From The Guest House To The Ritz

Monday, Feb 13, 2006

We got here on Friday and it's already Tuesday. On Sunday, we called our taxi driver, Andres Mateo (he had given us his card and said to call him when we needed a taxi. He was from the Dominican Republic. "There are more Dominicans here than Puerto Ricans.")

In a few minutes, (everthing is pretty close together in San Juan), he brought us to Isla Verde (on the outskirts of San Juan, out near the airport) and our new hotel, the Ritz Carlton. Here, we were to be the guests of our dear friends, Rachel Walker and her husband, Oliver John. Rachel was celebrating her 60th in grand style and wanted to share it with friends.

The Ritz was very different from our Ocean Park digs. We loved the Andalucia Guest House. It was definitely economy style. But it was in a neighborhood of real people, with local shops and interesting restaurants and cafes.

Here we were now in the heart of the American-style hotel district. Thehotel contained every amenity you could possibly imagine ... and more. Most people at the Ritz and the other posh hotels, it seemed to us, never venture out. They swim, sun, shop and dine here, and so we thought, why bother travelling at all? You could be anywhere. Of course the answer is -- it's the weather, stupid! Being here since Friday, we've had perfect weather every single day. One five-minute downpour. Otherwise, blue skies, puffy white clouds, temperatures in the 80's, gentle Atlantic breezes.


The view from our beach chairs. It doesn't get much better than this for pure, mindless R&R.


Looking west down the Atlantic coast.

We got to the Ritz at 12:30. Of course, our room was not ready. So we checked our luggage, changed to our bathing suits and set ourselves up at the pool. A couple of hours, drinks and a tuna burger later, our room was still not ready. Why? The storm of 2006. Flights cancelled. People stranded. A messy situation, to say the least. On top of that, where were our friends? Rachel and Ollie were coming from Dominica -- no snow there (but they were very late anyway - airline delays). But most others in our party were all coming from the northeast! As it turned out they never did arrive; not even the next day or ever. Airports were closed but even the next day, flights were so backed up that the others finally decided to cancel (thinking it not worth a long flight for one night in Paradise). The only ones to finally come were Rachel's sister, Janet, and her partner, Jane (and they finally arrived Tuesday!) For them it was worth it -- they flying down to Dominica after this stay and spend more time there.

Dinner that night was at Ruth's Chris steak house -- coming from Dominica, where they live a good part of the year, Rache and Oliver were in the mood for a "real steak," hard to get down there. So we walked over to the Intercontinental for dinner.


The pool at the Ritz-Carlton. The ocean beach is just a few steps beyond.

The next day, Stacey and I hung out on the beach. The others, Rachel, Oliver and their Dominican friend, Penny, visited with us but weren't interested in lying around. We found them later in the hotel's beachside cafe. As we approached, Ollie shouted to us from the cafe's porch: "Hey, Matt! Look who's coming!" As we walked in, who was walking out? Ronnie Woods of the Rolling Stones (they were in town for a concert and were staying at the Ritz) almost bumped into us (along with his smiling, but very large, body guards). "Hey, how are you," I said casually. And I got a nice hello back from the superstar. The buzz and excitement in the cafe was electric. I asked everyone if they wanted my autograph, but it wasn't me they were oohing and aahing. Oh well. No pictures of the star, either. I wanted to keep my camera in one piece. Blogger, yes. Aggressive paparazzo, no.


Rachel and Oliver at the Ritz's beachside cafe.

Penny wanted to do some shopping. Specifically, she was looking for an American-style mall (no such thing in under-developed Dominica). There were only a couple of mini-malls in this neighborhood, so Stacey and I escorted her on a walk down Avenida de Isla Verde in search of some shops.


Penny and Stacey on our way to look for shops.

At night we dined in the Condado area at a hot restaurant featuring Puerto Rican food - Ajili Mojili. The name refers to Ajo (Garlic) and Mojito - a tasty sauce of garlic and olive oil used in Puerto Rican cuisine. Dishes included deep-fried Red Snapper, Mofongo (a classic Puerto Rican dish: mashed plaintains that are stuffed with various foods, in this case shrimp and lobster chunks -- yum!)


Waiting for a taxi to take us to Ajili Mojili in the Condado area.


The waiters wear cool white hats and the lovely room looks out at San Juan's lagoon. The food was great too.


The Restaurant Ajili-mojili.

After dinner we strolled Avenida Ashford with its lovely shops and restaurants. A full moon had risen above the Atlantic and the cool breeze coming off the water was delightful. When we tired of walking, a taxi whisked us back to the Ritz.

Beautiful.

•••••••••••••••

In tomorrow's blog (make sure not to miss it) - we take a bus to the Barrio Obrero (Worker's Barrio - a neighborhood) for lunch at the famous La Casita Blanca (The Little White House). This seems to be turning into a dining blog. So what else is new?