Tagged With "Puerto Rico"
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Re: Casa Bacardi Rum Plant, San Juan, Puerto Rico
I've visited the Bacardi plant too, and remember being quite impressed by it. As I recall, the original was in Cuba and the family moved to P.R. to escape Castro. And I'm proud to see you standing after those free samples! Thanks for the post.
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Re: Sept. 30, 2018: Murals of Santurce, Puerto Rico
While it was a perfectly nice neighborhood when I lived in Santurce, what a pleasant difference almost 50 years can make!
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Re: Loiza - Afro-Puertorican Culture
When I lived in PR, in Santurce between Old San Juan and Isla Verde, the commercial street that served the area half a block from my apartment on Calle Taft was Loiza Street (Appears, from a google map to now be numbered, road 37). I wonder if it was the original road from San Juan to the town of Loiza in the early days. Do you know Jonathon? It certainly goes in the right direction.
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Re: Loiza - Afro-Puertorican Culture
Calle Loiza runs from Santurce to Isla Verde which is technically part of the township of Carolina. It currently ends at the border with Carolina, in a neighborhood called Punta Las Maria. I will do some research to see if i can find it's history, whether it actually went to Loiza, or is just named after the town.
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Re: Loiza - Afro-Puertorican Culture
One fast search (Sometimes i love Wiki) shows that there is a neighborhood in Santurce called Loiza, and that Calle Loiza passes right through this area. So i would assume that this is origin of the name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...%ADza_%28Santurce%29
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Re: Made in Puerto Rico - Jibaromania!
Mmmmm...Crab stew over plantains! Worth the trip just for that! Thanks for sharing this experience.
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Re: Made in Puerto Rico - Jibaromania!
It sounds like Isla Verde has come a long way since the days when Cecelia's Place and one other, on the water at the end of Calle Amapola, were the only places to eat outside the 2 big hotels (Americana & El San Juan). It was my home then and it may be time for a return visit.
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Re: Hacienda Esperanza, Manatí, PR: A history of sugar and slavery
Excellent piece of History, Jonathan. It was interesting to learn that PR followed the line of many other Caribbean Islands. Nice presentation too. Really enjoyed reading it. Thanks.
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Re: Trainer for Day: Dolphinarium, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
That sure looks like a lot of fun! What was the temperature of the water?
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Re: Trainer for Day: Dolphinarium, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Great question -- and I should have put that in. The water was warm -- in the low to mid 80's ( Fahrenheit ). My wife is a woos, so she wore a skin (actually to prevent sun burn). You are not allowed to wear sun-screen as it contaminates the water for the dolphins!
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Re: Trainer for Day: Dolphinarium, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Great info! I feel like I've been through orientation and am ready to go! I hope Dolphinarium sees this great piece.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, July 3rd, 2014: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Wow,thanks for all the bonus photos too! The colors of the materials bring back a lot of great memories of Mexico
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Re: Old San Juan: Beautiful...and not all old
It is beautiful, PH, especially the old part with its colorful buildings in different styles
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Re: Old San Juan: Beautiful...and not all old
Plaza de Armas is NOT the premier pigeon feeding spot in San Juan. The honor goes to the near by Plaza de las Palomas (Plaza of the Doves). This park has a wall with literal Pigeon holes and is the home to hundreds of the birds. There are machine to buy food and if you stand real still they will land on your hands and arms to eat.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, March 27, 2014: Bacardi Distillery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Another walk down memory lane! I lived in Puerto Rico for 5 years and remember it fondly. Occasionally I'd drive past Ron Bacardi but I regret I never stopped to take the tour. Not unusual, I'm sure, when we have the feeling there's always time later. An interesting name out that direction which will likely ring bells for New Yorkers, not far beyond the Bacardi Distillery, if driving from San Juan, is Levittown, a place name I always found incongruous there. Part of the post-WWII affordable...
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Re: Old San Juan - Museo de las Americas is a Must See
Definitely will be a highlight of our trip to Puerto Rico next Christmas!
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Re: Old San Juan - Museo de las Americas is a Must See
I've only briefly visit Old San Juan once (part of a cruise), and it did fascinate me. Thanks for tell us about this great museum, Jonathan. It does sound like a MustSee! Conde Naste just did a brief piece calling Puerto Rico the new Caribbean hot spot. Here's a link to their piece.
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Re: San Juan's El Morro: Layers of Stone, Layers of History (Where Gumbo Was, #84)
Fascinating history. Stunning photos. Thanks.
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Re: San Juan's El Morro: Layers of Stone, Layers of History (Where Gumbo Was, #84)
A missing bit: El Morro and the historic site as a whole is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but while I included that in the Tags and Collections for the blog, I forgot to mention it in the text! My apologies...
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Re: "Kona Coffee": Greenwell Farms Coffee Tours
A wonderful post. It reminds me of the Hacienda Buena Vista outside of Ponce, Puerto Rico. This is an old plantation. The created a network of small canals throughout the grounds to use water to run equipment.
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Re: Underground Puerto Rico: The Camuy River Caverns
Absolutely fascinating ! I'd love to do this journey. I've been into caves in England,Barbados and Poland but these are HUGE ! Sure beats "It's a small small world" at Disney !!
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Re: Underground Puerto Rico: The Camuy River Caverns
Las Cavernas was one of the first places I went to on my first trip to Puerto Rico. Back then the Autopista (expressway) was not yet complete and it was closer to 3 hours each way. But the caverns were on of the reason I fell in love with isalnd.
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Sounds like the unplanned cultural excursion that I prefer. I hate being shoulder to shoulder when its peak time. So like you I go the opposite way to the rush. Good pix too ....
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
It's been long enough since my residence in PR that I seem to be craving a trip back. Having lived in Isla Verde & Santurce, I've wanted to return for a stay in Old San Juan. You've just added fuel to that desire, JL.
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Garry and PM You are right, I hate being caught in crowds - it's why I have spent 1.5 weeks in Florence and I have never been to the Uffizi. I look for the smaller museums and out of the way towns. That is my favorite way to travel.
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Hello Jonathan L, What a day! Sounds like a case where changing horses midstream is a good thing. I guess that's what traveling is all about. Taking the good with the bad and expect the unexpected. Cruise ships can be a nuisance especially when they unload all their passengers on unsuspecting adventurers like yourself. Glad to hear it worked okay in the end. Love the pics too.
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Re: Don't Expect Things to Work Like Home
Old San Juan is my February destination for next year, so thanks for the preview! I hope you'll be writing more about it in coming months...
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ET, Call Home: A visit to the Arecibo Observatory
On our recent visit to Puerto Rico, we took an unplanned side trip to what might be called ET’s phone booth—a vast radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory that “listens” to space both for astronomical information and any...
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A Home for Caribbean Artists: The Puerto Rico Museum of Art, San Juan
Sometimes, at home or traveling, you miss an obvious place to visit, just because it’s nearby and you can fit it in “any time.” On our last day in Puerto Rico, we finally got to visit the museum around the corner and a few blocks...
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San Juan's El Morro: Layers of Stone, Layers of History (Where Gumbo Was, #84)
El Morro, the giant fortification that's guarded San Juan Harbor for nearly 500 years, is the sight we saw before we saw it. Its image is everywhere when you do online research for a trip to Puerto Rico; its "garitas"—small domed...
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El Yunque: A visit to the rain forest
When we began planning a trip to Puerto Rico, and planning to include our 14-year-old granddaughter, we sent her some of the material we were gathering and asked her what her priorities were. She, and we, both had El Yunque right near the top of the...
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San Juan: Two Markets, Old and New
As Gumbo readers know by now, a lot of us who write these pieces are suckers for markets, large and small, wherever we go. If an army travels on its stomach, an army of bloggers stocks up at the public market. So, on our recent trip to Puerto...
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San Juan, Puerto Rico: Outside the Walls
Because Puerto Rico was the first freshwater island for 16th-century travelers from Spain, and because it guards the entrance to the Caribbean, its Spanish masters went out of their way to defend it, not only with the huge fortifications at the...
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Old San Juan: Beautiful...and not all old
San Juan, Puerto Rico is a city of contrasts, of modern skyscrapers, crowded residential areas of different eras, resort hotels and casinos along Condado, and much more...but the image that usually comes to mind is really that of Old San Juan, the...
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South Beach Miami - A walk through Art Deco History
South Miami Beach is probably one of the most photographed cities in the United States. It is home to what may be the densest collection of art deco architecture in the United States. It is hard to find something new to say, in fact, when I...
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Where to go for sun if you can't go "there" now...
In the wake of the terrorist attack in Tunisia and new visa restrictions on individual travel to Egypt, the Telegraph (UK) has gathered up a list of "fun in the sun" places for those in need of sand and tan. The list, with pictures, is HERE...
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Who Is Puerto Rico's Artisanal Ice Cream King?
That's a tough question...and can only really be decided by tasting and tasting and tasting and...well, we couldn't spend all our time at it, could we? So, intrigued in advance by tales of great ice cream and unusual flavors, we identified...
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A Day in Caguas
Caguas is a late-comer by some standards; San Juan, 30 miles away, was already 250 years old when Caguas was settled by Spain—and yet it proudly calls itself “La Ciudad Criolla” and “El Corazon de Borinquen,” the Creole...
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Underground Puerto Rico: The Camuy River Caverns
If Old San Juan and the El Yunque rain forest and the beaches have been drawing visitors for hundreds of years, that's certainly not true for this hidden attraction: a vast, and still-not-fully-explored system of caves, carved out by the world's...
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A Day in Ponce, Puerto Rico (Where Gumbo Was #87)
On our second-to-last day in Puerto Rico, we headed to the south shore of the island, to the city of Ponce. It's smaller than San Juan, has less tourist traffic—all that, and yet it considers itself the cultural equal of the capital or of...
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The West Coast of Puerto Rico
A frequent visitor to Puerto Rico, Jonathan L had never before visited the island's west coast. He shares the visit with us here.
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Soles Truncos: Unique in Puerto Rico
Jonathan L continues his exploration of San Juan's unique architecture and the work of the Puerto Rico Historic Building Drawing Society.
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Río Piedras and The University of Puerto Rico
Jonathan L takes us on a visit to the University of Puerto Rico, and the town and market of Rio Piedras.
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Caguas Botanical Gardens: a taste of history and culture
Jonathan L takes us on a tour of the garden, which is organized to mirror aspects of the island's culture and history.
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May 7, 2017: Birds of Paradise, Caguas PR
The Jardin Botanico y Cultural in Caguas is home to many species of Bird of Paradise flowers. Here are some of the examples from a recent visit.
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Where in the World is TravelGumbo #209
TravelGumbo's on the road again, to another puzzling location (at 209, it's the first puzzle of Year 5), so try your luck and skill!
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Mar. 5, 2017: Casa Alcaldía, Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico
Jonathan L shows us this 1840s stained-glass flamboyan tree, the largest secular artwork in Puerto Rico at the time.
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Tourist to Traveler: Exploring Old San Juan
Jonathan L, a veteran traveler to Puerto Rico, takes you down some of his favorite off-the-tourist-track streets in Old San Juan
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Securing the History of Old San Juan
The Puerto Rico Historic Building Drawing Society is hard at work to preserve San Juan's UNESCO-listed architectural heritage. Jonathan L visited and interviewed its founder.