Puerto Rico - Reporting In

“Pictures with more to come....

Still working on trip report

pictures”

“nice pictures and all. Reminds me of the three years I spent there and all . .but let's cut tothe chase.



Where are the picts of the thong bikini???





WARNING TO ALL GUYS!!! nice landscape and old fortress shots . ..but no beach pictures .. .no bathing suits and certainly no thong.”

“so twinks, getting a lot of work done?

VERY VERY GOOD PICS.

looking forward to hearing about the trip this weekend while we paddle away on the trail.”

“Move along...
Nothing to see here folks...
Move along... ;-)


j/k....nice pictures twinks”

“how do i insert a photo here? I've got a nice beach shot of me for you fellas :)”

“we love you.”

“boy you are esy twinks...”

“on the beach in a bikini, you might need to hit refresh on your browser


here you go boys - let me know what you think ;)”

“It's a trick!
It's a trick!

I ain't looking! ;-)”

“Twinks is evil.”

“Niiiiiiice!!”

“$10 says it's some kind of shot like Maple would post.”

“No, it really is her, stovie, and nuthin' but skin!”

“moohahahahahaha!”

“You guys are such chickens. What are you afraid she'd redirect you to a page that installs a virus or something?

It's definately a photo of Twinkle's Toes on the beach.”

“I'll peek at home, away from the sniffer on my work computer.

I still say It's a joke photo. Probably a naughty one.”

“oh yes - it's very very naughty”

“Nuthin' but skin... and nails, that is....”

“Just read fiddleboy's post.
So it's a picture of her toes.”

“SS you are so mean to me today :(
I have been to good since you yelled at me the last time. between you and lizs, your making it hard for me.”

“If that's what you want to believe, stovie, then so be it....”

“Hey, violin would NEVER lie!”

“If you get to the southwest corner of the island, check out Boqueron. It's less 'touristy' than San Juan and surrounds. You can pay someone to drop you off on a coral island for the day where you can snorkel or snooze or whatever in absolute privacy.”

“between you and lizs, your making it hard for me."
mapleleaf
03:40:46 PM
07/23/04

Mapes!!!!!!
Get your mind out of the gutter!!!!
No way would lizs do a threeway with us! ;-)”

“wanna bet ;)”

“Hey hey hey!! (That's three "heys!")

Mapes, why am I making your life hard... so to speak?? LOL!”

“Nice pics!

Are you a missionary or something?”

“Sorry it's long - whomever reads the whole thing gets a prize :)

San Juan, Puerto Rico: July 19-July 23, 2004

Last week I decided to go to San Juan, Puerto Rico on a spur of the moment solo vacation. This was my first experience at traveling off of the continental U.S alone and it was fabulous! I planned the trip on the 15th and by the 19th, armed with a guidebook, straw hat, and SPF 30, stepped out of San Juan’s international airport into the oppressive, anticipatory swell of mid-day tropical thunderstorm heat. After a few moments of soaking in the marrow-deep warmth and getting my bearing, I quickly caught a cab and zoomed off to my hotel, Tres Palmas.



The view from the highway reminded me of a mixture of sights found in Houston and Miami and, other than all the signs being in Spanish, I felt quite at home. That is, until the cab turned off the exit ramp and nearly a dozen police officers with full body armor and drawn guns appeared! “Holy bonkers, what the hell have I gotten myself into?!?”, screamed my thoughts. My happy-to-explore-the-world-on-my-own mood quickly fizzled to I’m-going-to-be-hacked-into-pieces-by-some-crazy-machete wielding-guerrilla-and-no one-will-ever-find-my-sad-little-remains. Needless to say, it was an ominous beginning. It would not be until the next day that I’d discover what all the force was for.



After checking in, I sulked in my lovely little (and by little I mean tiny) room for about half an hour before deciding it was time to infiltrate the island culture and head out to Old San Juan. The hotel clerk told me that I could catch a bus just down the street and after a 5 minute walk with a view of the ocean, a ballpark, gated houses with roosters in the yard, and barricaded streets (curious I thought), I had the great pleasure of waiting 20 minutes in the rain, with what I later realized were a bunch of crack heads and prostitutes, before the rush hour bus showed up. I hate to admit it but, while waiting for the bus, I seriously contemplated going home the next day. However, my mood picked up as soon as the bus arrived and I was finally on my adventure.



I stood, packed like a sardine can, amidst the buzz of Spanish conversations while watching the landscape of the city unfolded. At one point the bus stopped for too long at a bus stop and everyone onboard began heckling the driver! The bus emptied a bit and I was able to sit and speak with elderly man practicing his English while I practiced Spanish. He told me of all the lovely places to visit and the ghettos to avoid. After about a 40-minute ride I arrived in Old San Juan at around 5pm.



Oh how beautiful and charming the Old City is with it’s sherbet buildings, wooden verandas, louvered windows, glistening blue-toned cobblestone streets, old Spanish forts, cigar-rolling street vendors, steep hills and narrow streets with the ocean on one side and the peaks of limestone mountains on the other! With a Café con Leche in hand I wandering the maze of streets, window-shopping and picture taking. I watched the sun begin to set over El Morro fort with the ocean reaching out forever behind it while lingering on the smells of dinner wafting up from the La Perla ghetto.



After checking out a local grocery store to pick up some hotel snacks, I headed to the Parrot Club for dinner. Met up with some Brits and ended up doing a bit of bar-hopping: mojitos (rum & mint) at the Parrot Club, port at Amadeus, and beer at a very cool “dive” bar (can’t remember the name) with writing all over the walls. Took a cab back to the hotel and crashed after a great first night in PR.



The next day I awoke to a beautiful hot sunny day. Ate the daily complimentary breakfast on the patio overlooking the ocean and then lay out by the pool while reading up on activities to do for the day. Decided to hit the Bacardi Factory and then come back that afternoon to learn to windsurf. Took a bus to a ferry to a cab to the factory to a tram to the tour. The whole thing was silly and overly orchestrated. The only good part of the tour was the two free drinks and video email. After enjoying a stormy ferry ride with a terrific of El Morro and the bus back to the hotel, I arrived at my bus stop to be greeted with the sounds of helicopters buzzing overhead. I had a weird feeling at the bus stop and decided to quickly walk back to the hotel. When I arrived the hotel clerk was watching a huge police raid (televised via the helicopters flying overhead) occurring in the ghetto I learned was the yellow apartment complex in front of my bus stop. Holy bonkers! The day before three people (drug dealers? Crack.) had been murdered and now the police were conducting a huge raid – ripping people out of apartments, shooting tear gas, forming human barricades with guns and night sticks drawn. It was wild! Well, I decided to just stay in the night, order pizza, swim in the pool, and watch the sunset.



Next day, day three, I took a tour to the Camuy Caves and Aricebo Observatory. It was a two-hour drive into the country. Gorgeous! The land is so lush and green and wild! The caves were awesome. I’d never been in one before and was completely blown away by how big they can be! Enjoyed checking out the stalactites, stalagmites, sinkholes, limestone cliffs, the muddy Camuy River, jungle greenery complete with massive, spindly spiders and the stench of cave bat pooh. Awesome, awesome, awesome! After the cave we stopped for lunch before going to Aricebo. The drive to the observatory led us up, up, up into the windy mountain roads and lush farmland. Saw a ton of cows lining up for the afternoon street crossing but couldn’t get my camera out fast enough to picture. Moo. Arrived at Arecibo (so cool!) and climbed many stairs to the observatory and museum. All I can say about this is that it is sooooooo cool! This huge radio telescope is suspended over a massive aluminum panel lined bowl, set in a natural sinkhole, with mountains as far as the eyes can see. Oh I so desperately wanted to walk the catwalk to the eye…..but no one would let me. L Next time….next time. Rode back to the hotel (realizing that I could not handle anymore organized tours – ever) and had left over pizza while watching Smallville before passing out for the night.



Day four I decided to cancel the tour to the rainforest (will go back, rent a car, and do it on my own terms – I hate tours!) and instead relax. I spent the morning and early afternoon checking out the old Spanish forts. I had a cool flashback to a memory of the fort I roamed in Turkey last year, as that fort and these forts were created around the same time (mid-1500’s, though the PR fort was not finished until the 1700’s). Loved wandering about and examining every detail of the fort construction. Shall not bore anyone with all the details (as I blabbered too long already) except that the tunnel system and dungeon were my favorite things to explore. Had lunch and headed back to finally learn to windsurf.



Windsurfing is awesome. I can’t wait to do it again as soon as possible! It’s hard work but once you start to get the hang of it – it feels like flying. At first I was scared to go too far out but after 30 minutes I was zooming way out. LOL! Though I had some trouble trying to make it back to shore! I kept going side-to-side and then further out! Finally though, because I’m here writing this, I caught a great bit of wind and zoomed back to shore! Oh it was soooooo much fun! After that I was exhausted. Went back to the hotel, had a bite to eat, and passed out.



Last morning there I just lay by the ocean and got my last bit of sun before having to fly back to NYC.



It was a wonderful trip. Traveling alone is not so bad – actually, it was quite liberating. I feel like a stronger person and now know that if no one else can get the time for travel – well, I can just go on my own and tell them all about it when I get back. J Though, I would very much like to go back with friends. There’s still so much left to do! Like the rainforest, snorkeling, checking out other cities on the island, hiking, horseback riding, sailing – oh my!



PICTURES (by yours truely): http://www.freewebs.com/mctwinks/sanjuanpr1of3.htm; http://www.freewebs.com/mctwinks/sanjuanpr2of3.htm; http://www.freewebs.com/mctwinks/sanjuanpr3of3.htm

Hotel: http://www.trespalmasinn.com/virtualtour.html”

“Ok I read it all what do I get??

LOL only you would find a hotel right next to the ghetto's.

you make it sound so nice. can't wait to go. you didnt do the eco tour? bad girl!!”

“she's lieing twinks.

I should be the one to get the prize!”

“Yeah - El Yunque is a must see but I can't see myself taking a group tour until I hit 75 or so.

There's no way I would try to drive in the mountains there though. Nothing like a 10' wide road with several hundred foot free-falls on either side and no guardrails.”

“hmmm....what should the prize be? I'll have to come up with something good.”

“better.”

“or I will tell WW where you live.”

“whoa!”

“You're evil.”

“I read it and I'm glad












that you made it home OK.”