50 States Day 254

  Day 254 San Juan Puerto Rico, Cruise Day 2

"A  'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble."

~Mohandas Gandhi 

The winds whipped today, and coupled with the speed of the ship made for gale force winds on the decks. Yet the beauty of the waves crashing off the hull, becoming mist, sliding past us, making a quick rainbow and rejoining it's water friends made for excellent viewpoints. The water, in a matter of seconds, would transform from deep blue to white, a deep turquoise and back to deep blue again. 

While cruises have well deserved reputations for being eating feasts, they can be a great place to exercise. Taking the stairs two at a time can keep those legs from seizing up, and I've gotten more exercise on the ship than almost anywhere on this Adventure. Not to mention the brisk deck walks.

We met for breakfast at the buffet, a perfect place to eat like a pig. Load up a plate, finish it off, get another and you couldn't pass up a tasty dessert, no no. We waddled away and took in the ship's activities. Some watched vegetable carving while QG and I observed the creation of an ice sculpture. It becomes a very nice cockatoo.

The Princess line features art, plenty of it, and you can buy some on any day at the auction. And while a nice painting might make the perfect hood ornament for the bike (although it doesn't have a hood), we elected to merely observe. We saved  a lot of money. By 2:00 of course it's time for lunch so we bellied up to the buffet once again, this time exercising a bit more self control. 

But the waves, the 35 mile per hour winds and resulting ship pitching sent QG off to the infirmary- that is, to bed. Good timing, as the ship docked and stopped the tilting. However, she sat out the San Juan walk.

San Juan is a cosmopolitan city, with skyscrapers, shops and fancy hotels aplenty. I was pleasantly surprised at the wealth and beauty there. The streets, blue cobblestone, are tight and congested, cars squeezing down lanes with inches to spare.

The people are an eclectic group too, with Puerto Ricans mixing with every nationality from the cruise liners gawking and shopping. The locals dress well too, reminding me that compared to Europeans and Asians and now these folk, we Americans dress down pretty low. I'm about the worst example, wearing my homeless guy hat, worn out blue jeans and a wrinkled shirt. Ah, well.

The traffic is a continual snarl, yet rather well managed with few honking horns. Drivers appear to crawl patiently to their destinations. 

We headed back to the ship and off to dinner in Botticelli's restaurant, for excellent food. Something like this:

"Beef tenderloin tips with asparagus shoots that were harvested with scissors and laid in a bed of straw for 36 days, then boiled in Emu milk for forty seven seconds, sprayed with a parmesan cheese and red wine mixture and laid on a crosshatching of wheat germ. The meat comes from Argentinean cattle, grazed on bluegrass and dark beer from elevations between 2,000 to 3,000 feet, then given massages by native women for three weeks. Next the meat is seasoned with crushed, dried raspberries and honey for 12 days and cooked on a mesquite log on a rotisserie for ten minutes."

Like that. Really good stuff! For desert I had - I'm not kidding- Burnt Rhubarb Napoleon. I came for the ship and stayed for the food. Yum Yum. 

Then Juan Carlos played Flamenco Guitar for us, and while trying not to, I got a bit cultured. I never appreciated Latin guitar music, but tonight he was magnificent. Never seen anyone play the strings up on the neck. And he's a master with flying fingers. 

Finally a 50's dance party with live music, great times. Going to sleep good tonight.   

After I run up and down four flights of stairs to post the blog at the Internet cafe. 

Tomorrow, San Maartin. See you then, and thanks for following.