Category: Miscellaneous

Not Atlantis

June 24, 2008

San Juan, and more specifically Isla Verde, is the Atlantic City of Puerto Rico. I think.

Yes the beaches are (geographically) nice, but given that in the past year I’ve been to both Waikiki and Bondi beach, it’s difficult for me to be wowed. Furthermore, the tourist appeal of San Juan is heavily tainted by the fact that the city is just ugly. I could go into specifics, but a trivial example is the garbage everywhere. I mean one tiny thing that would make the immediate area outside our hotel much more appealing would be simply cleaning the trash off the streets!

This morning I planned to walk west on Isla Verde beach to theadjacent Ocean Beach. The wind was near-cyclonic, and it felt more like walking in a desert so much sand was blowing everywhere. Isla Verde Avenue looks like it could double for a set from Mad Max IV, so I was back in the hotel within the hour 🙂

The hotels here are like oases. Each is a self-contained wonderland of entertainment, by which I mean they all have casinos. It’s increasingly obvious that this is the big draw of San Juan. The beaches are just there to fill the time between sinking coins into the slots. Perhaps.

Do I sound cynical? Maybe.

Here’s a shot of the koala I found in the hotel room, and me not being cynical 🙂

BTW we had Outback Steakhouse again for dinner, and we discovered we like ribs!

KLS is off at midday tomorrow and we’re both heading to Old San Juan to try and dig up some decent souvenirs. Don’t get my started about the taxi scam…

Where Am I?

June 24, 2008

Taxi’s here are a rip-off. $30 into Old San Juan from the hotel is wildly overpriced, and given that buses are (we’re told) hellish we’re more or less forced to taxi. Oh well, at least the free breakfast is worth it:

< Surprised?

A bunch of random shots from Old San Juan:

The fountain at left was at the beginning of the Paseo del Morro path. The middle shot (taken on the path) shows the city walls from outside, and the rightmost shot shows El Morro fortress, which I visited yesterday.

As far as fortresses go, it was quite impressive, with giant walls and hidden rooms and impressive battlements. The nearby El Cristobel fort was even better (it has a dungeon, but we’re not allowed to go very far in). But both were perhaps less impressive than they may have been because neither were my first exposure to a hilltop stone fortress.

I speak of course of Fort Scratchley in Newcastle. Even though El Morro is several hundred years older, it’s similar in design to Scratchley. This unexpected similarity continues into the city of Old San Juan itself:

That’s a typical street view. The architecture is different, the streets may not be paved, but it was hard to shake a strange sense of deja vu as I strode these streets. The colonial heights of Newcastle (around the obelisk, for instance) and the older parts of San Juan (up near El Morro) were very similar, and various geographical aspects of San Juan’s harbour bore a strong resemblence to (for instance) the breakwaters at the entrance of Newcastle harbour.

Incidentally, the quality of souvenir’s here is abysmal. And our standards are low! I’ll look again today, but I wonder if this is because we’re here in the off season?

Two Meme’s

June 20, 2008

First, Florence asked me what 3 things I’d bring to a desert island. My list is conditional: no people/pets and no electricity. Therefore, trying to be serious here:

1) A tent
2) A knife
3) A hand-cranked flashlight

With those three items, I’d be the master of my domain 🙂

Incidentally, I forward this meme onto anyone else reading with a blog.

Secondly, AW proposed a new meme, and here goes:

“Poleaxed, she fell to the floor.”
– Sting Of The Zygons (2007), by Stephen Cole

“His long blond hair was whirling with the harsh whip of the wind, and he had to yell to make himself heard above the din.”
– Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (1990) by F.X. Nine

F.X. Nine eh? Could that be Francis Xavier?

Robot Claw