Intercontinental San Juan Resort Spa And Casino Carolina

Our original game plan for today was to get some last minute time at the pool and beach before heading home. We had a late afternoon flight, so in theory this would have been a great plan...however the weather decided to not cooperate. The weather was awful and it rained the entire day! As we were stuck in the hotel we made use of the time by ...

... casual - barefeet and swimsuits would have been ok here, so we were way over dressed. This would have been a great place to eat the night before - but it wasn't going to work for tonight.

Instead we found Alfredo's, also in the Intercontinental, which was a great Italian resturant! We enjoyed the yummy Fettucine Alfredo (what they are known for) and delcious wine. The restaurant was great and it was a great way to end the vacation!

... Every home has a high fence, mini windows with bars surrounding them and high steel bars in between the house and the fence. We wondered if crime was high or this is the preference. We only got to ask one man who said it is 'part of us to have a fence and bars in the home. If we go to America and have a big house with bug windows we will feel insecure'. Yet he said it wasn't directly related to crime - just a desire to feel secure. This seemed crazy especially in the mountains or ...

... water was absolutely freezing though. We took some good pictures of that too. After we got out of the rainforest we stopped for some traditional Puerto Rican food; chicken, rice, beans, fried plantains and bread. It was all really good and then we headed off to Loquillo Beach. Again, the beach was gorgeous, the weather was gorgeous, everything was great. After the beach we headed back to the ship, ate a quick dinner and then hopped a cab into Old ...

... We spent the weekend in Old San Juan and on one of the nights we went out we ended up accidently in one of the worst parts of Puerto Rico. After surviving that, everyone I talk to exclaims, "LA PERLA! WHAT WERE YOU DOING THERE??" I guess we're lucky to be alive considering the large number of American tourists they abduct. Whoops. 5. Lastly, I keep getting questions about the beach and how tan I am. The answer to both those questions is yes, I go to the beach ...

... and I. DAY 2

... trip. The last few hours we had left in port were spent in Old San Juan and enjoying a great meal with some friends (you always meet someone new from the ship everyday which keeps things exciting and possibilities endless). As the ship pulled away, a lot of people were on the back deck waving good bye to an amazing port. In all Puerto Rico was absolutely fantastic in many ways, the culture, the people, the land (which is surprisingly developed even outside of ...

... of a dime and all over. The next day we went to the rainforest El Yunque, it's the only rainforest within the US park system. It's 28,000 acres and has three different ecosystems and 40 different reptile and amphibian species. We mostly saw Anoles which are tiny lizards that are fairly smooth and FAST! I was lucky to catch a couple on camera. There weren't a lot of animals in the forest because it was on an island so most of them are tiny. The ...

Puerto Rico was so much fun. It such a beautiful country that I'm surprised alot more people don't vacation here. It has beautiful weather and beaches plus the food not that bad. Everything is fried or sweet so if your watching your weight its not the best place to be. On monday I went to El Yunique rain forest which was really nice. We went as group and you got to take a short hike on a trail and look at all the waterfalls and stuff. Then later ...

... up behind Cayo Pirata and anchored amidst a number of small sailboats...one with a bagpiper aboard. By the time we were settled, a couple of beers and an early dinner seemed just right. In the morning we took a wet ride into the Dinghy Dock Restaurant at the end of the channel in Dewey. Their dinghy dock is great but there was so much chop on the water Al had to put out his anchor to keep us from banging into the dock while we explored. Things were very quiet on this ...