 |
| welcoming committee |
Weather…23 degrees…downright chilly
comparatively speaking, rain, scattered downpours, bombastic thunderstorms
 |
| rainbow over the cemetery |
San Juan, Puerto Rico is our 8th and last |
| so many options |
port
of call for this 18-day cruise, all of which were new to us. Being that we are
in the US everyone on the ship is required to go through what is called a
zero-count, face-to-to face immigration. This means that each and every person
whether crew or passenger,  |
| rum factory tour |
American or foreigner, planning to go ashore or not
MUST get off of the ship, go through immigration and WAIT until ALL people have
done this and the ship is EMPTY. I’m glad we have a tour this morning and don’t
have to find out how long this actually takes.
Originally, our tour was supposed to be at
8:30… |
| their oldest |
early but civilized. Because of this zero-count business the meeting time
was changed to 7:00!! Of course, the ship knew we would be going through this
type of immigration at the first port into the US…I knew it so of course they
knew. Getting up for 7 wasn’t pretty, but no big deal. As it turned out,
immigration was a breeze – maybe (or maybe  |
| morning cocktail! |
not) because we were one of the very
first to be processed. In all of our time entering countries via cruise ships
the US and China are the only 2 to require face-to-face, on land
immigration…interesting. |
| this is how he feels about rain |
Here we were at approximately 7:30 raring to go
to a rum factory! Not so fast…we meet with the group and with the guide who
tells us we aren’t scheduled to depart until 8:30… |
| rum factory |
shocker! No big deal, too bad
it was raining. If it wasn’t raining, we could wander a bit, but I don’t feel
like getting wet this early…that’ll have to wait until later.
Once we are off, we are on small buses that can
negotiate the small streets of old San Juan. The rum factory isn’t open until
9, so we cruise around the streets of old San
Juan while the guide tells
stories and points out monuments and places of interest.
 |
| viejo San Juan |
 |
| from the fort to another older fort |
 |
| viejo San Juan |
The Ron del Barrilito rum factory isn’t
actually a distillery. They are a very small operation that buys their alcohol
and then blends and ages it at the factory. They have 5 rums of varying
quality, the highest
quality going for $750…we didn’t buy. We toured the
factory, learned a bit of info and had a cocktail. We’ve been to many booze
tours and this is by far the ‘fanciest’ included drink. It was basically a bar
with an actual bar tender mixing from a menu of 10 cocktails. I expected there
to be one rum punch for everyone – this was fantastic. I had a Cigar Fashioned
and Chris had a Mai Tai – both were delicious. These were some of the best
cocktails we’ve had on this trip. I’ve been a bit disappointed with the ship
cocktails, plentiful no doubt, but too sweet for my tastes. Of course, I could
order more specifically, but I’ve just taken on the arduous task of exploring
the menu in the hopes of finding one not so sweet. Often, I ‘settle’ on
champagne…not bad for settling. |
| US, Puerto Rico, and Burgundy flags |
We tried to do some shopping at the
factory,
but their internet wasn’t working for taking payment and they didn’t take
cash…oh, well. On the way to the bus (a 1-minute walk) the skys opened and it
POURED. Despite sprinting, we were drenched!
If I didn’t know better and I do, because I’ve
seen most of these people drinking on the ship, I’d say these were first time
drinkers. On the bus people were giggling, laughing and not listening to the
guide, it wasn’t a big deal, just weird.
 |
| one of the many roosters |
The rain stopped as quickly as it started when
we were back on the bus of course. I was praying that it would be done for, as
our next stop was to San Cristobal fort in Old San Juan, forts aren’t
particularly indoors. My prayers weren’t answered, but there was enough shelter
that when the rain did come we were ok. We followed the guide around the fort
and into the tunnels where he told some stories that were probably tall tales
but entertaining, nonetheless.
 |
| San Cristobal fort |
The rest of the tour was supposed to be
wandering Old San Juan, but because of the rain, we headed back to the port.
Back at the port the rain had stopped so we went for a wander. We found a place
for a pizza and a glass of wine for lunch. During lunch the rain started and
stopped and started and stopped – this was the how the day went.
The port was about a 15-minute walk back from
where we had lunch and luckily we missed the rain, because…you guessed it, it
started again – this time it was torrential. A coffee, a cookie, our balcony,
and a thunderstorm capped off our visit to San Juan. |
| stair mosaics |
There are mosaics everywhere in Viejo San Juan. The staircase in the photo is one of the most interesting. There are also chickens and roosters everywhere. There were plenty in BVI also...I find them charming, I wonder if the locals consider them pests
Sadly, there were no Ricky Martin sightings I was so hoping for.
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