Forging the Forests of San Juan

After the wonderful experience in Sint Maarten, none of us beloved that San Juan would even come close. We were happy to find we were wrong.

Our tour started at 8, which also happens to be the time our ship actually docked. Mia had told the company this, but they failed to communicate to the tour guides. Fortunately, they waited 20 minutes for us and we made it before they gave up.

After a pleasant hour long drive from the city to the forest, we arrived, geared up and set out.



The excursion description had said that we would encounter water, but what they failed to mention was that the entire hike up was actually through a stream bed. Mia dunked at the beginning of the trailhead and spent the rest of the hike wet. It was awesome.


Myra and Terra soon joined in the fun and Myra started collecting her traditional TKD waterfall pics.



In addition to lots of nice cool water, we also had a little bit of rock climbing to do:



After about an hour of hiking, we reached the top and then took 5 ziplines back down to the bottom.



This was Terra's first time zip-lining and she really enjoyed it. Mia and Myra agreed this was the second best zip line they had gone on (Costa Rica still wins). The zip lines were all slightly different and the guides's joking added an extra element of fun, even if their jokes primarily centered around the instability of the lines :)

After this fun was over, we dried off a bit, ate a home-cooked lunch at a house in the neighborhood below the trail. The cook was the mother of one of the employees of the company (but not our guides). Food was tasty and it was fun to try a local meal. The highlight was the flan at the end. It was made with some sort of sweet potato and was different from anything we had tried before.

After lunch, it was another hour long drive back into the city. The guides dropped off the other couple in our tour at their hotel, then after talking to us a bit, they took us to one of the forts San Juan is famous for and told us their favorite part (a dungeon with graffiti from like the 1500s). It was awesome, they were really helpful and friendly and never once pressured us to buy anything or leave a tip.





After all that, we still had time to wander around San Juan Old Town. We got a smoothie in order to not feel too guilty picking up a free map (and because it tasted good and it was hot). Then we wandered around collecting free stuff and sightseeing.



We found one of the coolest stores ever, one that did butterfly art:


Then we got some of the funnest souvenirs we've gotten:



Keys with our names cut into them. After the last key was finished, we rushed back to the ship with a little bit of time to spare!

The final verdict: everyone loved San Juan. Mia thought it was even better than sailing, while Terra disagreed, and Myra thought they were about equal. We also talked about going back one day, because it seems like a great place to just relax in.

Luxury Cruise in Sint Maarten

2 days adrift at sea

No land in sight. Stop. Sense of time fading. Stop. Too much food. Stop. It's delicious. Stop. But we can't stop at it all. Stop. Send help. Stop.

Luxury Cruise in Sint Maarten

St. Martin is a small island for som unknown reason split in two (I'm sure it's for tax purposes), a French side and a Dutch side. The MSC Divina docked near Philipsburg which is in Sint Maarten, the Dutch side. (The French side is called Saint Martin.)

Our well rested (at this point) travelers found an overpriced taxi (perhaps the only kind) to take them the 20 min to Simpson Bay where they met up with the rest of the folks going aboard the Random Winds sailboat. Due to great luck, there were only 10 total passengers, and the other 7 had been here before and could impart all tips, as well as opinions on the rest of the tiny country, and made for great entertainment. Captain Trevor manned the sails and our own personal bartender Kim mixed drinks, made lunch, took pictures, awarded Myra the gold medal prize shirt for best Tarzan swing, and generally made herself likable.

A sunny, breezy hour of sailing took the Random Winds to a beach on the French side where the travelers snorkeled and enjoyed the coral and tropical fish and 86 degree crystal clear waters (you may be jealous now).

Paddleboarding and mud bath were also options.

The sounding of a conch shell called all in for a handmade meal of seasoned chicken kebabs, coconut dirty rice, salad, and fruit. E delizioso.

A short sail later brought them to Mullet Beach, on the Dutch side, where they advertised the amazing sailing trip by going off the best tarzan swing ever in front of but well away from all the crowds. Only one member of the party (other than the captain) did a successful dive, although Myra did her best to try a dive and a flip only to land back/head first both times. One of these though apparently looked swell enough to earn her a tank top of honor... Or it was her dashing TRULY flying side pierce kick pose.

Er, no not that one. But that's a better picture.

Mia is much more elegant.

Terra was brave enough to do a flip off the boat!

After some more lovely swimming in this great water, it was time to motor on back, enjoying some snacks and more drinks only limited by their imaginations.

This sailboat adventure was the best excursion yet.

Then Terra lost her keycard and ruined everything.

Just kidding. We only had to run from customs.

Just kidding. She got a new keycard once we made it back. With 4000 guests it's fair to assume they deal with this fairly often.

Now sunweary and sunburnt the travelers must rest up for their next adventure....

To the cruise!!!

This morning our duo once again ventured out for breakfast, this time choosing a Cuban sandwich and eating by the water. At the same place they sat the night before for this lovely photo opportunity:

 At 8:30 the first hop-on hop-off for the South Beach loop set out, in a light and refreshing rain. They sat on the to deck of the bus and were glad for the complementary ponchos. 

On the way out the bus passed again the Freedom Tower, originally a newspaper office, then a processing spot for Cubans fleeing Castro, now a museum.

They also passed the cruise port

South Beach is a lovely area with many restaurants and hotels connected to movies and celebrities.

When they returned, they were joined by friend Terra, and the duo became a trio... A trio soon to board MSC Divinia and cut connection with the rest of the world...

Part 2

Our embarkation time was set at 2, but Mia read this was more of a 'suggestion' so we headed over shortly before noon and were on the boat by 12:30. The dining room was closed, so we dropped off our luggage at the bag check, then hit the buffet for a snack and were pleased with the variety and taste of our selections.

After taking in sustenance, we began our exploration by taking an elevator to the top deck - and nearly crashing a wedding

(In the room behind Terra there is a wedding ceremony in session)

So we fled downwards and found the three pools (third one was too big to photograph)

I grabbed yet another shot of the Miami skyline, the third most beautiful in the world

Then we sought out the spa, only to find that they charge for steam and sauna rooms :(

Then we found all of the snazzy bars

And finally it was time we could go to our room

After that, fire drill and then a 2-3 hour dinner (we hope) and a blissful week of no internet. 

Bye bye! 

Dolphins, seals, and orcas, oh my!

After eating more empanadas and flakey pastry (Myra thinks tomorrow we should try something new, Mia thinks empanadas are yummy and cheap), we called to us another Uber car and we're off to the Seaquatium! Note: we both agree Uber is awesome. The Seaquarium was also fairly awesome - the exhibits were kind of tired and sad, but the shows were lots of fun! We saw a dolphin show, 

A seal show,

And an Orca show!

(Yes, audience members in all of here shows did get wet, but because we wanted shade more than water, we were not amung them)

Once we had our fill of sea life, we called unto us another Uber driver and returned to Bayside to hop onto the Hop-on-Hop-off bus to go to the Vizcaya Museum. 

Vizcaya was built as the winter residence for Chicogo businessman James Deering and he must have been very very rich because his house, and extensive gardens, were amazing. No pictures were allowed inside, but when has that ever stopped anyone? Here is the library, with its door that was built to look like a continuation of the bookshelf when it was closed:

And then a shot of the organ, whose doors were decorated with some antique painting that the owner had cut in half for the doors:

While we were up in one of the towers a lady fell down the stairs and we helped her up and left to go find help, but the other girl who came to help found someone sooner, so we kind of just wandered around feeling awkward until we heard two guards were dispatched to assist her. So then we left. We hope she did hurt herself!

Outside was almost as stunning as the indoors. First for mom:

The indoor/outdoor swimming pool. Pretty snazzy right? Then there was the ocean and gardens

And though we had though to spend another hour here, we discovered that the prospect of more time in the sun was worse than the prospect of not seeing a few gardens. So we left. 

We continued the HOHO tour through the rest of the city and then returned to our starting point, from which we immediately sought food. We found a kind of ritzy looking Peruvian place from which Mia was greatly looking forward to trying their chicken dishes, only to be told, after we had been seated and given water and snack things, that they were all out of chicken dishes. Mia is now on the verge of leaving them less than stellar review on Yelp, even though the food was quite tasty (though expensive, as we somehow paid $7 for a potato in sauce for an appetizer). 

We walked through Bayside for the umpteenth time and then retired much satisfied. 

Say "no" to fast food frog legs

Hello friends, welcome back to another exciting installment of Miami (sweet water) adventures. 

Our intrepid travelers, having gone to bed at 7 (MT) and woken at 5 (MT), whirled away the morning on exercise bikes and eating local-bakery empanadas and guava pastry. With peaches brought from home.

That is a feast, no doubt, and we finally understand why people like empanadas so much.

After this they waited with baited breath for their tour bus to come (since the tour never returned my calls to confirm), and come it did, whisking our travelers away west to the Florida Everglades!

The Everglades is also called River of Grass since, unlike a marsh or swamp, there is a very slow current, and it boasts many types of plants and wildlife, including crocodiles, alligators (this is Wesley),

various birds like black vultures,

insects like the Halloween dragonflies (maybe) that were everywhere, lots and lots of yellow and red lilies, and more stuff I'm sure, that we all saw from our airboat.

After the boat tour was a short alligator show, featuring 4 full grown alligators—that could slow down their heartbeats to one per minute in order to hide under the water in bad weather, or go 8–12 months without food—then all tourists had the option to eat gator!! How callous. Our kind-hearted adventurers had eaten gator the day before so instead they tried.... 

That's right. Frog legs. Fast food style. Hmmmmmmm.

A quiet and contemplative (aka hot) group rode back to downtown Miami. Upon arrival, bidding farewell to the guides, our duo helped another duo, ladies from Kuwait here for medical reasons (can be seen behind Myra in the earlier shot), find their way to the Biscayne Bay sightseeing cruise. This is another item included with the Miami City Go card. The 90 min ride was actually 60 min with loading and unloading time, and they really just wanted everyone to buy drinks and leave tips, but we did enjoy the cool[er] sea breeze and got to see the Miami skyline,

as well as many homes or previous homes of the rich and famous, like Antonio Banderas.

Alighting from their cruise before a cruise, the sisters next made the long 22 min by foot humid journey to the Perez art museum.

Here, Mia would like to remind her future self that she doesn't like contemporary art and don't bother visiting another c art museum ever again.

That said there was at least one cool display

Of what appeared to be hanging trees, there was no sign so they'll never know, and 

Whatever that is. 

A return to the hotel, swimming, and showers were in order to return the duo to their solid state, upon which they ate Mexican food (burrito and chili rellenos and lots of salsa fresca, tomatillo, and pico di gallo) yum. Then they went walking in Bayside Marketplace, catching magicarp, watching live music, lamenting they were too full from that excellent dinner to eat another smoothie.

What did these experienced travelers do next?

Why, the smartest thing they could do—they went back to the hotel to go to bed. And write this blog. 

The End

Heading South to where the alligators roam... And get eaten

Today began bright (except not) and early (very) as we had a 6 AM flight. Mia discovered the awesomeness of the Delta app (it will alert ou when they been boarding!) and that the TSA Precheck line for security only opens at 5 (so don't bother being early). We flew to Minneapolis St Pauls airport and explored its massive shopping malls until our flight. They have iPads and charging sockets everywhere:

We onl had an hour layover, then we were on our way to Miamai. We arrived 3 short hours later after a very pleasant flight, though Mia only discovered the free on board entertainment a half hour before landing. Myra had been paying attention to the announcments and knew all about it, but she had enough books to keep her busy, so she just didn't care. 

After arriving, we ventured on our very first Uber ride! It was awesome. He showed up within a couple of minutes of our request through the app, his car was clean, comfortable, and it smelled really nice.  For a 20 minute drive it would have been about $14, but we each had a free ride for signing up. We could have shared a ride with someone else for only $6! Mia now wants to ride Uber everywhere. After our adventure finding dinner, Myra is inclined to agree (it was a hot and humid walk though a sketchy part of town...). Speaking of dinner, we managed to find a place that served alligator and happily ate an appetizers worth of the stuff (doesn't taste anything like chicken, has the consistansy of a somewhat tough cut of beef):

The place we went to was in a place called Coconut Grove, which had lots of cool buildings and cute restaurants. 

We choose a slightly safer route back to our hotel after dinner, then walked to Bayside and explored before returning to our hotel for swimming and sleep. Tomorrow we have lots of fun things planned!