San Juan, Puerto Rico - Saturday 26 November 2016

Had a bit of a sleep in, then down to the free buffet breakfast. It was okay.

Went for a walk along the beach. Very overcast and started to rain as I came back.

Checked out and Uber back to Old San Juan as I have the day to kill before my flight to NYC. I really like OSJ and if I came again, would try to stay here. It's only about a $6 fare.

Coffee at a nice bar / restaurant and then did some walking. I covered most of it yesterday, so headed in a different direction today.

Creative Barista...

Lovely architecture...













Discovered the gate to Old San Juan and the Paseo which is a pathway. Found a nice place for lunch and sat at a table in the street listening to a local busker and eating a local dish, mofungo which was excellent. Plantains stuffed with steak.

Along the Paseo...



The harbour...

Walked around some more and then caught an Uber back to hotel to pick up bag and then to airport. Easy 3.5 hour flight to JFK. I quite like JetBlue.

Caught a shared Uber to Ace Hotel in Midtown. Had been recommended by a friend. Very trendy, dark and black. Great location right near 5th Ave, between Flatiron Building and Empire State.

There's a bar in the lobby which was packed and really noisy - made checking in challenging ! Room was spacious and nice and quiet, other than the sirens which you can't really get away from.



It was about 11pm by now, but I was very pumped to be in NYC, so I walked a couple of blocks north and bought a Philly Steak thing from a street vendor. It was good. It is very cold !

It's very easy to find your way around NYC due to the grid system. You just need to understand the numbering system ie Avenues run north / south and Streets run east / west.

Back to hotel and crashed.

Ribbit...

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Friday 25 November 2016

Easy flight from Beef Island to San Juan. I was the only person on the plane !

Beef Island Airport...



My plane from Beef Island to San Juan...



At San Juan I was the only person in the airport and it's a big airport.

Caught taxi to hotel. They had a guy to arrange so very easy. $20 incl tip.

Got to hotel (Best Western Condado Beach) but room wasn't ready so I went for a swim. Beach very close. A bit rough but the temperature was nice.





Found a place for lunch - prawn gumbo.



Not going to try this one...



Came back to hotel and checked in. Huge apartment overlooking ocean.





Caught an Uber into Old San Juan (OSJ) which is really nice. Very Spanish.

San Juan was a very strategic port 500 years ago so they built 2 large forts. Really interesting to walk around and in spectacular locations on the ocean. A free trolley serviced the town so caught that for a bit.

Inside the fort...







View of one fort from the town...



View from the other fort...



Walked around town and when it got dark I had a beer at a rooftop bar. Went for dinner at a different bar. Not busy even though it was a Friday night. I understand it gets busy later.





I had dinner here...Aureola...



Walked part the way back and then caught an Uber. Nice guy, Jose, had never met an Australian !

I think this is the university...



I think this is their Capitol building...it looked great at night...





Wandered around Condado and then bed.

Tortola - Monday 21 October to Thursday 24 October 2016

A week of work. Trying new places for breakfast and dinner each day

Monday had breakfast at the Best Cup and at night went to The Cabernet (the Cab) for dinner by myself.

Tuesday had breakfast at Capriccios and dinner at Maria's. Wednesday had breakfast at Island Roots.

Getting into the swing of things here. It rained a fair bit this week and the days are still warm / very warm.

As nice as it is here, I will be ready to leave on Friday. I know now why I live in a big city !

Chad took me to a local restaurant for lunch - Marie's... I had conch curry (again)...

View from the fishing co-op looking back to Road Town...

Jost Van Dyke - Sunday 20 November 2016

Woke up and had breakfast at Maria's then caught a taxi to the ferry terminal at West End.

Ferry to Jost Van Dyke - about 20 minutes. Then short taxi over the hill to White Bay Beach.







Sat on the sand near Soggy Dollar Bar. Had some Painkillers. Lots of boats came in and moored and people jumped off to get to the beach. Hence the Soggy Dollar concept.



Went and had lunch at Hendo's Hideout right where we were sitting. Rain came over but we were covered. Rain left so back to the beach. Water colour is beautiful and so is the temperature.

Got busy by end of the day...

Taxi back to ferry and ferry back to West End. Got a lift back to town with some Americans we met.

Walked to The Moorings and had dinner at Charlie's. Posh restaurant on the water.

Walked back to hotel and crashed.

Smugglers Cove and Trellis Bay - Saturday 19 November 2016

Got up early and walked to The Moorings, a large yacht club. Had breakfast and wandered around.

Then caught a taxi to Smugglers Cove. A bit hard to get to down a dirt road but a beautiful beach.





Had a swim and caught taxi back to Road Town. Taxis aren't cheap but are the only way to get around, unless you hire a car.

I wonder what the national dish is ?



In the afternoon I met Mirza and we caught a taxi to Long Bay on the other end of the island. There are two Long Bays - one on Tortola and one on Beef Island. This one is right next to the airport.

Had a another swim and then walked to Da Loose Mongoose on the beach at Trellis Bay, for dinner.



Taxi back and a quick drink at Maria's before bed. I'm still very tired at the end of the day, so early nights are the rule.

I think that's a racecourse down there...

Tortola - Friday 18 November 2016

Last day of conference.

Enjoyed a team lunch at the Cab with one of the partners.

After work we caught a small ferry from Nanny Cay to Norman Island for dinner. I was very excited to go there as it is also known as Treasure Island, one of the islands that Robert Louis Stevenson was supposed to have based Treasure Island which was my favourite book as a child.

Half was between islands, the ferry broke down so we had to be towed by the dinghy.

Really nice restaurant on the beach - Pirate's Bay. Great meal of scallops and prawns with tortellini.

Back on the ferry and to bed. End of a tiring week.

View from the beach on Norman Island...

Pirate's Bay restaurant...