be here. And to top it off, as if the untidy shrouds were not enough distraction, other protestors, dressed as death angels, smeared the white walls of the space with their painted black hands, leaving the dirty skidmarks of their supposed ideological prowess. Don’t they realize that with their actions they are pushing art further towards the back-burner?

A more sucessful protest came from artist Samuel Toro Rosa. Dressed more like a pimp than a bohemian prankster, the artist brought in a troup of people wearing T-shirts that read A Mediocre Nation Deserves Mediocre Art. In fact, Toro’s proposal was not accepted by the curatorial committee, but more than protesting his exclusion, I found his silent but powerful message very fitting to the current artistic climate. It seems that many artists here confuse political art with activism. Why is this? Shouldn’t artists protest through their art? In the midst of Puerto Rico’s political crisis, this makes me think, is Puerto Rico really a mediocre nation? I hope not. But one thing is certain, if we are to suceed in the art world outside of our comfort zone, we must go back to basics, and art must begin to take a leading role again, leaving everything else aside to emerge once again as a discipline true to itself.

-C.Acevedo

Images by DaWire

via The Monitor*

Police are searching for clues after the discovery Thursday morning of what they described as a 28-week-old fetus that had been placed in a gift box.

An anonymous tip led officers to the grisly find about 10 a.m. at an apartment on the 1200 block of East Sioux Road, San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said. The baby’s mother, 31-year-old Ruby Lee Medina, had been rushed to the hospital earlier that morning after what appeared to be a botched abortion.

Police suspect Medina intended to bury the body with the help of her lover Javier Gonzalez, 37, of Mission. Authorities plan to arrest the pair and charge them with abuse of a corpse. [...]

Texas is one of at least 19 states that have fetal homicide laws that apply to the earliest stages of pregnancy, the organization states on its Web site. The law here in the Lone Star State defines an individual as a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.

*Word of advice: don’t read the comments at the link.

SALSA & TULIPS SHOW ZANDVLIET AND FABIAN

In the last few days in San Juan we have been to the folk and culture museum, an art museum, we spent one morning at the Isle Verde beach shown in the picture, and we saw the fort here in Old San Juan. The fort is about 1 minute walk from the place that we’ve been staying.

Fuerte San Cristobal

Chris at Fuerte San Cristobal

The Isle Verde Beach is great. There are moderate sized waves, and the water is warm! However there is a net around the whole swimming area, we’re guessing it’s to keep out sharks.

Emma at Isle Verde

Isla Verde swimming beach

Here are some other photos of places we have visited  in the last few days.

Catholic Church in San Juan

Windows in the San Juan City Hall

Around the whole of Old San Juan there is a city wall which was built by the Spanish (along with San Cristobal Fort and el Morro Castle) to defend the city. Here is a picture of part of the wall on the harbour side.

San Juan City wall

San Juan, alternatively known as San Juan de Alicante, is a beautiful coastal town just 8 km north of Alicante, and is situated along the unspoilt coastlines of the Mediterranean, in the Costa Blanca region in Valencian Community. Surrounded by Muchamiel and El Campello, San Juan is not only famed as well prosperous for its agricultural tradition but also for active tourism. San Juan is divided into two sections: San Juan Playa and San Juan Peublo.

The focal point of the town is undoubtedly its Blue Flag beach, which is also the best in the province. This fantastic, spectacular wide sandy beach is spread over 7 km, extending from the Cabo of Las Huertas to the Mutxavista Beach. The area is dotted with an array of hotels, restaurants, chiringuitos, and bars, offering exciting as well as thriving nightlife. The beachfront also arrives with such facilities as a Red Cross Post, infantile region, watchtowers, public gym, tourist information center, and toilets, apart from offering opportunities to enjoy a continuum of activities, with facilities like volleyball nets, dinghy and kayak rentals, pedal boat hiring, showers, and an expansive playground for children. Besides, found on the southern end of the beach is an interesting lighthouse.

Along the attractions of the Playa de San Juan, also worth-mentioning is Alicante-San Juan Golf Club, a fabulous 18 hole golf course designed by the world famous golfer – Severiano Ballesteros. With spacious, flat fairways and experienced instructors, the course is attached with superb facilities including games room, driving range area, a pro shop, snack bars, sauna, and practice ground, thereby making it one of the top class golf courses in the region. Above all, an interesting thing regarding this golf course is that within its one of the greens lies the remnants of a Roman villa that dates back to the 2nd century.

With an amazing monumental heritage, San Juan boasts of some important monuments including the Parish Church, built during the 17th century; the monastery of Santa Faz, containing relics such as the veil, which is thought to have been used by Veronica to wipe Jesus Christ’s sweat; and hermitages including the 18th century del Calvario, the 16th century St Anne, and the hermitage of San Roque, built during the 19th century.

San Juan is also much famed for its festivities. One of the significant events is one that is held to honor Santo Cristo de la Paz, which is from 12-16th September. Another important event is Hogueras de San Juan, celebrated on every June. Also, of significance is the pilgrimage to Santa Faz Monastery that is held on every 2nd Thursday of Holy Week.

Lying on the outskirts of Alicante, San Juan is easily accessible via tram, car, and bus.

Great way to do your research on potential Southern Caribbean island locations for retirement, 2nd home, vacation or investment – why not join me on the upcoming cruise March 26 – April 5, 2010.

We’ll be visiting a number of islands – contact me for more details! sue@suecolemanrealtor.com

Today Emma and I visited the Bicardi Rum factory across the bay in Catonia. We took the ferry which is extremely cheap (50 cents) and quite a nice trip too. As you would expect from any beverage company – they bombard you with propoganda, but they do give you a couple of drinks at the bar too.

The Bicardi Building

Emma at the Bacardi Factory

During the last few days in Old San Juan there has been a “cullinary festival”. This consists of most resturants spilling their operations out on to the street under marquees. You can get a bunch of classic (mostly Spanish) dishes for a reasonable price. There was music playing most nights and it carries on to the wee hours of the morning.

Cullinary Festival at Night in Old San Juan

Emma finished her conference yesterday and today is the first day of our holiday. We are staying at the apartment in San Juan for another week before moving on to the island of Vieques.

Today we headed up to El Morro Castle at the edge of Old San Juan. The Castle was built to protect the entry to San Juan harbour. It was built in the 1500s and was gradually added to over 200 years.

Chris in front of El Morro Castle

Inside El Morro Castle

Emma in front of Fortifications at El Morro Castle

Emma had half the day off the conference today so we went to a couple of places in San Juan City.

Museum of Contemporary Art
This museum showcases recent works from largely Puerto Rican artists. The foyer looked to serve as a studio space too. We saw works by Arnaldo Roche Rabell, Rafael Trelles and Leopoldo Maler. Rochel Rabell had to be the favourite.

Museum of Contemporary Art

“Plaza las Americas” Mall
Probably San Juan’s biggest shopping centre is the “Plaza las Americas” mall in Hato Rey (a suburb of San Juan). It is actually not that different from others in New Zealand – for every store with a different name there is a similar NZ equivalent. When we came back in the evening the lights were out in the Old San Juan town square.

Emma and Chris at the Old San Juan Town Square

After talking with the people who own the house we are staying in I discovered that people in the city exist on the vege and fruit from the local supermarket (think 4 Suqare). This came as a suprise to me, because the Caribbean Indians were excellent gardeners. It probably has something to do with the transformation of Puerto Rico from an agriculture based economy to a manufacturing economy in the 50s (I think – 20th century anyway). I did get referred onto the local organic co-op which operates on Tuesdays at 5pm about a block from our apartment. This is also a center for “critical thinking” and they have a bunch of people tackling issues like golbalisation in all sorts of ways – very cool.

Veges at organic co-op

Today I spent half the day wandering the city. Here are a couple of photos :

Corner Building in Old San Juan

Cementerio de San Juan

There is nothing to compete for,

for we are–have been–each others’.

There is nothing to worry over,

for there are no tomorrows, only laters.

There is nothing to frown over,

for we can choose to laugh AND find a solution, together.

(Salamanca is recommended for two, after all)

I wake up each day,

completely in love with You.

So forgive me, too,

if I can no longer write,

now that I’m with You.

In Twilight and

in Breaking Dawn

there is only You.

Agh-chksssssss…

(remember, hiss ONLY from the diaphragm)

So here’s to more bubbles, disappearances, and baking,

as we trace the map towards Salamanca

(and perhaps, Normandy, too)

Cheers.

World off,

World

off.

On the road to Bakio to Bermeo there are three places that you can´t miss on your visit to Euskadi: the church of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the restaurant Eneperi and the chapel of San Pelayo.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is a small church built in the X century, dedicated to St John. The peculiarity of this church is the place where it was built: on top of a small isthmus (or peninsula) linked to land by a narrow pass. And to get there you must first go down from the small parking lot by the main road and then climb the 237 stairs that lead you to one of the most special places in the Basque Country. You can get a very good idea of the place on this 3 minute video, a bird´s eye of the church. More info, videos and pictures on www.sanjuandegaztelugatxe.com, available only in Spanish (international promotion is not one of our strong points…). I´ve been there several times, the climb is not that hard, the views are spectacular (cliffs, forests and a rough sea) and the legend goes that if you sound the bell three times your wishes will be fulfilled.

On the way there from Bakio, to your left, you will see the sign for Eneperi, an ancient “baserri” or Basque farmhouse turned into a restaurant, www.eneperi.com. The restaurant offers excellent local food in a very cozy atmosphere, and the bar area has just been renovated, adding a glass balcony that overlooks the island of Aketxe. There´s also a “cervecera”, that is, a popular place that offers grilled chicken, chorizo, green peppers, black sausage and the likes, plus wine, beer or cider, on the “help yourself” concept, at good prices. A meadow to lay down overlooking the ocean and a kid´s play area complete the scenario.

And on th right hand side of the road, the chapel of San Pelayo, a very popular XII romanic church. Many Basque couples celebrate there their wedding ceremony, not only because of the special significance of the site, but also because of the great views and closeness to Eneperi restaurant.

For those looking for a more lively atmosphere, there´s the 01, with a huge open air terrace and ocean views. DJ music, live shows,…

I shot up to Rio Pedras today, it is about an hour bus ride from Old San Juan and you need to change buses in the middle. I wouldn’t have made it there if it wern’t for the helpful people at my local bus stop.  It is near the edge of the city heading up into the more rural areas.

It is an indoor market with a whole bunch of stores selling different things. It is just like the markets in Welly, but take back the lettuce (I couldn’t find any at all) and replace it with mango.

Here are some photos:

A view along the main isle of the indoor Rio Pedras market

Today Emma talked at the conference – she had a 5min slot just before lunch, one of the harder slots to do, I reckon. All went well, and although it was a mostly biology focused crowd there was a lot of interest in the work.

Emma also presented a poster session in the evening. This was really good too – lots of interest from a whole bunch of different people.

Here is a view of the Hilton hotel in Isle Verde (it is a short bus ride from where we are staying). In the foreground is reminants of the fort wall that protected Old San Juan from frequent attacks by colonial powers. The hotel is in the middle of the picture, directly accross the bay.

View of the Hilton Hotel over part of the remaining fort wall

I woke up to a beautiful humid (early … particularly given the 4 hour time difference between Puerto Rico and San Francisco) morning to start our first official day together.

This was the view from my window at the Intercontinental San Juan.

Oh how I would have loved to stay right here with a cup of coffee for a while … but alas, there was work to do. Now would be a good time to mention that during these meetings we have a lot of fun, but we also work really hard. We have are usually scheduled from early morning until late night and it is intense. We work hard and we play even harder.

Jennifer Sommers from IHG hotels (Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn) officially welcomed us during breakfast. She is a great hotel partner, wonderful to work with and funny as can be. She brought that huge headdress all the way from her office in Chicago because she thought it was fitting island attire.

After breakfast and our official welcome, we had a morning of educational sessions. Our fearless leader, Andy Smith, taught one of the classes in what has to be the most beautiful classroom in the world.

When our classes ended around noon, our guests joined us and we went to Old San Juan for lunch at the Hotel El Convento. Hotel El Convento was originally a Carmelite convent built in 1651 (that’s 356 years ago). It was commissioned by King Philip IV of Spain. It was converted to a hotel in 1962 by Robert Frederic Woolworth, heir to the Woolworth fortune. The Spanish Colonial architecture has been beautifully restored. Hotel El Convento is full of charm and just looks like a hotel you’d find in the tropics.

This wonderful sculpture greets you as you enter the hotel.

Every hallway is a visual feast for the eyes.

I love the lush tropical courtyard.

A view of Old San Juan and the harbor from the rooftop pool deck.

The colorful kitchen is on display.

After lunch we had a choice of doing an Historic Walking Tour or a Shopping Tour. I chose the Historic Walking Tour of Old San Juan.

Our tour guide was Papo (not to be confused with Paco who apparently was his best friend until he stole Papo’s first wife). He was born and raised in San Juan and is a lifetime resident so he had some great stories, in additional to a wealth of knowledge about San Juan and Puerto Rico in general.

The Old San Juan is the eight by ten block historic district of the city of San Juan. It was founded in 1509 and was a walled city protected by multiple forts.

is replete with examples of flat roofed, colorful stucco covered buildings with lots of shops, museums, plazas, trees and sculptures. The Spanish Colonial architecture and wrought iron reminded me a lot of old New Orleans.

The streets are paved with these blue bricks that were brought over from Spain as ballasts in the ships that would return to Spain with exports from the island.

I love the pastel colored buildings juxtaposed against all of the lush green and the blue blue sky.

La Rogativa (meaning the Procession) is a sculpture with a story. The story is that in 1797 the Puerto Ricans, fearing an attack by the British, set out in the evening with torches and prayers. The British thought they were seeing Spanish troops and abandoned their attack.

The blue building above the wall is La Fortaleza or the Governor’s Mansion. It was completed in 1540 and is the oldest governor’s mansion in the Western Hemisphere. It has housed 170 governors of Puerto Rico in its history.

Me, Kerry Fein (from Wisconsin) and Joe Donohoe (from New York) on the grounds of El Morro, one of the fortifications that surrounds Old San Juan.

I can’t remember which building this is but I love the red clay dome. If someone can help me identify it, I’d be grateful and I’ll update it on the site.

More picturesque San Juan color.

One of the many pelicans surveying the bay for fish.

We decided to play a little hide and seek. I think this would make a great album cover. If anyone knows about these sculptures, I’d love to add some info about them.

This sculpture is called ‘Raices’ meaning roots. It commemorates the roots of the Puerto Rican people – Taino, Spanish and African.

This sculpture was one of three. It kind of looks like an Aztec making a child sacrifice to some angry god, but it’s not. It signifies the future of the people.

I loved exploring Old San Juan. It has so much history and color. But all good things must end. So we headed back to the hotel for a quick freshen up before heading out for our evening activities.

We started our evening adventure with cocktails and a tour at the soon to be open Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel and Casino. The hotel is a classy modern venue located right across the street from the Convention Center.

Here’s the lobby bar.

The only downside is that the hotel is not located on the beach. But it does have a lovely infinity pool on the roof.

We headed over to the Puerto Rico Convention Center for a tour and dinner. The building is designed to evoke a feeling of water and waves. You can see it throughout the complex, but it is particularly evident in the roof seen here.

After we’d finished eating we took a few minutes to recognize one of our most important team members, Amy Tackett. She is supports our entire team, helping us track down information, directors and whatever else we need so that we can work with our clients.

In this picture is Teresa Hellman (from Kansas), Amy Tackett (from Ohio), Nanette Baecher (a fellow New Orleanian who now hails from Alabama) and our fearless leader Andy Smith (from Tennessee).

And the fun continues …

After dinner we went over the the aptly named Hilton Caribe for an Afterglow party. I say that the hotel is aptly named because it really does impart a feeling of being in the Carribean.

We had after dinner drinks, desserts …

… more desserts …

… and even more yummy sweets.

They played some great music for us.

They even got the whole staff involved in playing and singing some traditional Puerto Rican Christmas music … very boisterous and very Latin.

Day two is done. How much fun can we handle? Stay tuned for Day three.