11/20–San Juan afternoon and evening

So, almost 4 hours later – we are finished with our tour of the Castille San Cristobal.  And what a tour it was!  Great way to spend our morning and celebrate with the NPS on re-opening their Historic Site.  On the way out, we find Milagros, give her our address and ask her advice for lunch.  She gives us a couple of options, one a few blocks up the street called El Jibarito – The Hillbillies.  But sadly, once we get there, they are closed for some reason.  The signs on the door indicate they are open every day, but in this environment – who knows?  Could be anything from power to deliveries to whatever.  So, now we are on a mission to find lunch.  We change courses and head down toward the water and the main streets of the city. We see the two guys from the Castille that were dressed in historical garb and sort of follow them to see if they are going for lunch.  They actually end up in a pizza joint, and while we are sure it was great (follow the locals!), we are not eating pizza in Puerto Rico.  We continue on through streets, searching through closed restaurants and shops for someplace with food.  We hit the end of the city – only the massive city parking deck and water remain in front of us, and just happen to turn left and find Restaurant Raices  - real Puerto Rican food.  We are their first customers, and are happy to be seated in the air conditioned dining room.  Decorated with original wall murals depicting Puerto Rican scenes, it is a small, but cozy little space with interesting local beers.

The menu looks great – we start with local fried cheese, which is delicious, then order the fried “mero",” which we think might be grouper – but aren’t really sure.  Whatever it is, it is fantastic – and they actually have Mofungo – so we finally get to try that PR delicacy of smashed plantains.  Not as yummy as we might have hoped, but you have to have it at least once while you are here.

Walking back to the hotel, past gorgeous buildings and this amazing bank lobby (it was closed for Founders day, so we could only take pictures through the door windows – but it was absolutely spectacular inside)…

…we decide it is too early to go back to the room, so we stop at the little bar we walked past yesterday, The Chapel (so named because it is right outside the entrance to the convent – and the Pigeon Park).  We hang out here for at least 2 drinks, watching the military on the corner protecting the governor as well as the pedestrian traffic making their way to the Paseo de la Princesa.  Not a bad way to spend an hour or so!

Finally, we return to the room – passing through the little park that we have now named Kitty Kat park due to the wild statue and proliferation of wild cats that seem to populate the place.

After the afternoon rain storm that has become like clockwork these 2 days in Puerto Rico, we meander out into the streets, getting a beautiful shot of the interior of the church at the head of Kitty Kat park….

…then heading toward the supermarket to shore up our stock of evening beverages, then onto Cafe Punto for dinner.  On the way to the restaurant, we pass through one of the many blocks of old San Juan without power. This is our first evening encounter of blackout since we only crossed the street last night and it is really sort of frightening.  It is pitch black, hard to navigate and really hard to tell where you are going.  What an awful way to live – especially since it’s been almost 70 days now since the hurricane.  True to our luck today, the restaurant is closed. But, fortunately, right across the street is Barrachina, another restaurant we had thought about earlier.  We kept walking by this place, but it looked closed.  We finally figured out that it was because we were walking by the back door!  Jeez.  They hawkers at the door greeted us with enthusiasm and led us into the incredible interior – complete with outside terrace seating as well as the indoor (air-conditioned) dining area (where of course we chose to eat).

It is fairly deserted when we arrive, but are lucky to place our orders quickly because the place fills us fast.  We start with the Puerto Rican Delight – a selection of fried plantains, empanadas and croquettes.

Oh my! that’s a meal all on its own!

Sadly, we have also both ordered mains – Grouper Islano (Grouper with shrimp and creole sauce) for Ed and Beef Steak Fortaleza (Skirt steak stuffed with ham, swiss cheese, onions and peppers, covered with mushroom sauce) for me – both served with this huge bowl of beans.  Argh.

The food is fabulous, but way, way too much for us.  We are glad we tried all the different, local preparations, but boy are we stuffed to the gills!  We try to eat slowly, listening to all the conversations around us – the emergency workers who eat quickly then leave, the Coastie and her husband  (who saw President Clinton today as he was visiting and volunteering – I’m so jealous) and are chatting with the Hospital folks who are here taking stock of the situation and what needs to be done.  Just as we are finishing, a group of folks we had lunch with on the cruise come in – but they don’t see us and we're just as happy to remain anonymous in our little people watching/listening space.

Finally the night is over and make our way through the darkened streets back to our lovely little rooms atop the Villa Herrencia.  Tomorrow – the end of our latest adventure.