Today we walked 3 miles from our hotel in San Juan to Old San Juan in the heat of the afternoon. I did bring a towel with me as my Nordic blood can't handle this 86° and humid weather. So besides melting, it wasn't that bad of a walk as we got to see some pretty cool sights, like the Capitol and the row of a handful of US Presidents and the School of Medicine. We manged to located a Walgreen's so we could get cash back since we needed cash and we didn't want to pay an ATM fee. We had brunch at Fefo's which was ok. I had 2 pancakes and a cafe con leche, which was pretty good.
From there we found our way to the ferry terminal and for 50 cents we took it across the way, paid $3 each for a shuttle to the Bacardi Factory for free tastings and a tour. There we ran into our tour guide from yesterday, Carlos, who said he could give us a ride back to Old San Juan after the tour. The free drinks was why I wanted to go to Bacardi (not to mention, in my travels I have managed to hit up any brewery or distillery in the area). The tour was ok, we didn't get to see where they actually make the rum. We got a history lesson and a lesson on how to make a proper Mojito, Daiquiri, and rum and coke & a Cuba Libre (which is a rum and coke with a lime wedge) as well as their history.
Bacardi Facts:
1- Bacardi Rum originated in Cuba, now 85% of Bacardi Rum is made in Puerto Rico, the other 15% is made in Mexico.
2- The bat symbol came about after Don Bacardi's wife walked into the first warehouse and saw a family of bats hanging from the roof. Bats were a sign of prosperity, so they used the symbol. At that time people didn't read, but recognized symbols.
3- The use used whiskey white oak barrels (like from Jack Daniels) to age their rum.
4- They age their rum 1-2 years for the flavored rums and 16 years for their Limited Reserve.
5- Superior Rum is mixed with juices, Gold is mixed with soda (never Pepsi), 8 is like Scotch, Limited Reserve is much like Cognac, meant to be sipped, by itself.
6- 8 warehouses in PR to age barreled rum.
7- The Mojito is the oldest drink in the world, it just went by Drake back in the day, after Francis Drake which pirates used as medicine, was called burning water (moonshine).
8- You never serve a Mojito in a plastic or thin glass.
9- Daiquiri came about when Jennings Cox made his own drink while working at a mine in Daiguiri Beach in Cuba. Everyone loved drinking it and it was named to commemorate the town they lived and worked in.
Back to the tasting. I had some sort of drink with Rock Coconut Rum. They added something yellow and red from the bar gun thingy, it was tasty and reminded me of a piña colada. I should have probably asked what they mixed the rum with. My second tasting was the Torched Cherry Rum and Coke. It tasted like a cherry Coke. I preferred the first one I tasted. Then, too cool off, I went into the gift shop and bought myself a tall Bacardi glass. I really wanted to buy the Limited Reserve bottle of rum, but I haven't even opened my Scotch Whisky yet, so next time I come to PR, maybe I'll get it then.
With Carlos driving us back with his cruise passengers we were able to see more of the Island. We hopped on the free trolley to go to one of the forts...Castillo San Cristóbal. Boy, what an experience that trolley was! It reminded me of those Mexican buses filled with so many people on a hot and steamy day. It was supposedly an enclosed, AC trolley, but man it was warm and crowded. There was traffic and we really could have walked to the Fort from where we caught the trolley in less time that it took us to get there by vehicle. I should have taken a picture of what it looked like on the bus. The fort was an old and big and used to house military until the early 1960s when the US Army gave it over to the National Parks. Gorgeous views of Old San Juan and much cooler with a lovely breeze.
We decided to walk back to the shopping area, I got some souvenirs and then we went to Punto de Vista for some dinner. My old roommate and her family ate here and I saw the menu and was attracted to the buy one get one free mojito deal they had. So, I had my delicious BOGO mojitos with some delicious fish tacos [we aren't talking about your Rubio's Baja Fresh fish tacos, these were amazing fish tacos] and sweet plantains (I can't get enough of them!). I nearly finished my first Mojito before my food arrive and suddenly hit the alcohol wall, where all of a sudden I felt the rum. But of course I ordered some water, ate my dinner and then sipped my second mojito. Just as tasty as the first! We tried to find the bus that would take us back to the hotel area, unlike Boston, they cost 75 cents each time you get on, but they don't really have a set schedule...they're on what I like to call Island time. They come and go when they come and go [oh, Karma karma karma chameleon, lol- points if you get it]. So, we took a cab back [well, it was an Astro van, not really a cab cab like in major US cities], which cost us $6 each and the guy driving decided to play loud hop-hop and R&B station that made me want to dance SOOOO bad [remember, I had drank 2 mojitos in an hour!] :)
Once we get into the hotel room, I change into my swimsuit (it's about 8pm) and I go down to the pool. The water is kind of on the cool side, but I still go in. The hot tub is not hot, which disappointed me b/c I started to get cold. Since it was there, I swam up to the bar and ordered a... you guessed it, a piña colada. Now I was excited to do this b/c never have I ever gone to a swim up bar and ordered a drink, not even in Vegas. Of course, after getting the bill which I charged to the hotel room, I'm not sure a $10 piña colada was the smartest thing to do. But, it gave me some excitement and tomorrow, should the weather cooperate, I'll know to order a cheaper drink like one of the Puerto Rican beers that I have yet to try.
I'm getting a headache as I finish this up, that got me thinking, I had 5 alcoholic drinks today, 1 bottle of soda and a few bottles of water...and I was outside all day long in the heat. I really hope I'm not hungover tomorrow b/c on tomorrows itinerary: wake up early to go to beach/pool, hope to snag a hammock to read for a bit before going back into Old San Juan to try a piña colada at the birthplace of the piña colada, Barrachina. I also want to buy some coffee if I can find some and go back to that Chinese place to get some more tasty sweet and sour chicken before going back to the beach/pool, maybe hit the gym up and play a few bucks in the Casino.
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