Finals came and went, and I'm happy to announce that Matthew successfully completed 5th semester, and is heading into 6th this May, (which means we are getting closer and closer to finishing up at RUSVM). It's been almost two years since he began Vet Prep, (there are three semesters in the academic year), and while it has been quite the journey thus far, it's definitely been worth it. Congratulations on another semester completed, Matty. Job well done.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Puerto Rico: Day 4 Part III
After we spent most of the day in Old San Juan, we headed back to our hotel to prepare for our Bio Bay Kayak Excursion. Matty and I had been looking forward to this part of the trip for days, so we were really excited.
At about 4:30 p.m., the kayaking company picked us up, and we headed to Fajardo, the area where the bio bay is located. Once we arrived, we checked in with our group, were given life jackets and a short kayaking tutorial. As the sun began to set, we were helped into our kayaks, and we headed into the nearest channel, surrounded by beautiful mangroves. It was such a lovely ride. There were fireflies all around us, and the closer we got to the bay, the more the water below us glowed. It. Was. So. Cool. Quite Avatar-esque.
Once we reached the bay, our tour guide gave us an informative speech about what bioluminescence is, and why Puerto Rico has the best bio bays in the world. He then let our group explore the area on our own. Matthew and I headed away from all of the people and chatter. As we rode along, we were in awe of how completely magical biolumiescence is. Yes, I said magical. We could touch the water with our hands, or our oars, and the water surrounding us would light up and sparkle. When the organisms glow, it scares away fish, which makes them swim away, causing more water to glow. I am serious when I say it was an experience of a lifetime.
After about an hour, we were called back to our tour guide, and we began our ride back to the starting point. Matthew, of course, was very reluctant to leave, but eventually I reeled him in. No pun intended.
Overall, the kayaking tour was amazing. Hands down. I definitely recommend it to anyone going to Puerto Rico. It was such a great way to end our vacation.
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| Here we are, all suited up and ready to go. |
Puerto Rico: Day 4 Part II
After a long walk to the other side of Old San Juan, we arrived at the next fortress, El Morro, (Castillo San Felipe del Morro).
After our tour, we headed back into OSJ to do a little shopping and to eat lunch.
After our tour, we headed back into OSJ to do a little shopping and to eat lunch.
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| El Morro in the distance. |
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| People on the grounds having picnics and getting ready to fly kites. |
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| View of OSJ behind us as we walked toward the fort. |
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| Entrance to El Morro. |
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| Iguana sighting. |
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| Isla de Cabras |
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| Only 77 steps. |
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| We opted to ride the trolley back. |
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| We loved this little shop; they had a lot of really pretty handcrafted artwork. |
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| Where we had lunch. |
Puerto Rico: Day 4 Part I
Our last day of vacation was a busy one. We took the bus back to Old San Juan to check out two historical sites, Castillo San Cristóbal, and Castillo San Felipe del Morro "El Morro". Some might think this is a super nerdy activity, but we love fortresses.
We wandered around both forts for several hours, reading about the history, and exploring the vast grounds.
The pictures in this blog post are of Castillo San Cristóbal, and our walk towards the next fort.
We wandered around both forts for several hours, reading about the history, and exploring the vast grounds.
The pictures in this blog post are of Castillo San Cristóbal, and our walk towards the next fort.
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| Street view. |
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| Dungeon passageway... |
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| Posing in front of a water basin of sorts. |
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| View of OSJ. |
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| Another view of OSJ. |
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| Another entrance into the fortress. |
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| View as we're walking away. |
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| This is the neighborhood of La Perla. We were told to avoid this area. Looks like home to me. No really. Some parts of St. Kitts are like this. |
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| Another garita; I was obsessed with these. |
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| OSJ is bordered by a huge rock wall that extends out from the fortresses, as you can see here. |
Puerto Rico: Days 2 & 3
Day 2:
Sleeping in on vacation is a glorious thing, my friends. And that is how we started our second day of being in Puerto Rico. However, by the time we were ready to begin our day, and head out to Old San Juan---it started to downpour! Curse you, rainstorm. Curse you!!
We had planned to go to Walmart, (will explain), and Plaza Las Américas on Monday, but seeing as though it was raining, we decided to get our shopping over and done with on Sunday. So off to Walmart we went (for supplies).
Side note: Who goes to Walmart on vacation, you ask? We do...because we reside in St. Kitts where things are costly, and the selection is sparse. We needed to purchase things like contact solution, vitamins, misc. toiletries, coffee, etc.
We opted to rent a car that day, but that turned out to be quite the adventure...considering the fact that due to the language barrier, we received several sets of skewed directions. AND OUR RENTAL DID NOT HAVE A GPS SYSTEM. Oy vey. After an hour of going the wrong way, we headed back the way we came, stopped for lunch, and tried to find someone who spoke English or could at least understand my broken Spanish. Eventually, we saw the big blue Walmart sign, and high-fived ourselves. And then we spent waaaay too many hours in there, wandering around, and filling our shopping cart.
We had intended to get to the mall too, but seeing as though it was already late afternoon, we figured that there was no way we could get there in time since it was a Sunday, where the mall hours are shorter than a regular weekday. So we headed back to our hotel...and it took about 15 minutes. GO FIGURE. One good thing about not knowing where you're going, is that you learn your way around once you figure out the surrounding area. Haha.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant called, "Lupi's." It was about two blocks from our hotel, and it was a great choice. Mostly because when we arrived, we realized that it was karaoke night!!!!! Needless to say, Matty and I were there until closing time. A nice Puerto Rican man even asked me for a dance, and he tried to teach me and Matthew some moves. Hehehe.
Day 3:
We went to Plaza Las Américas---the biggest mall in the Caribbean, by way of taxi. I felt a little guilty because it was such a nice day out, but we picked up some needed and maybe some not-so-needed items. It was actually a little overwhelming to be in such a large shopping mall. I am talking sensory overload. And this is coming from someone who used to go to the mall for fun or to relax, prior to moving to St. Kitts. I guess living on a remote little island in the Caribbean has affected my lifestyle choices! Oh, and I must mention that Matty was a trooper and followed me around all day, without any complaints. Kudos, husband, kudos. Honestly, he was just excited to eat 'mall food,' as he calls it.
Sleeping in on vacation is a glorious thing, my friends. And that is how we started our second day of being in Puerto Rico. However, by the time we were ready to begin our day, and head out to Old San Juan---it started to downpour! Curse you, rainstorm. Curse you!!
We had planned to go to Walmart, (will explain), and Plaza Las Américas on Monday, but seeing as though it was raining, we decided to get our shopping over and done with on Sunday. So off to Walmart we went (for supplies).
Side note: Who goes to Walmart on vacation, you ask? We do...because we reside in St. Kitts where things are costly, and the selection is sparse. We needed to purchase things like contact solution, vitamins, misc. toiletries, coffee, etc.
We opted to rent a car that day, but that turned out to be quite the adventure...considering the fact that due to the language barrier, we received several sets of skewed directions. AND OUR RENTAL DID NOT HAVE A GPS SYSTEM. Oy vey. After an hour of going the wrong way, we headed back the way we came, stopped for lunch, and tried to find someone who spoke English or could at least understand my broken Spanish. Eventually, we saw the big blue Walmart sign, and high-fived ourselves. And then we spent waaaay too many hours in there, wandering around, and filling our shopping cart.
We had intended to get to the mall too, but seeing as though it was already late afternoon, we figured that there was no way we could get there in time since it was a Sunday, where the mall hours are shorter than a regular weekday. So we headed back to our hotel...and it took about 15 minutes. GO FIGURE. One good thing about not knowing where you're going, is that you learn your way around once you figure out the surrounding area. Haha.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant called, "Lupi's." It was about two blocks from our hotel, and it was a great choice. Mostly because when we arrived, we realized that it was karaoke night!!!!! Needless to say, Matty and I were there until closing time. A nice Puerto Rican man even asked me for a dance, and he tried to teach me and Matthew some moves. Hehehe.
Day 3:
We went to Plaza Las Américas---the biggest mall in the Caribbean, by way of taxi. I felt a little guilty because it was such a nice day out, but we picked up some needed and maybe some not-so-needed items. It was actually a little overwhelming to be in such a large shopping mall. I am talking sensory overload. And this is coming from someone who used to go to the mall for fun or to relax, prior to moving to St. Kitts. I guess living on a remote little island in the Caribbean has affected my lifestyle choices! Oh, and I must mention that Matty was a trooper and followed me around all day, without any complaints. Kudos, husband, kudos. Honestly, he was just excited to eat 'mall food,' as he calls it.
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| Margarita time. |
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| Matty ordered tequila shots when I wasn't looking. Sneaky sneaky. |
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| We had our photo taken by the Ricky Martin shrine! |
Friday, April 27, 2012
Puerto Rico: Day 1
On Saturday, April 21st, Matthew and I boarded a flight to Puerto Rico. Why PR, you ask? Well, let me tell you:
1. Matty was on spring break for two weeks.
2. We love to travel, and I have always wanted to go to Puerto Rico.
3. In order to maintain my extended-stay visitors' visa, it is necessary that I leave the island of St. Kitts once a year. Since round-trip tickets to Michigan for both of us are so very expensive, we opted to fly somewhere closer to fulfill my visa requirements. Last August, we traveled to the Pacific Northwest to visit our friends, Heather and Corey, as well as to explore the area and visit OSU. In December, we chose to stay in St. Kitts and enjoy a Caribbean Christmas Staycation. So for this April break, we decided to spend some of it in PR, and the rest of it in SK---fulfilling our love for traveling and exploring, as well as maintaining my legal visitor status. Haha.
So moving on...
Day 1:
The flight was about an hour long. I chose not to take a dosage of dramamine because I figured I'd be okay for sixty minutes. Ha. Not so much. It was a bumpy ride on a much smaller airplane, and I almost threw up. What an amateur. Needless to say, I have vowed to self-medicate regardless of the amount of estimated travel time.
Things turned up once we landed and walked into the air-conditioned airport. As we made our way through customs, we spoke with a very friendly immigration officer who checked our passports, and wished us a fun vacation.
After making our way through the airport, we flagged down a taxi and headed to the Verdanza Hotel, located in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Our first impressions of San Juan:
Matthew: Whoa. There are tall buildings here. And nice cars. Looks super clean too!
Me: Yeah. It's totally like mainland America...except everything is in Spanish.
Once we unloaded our luggage and checked out our room, we went back downstairs to talk to the concierge about getting to Old San Juan. Our options were to either ride the bus for 75 cents which would be about a 30 minute bus ride, or call a taxi and pay $22, one-way. Since we weren't in any hurry, we opted to ride the bus. And it was just fine...definitely worth saving $40 USD.
When we arrived in OSJ, we pulled out our tourist map, and began our exploration. We spent most of the day just wandering around, admiring the 17th century buildings full of old world charm. I loved their bright bold colors and ornate doors. The original blue cobblestone streets were a sight to see as well. In addition to sightseeing, we did a little shopping, making our way through interesting little shops, stopping and lingering when seeing interesting artwork or handcrafted items.
After five or six hours, we headed back to our hotel. By then, we were exhausted! We had been up really early that day to catch our flight, and OSJ was quite hilly. We definitely got our exercise in, walking miles and miles under that hot Caribbean sun. Since we were so tired, we settled for dinner at a restaurant within our hotel that evening, and opted to go to bed early. What a day!
1. Matty was on spring break for two weeks.
2. We love to travel, and I have always wanted to go to Puerto Rico.
3. In order to maintain my extended-stay visitors' visa, it is necessary that I leave the island of St. Kitts once a year. Since round-trip tickets to Michigan for both of us are so very expensive, we opted to fly somewhere closer to fulfill my visa requirements. Last August, we traveled to the Pacific Northwest to visit our friends, Heather and Corey, as well as to explore the area and visit OSU. In December, we chose to stay in St. Kitts and enjoy a Caribbean Christmas Staycation. So for this April break, we decided to spend some of it in PR, and the rest of it in SK---fulfilling our love for traveling and exploring, as well as maintaining my legal visitor status. Haha.
So moving on...
Day 1:
The flight was about an hour long. I chose not to take a dosage of dramamine because I figured I'd be okay for sixty minutes. Ha. Not so much. It was a bumpy ride on a much smaller airplane, and I almost threw up. What an amateur. Needless to say, I have vowed to self-medicate regardless of the amount of estimated travel time.
Things turned up once we landed and walked into the air-conditioned airport. As we made our way through customs, we spoke with a very friendly immigration officer who checked our passports, and wished us a fun vacation.
After making our way through the airport, we flagged down a taxi and headed to the Verdanza Hotel, located in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Our first impressions of San Juan:
Matthew: Whoa. There are tall buildings here. And nice cars. Looks super clean too!
Me: Yeah. It's totally like mainland America...except everything is in Spanish.
Once we unloaded our luggage and checked out our room, we went back downstairs to talk to the concierge about getting to Old San Juan. Our options were to either ride the bus for 75 cents which would be about a 30 minute bus ride, or call a taxi and pay $22, one-way. Since we weren't in any hurry, we opted to ride the bus. And it was just fine...definitely worth saving $40 USD.
When we arrived in OSJ, we pulled out our tourist map, and began our exploration. We spent most of the day just wandering around, admiring the 17th century buildings full of old world charm. I loved their bright bold colors and ornate doors. The original blue cobblestone streets were a sight to see as well. In addition to sightseeing, we did a little shopping, making our way through interesting little shops, stopping and lingering when seeing interesting artwork or handcrafted items.
After five or six hours, we headed back to our hotel. By then, we were exhausted! We had been up really early that day to catch our flight, and OSJ was quite hilly. We definitely got our exercise in, walking miles and miles under that hot Caribbean sun. Since we were so tired, we settled for dinner at a restaurant within our hotel that evening, and opted to go to bed early. What a day!
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| Looks like US mainland to me. |
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| An empty street in Old San Juan. |
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| This is no joke. All of the doors in OSJ are different and full of character. |
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| The RaÃces Fountain |
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| Snapshot of us at dinner. |
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