Puerto Rico – April 2013 – Day 7 & End

Our last, full day in Puerto Rico.

Breakfast was actually muffins and a banana we had snuck away at the last breakfast buffet – hooray for in-room mini fridges. But we were still hungry so she shared a bagel and cream cheese from Starbucks. That Starbucks in the lobby sure comes in handy, doesn’t it?

Breakfast on the beach! Déjeuner sur la plage!

Enjoying our last day on the beach. On profite de notre dernière journée sur la plage.

Salem soaking up the sun. Salem se fait bronzer au soleil.

We spent the whole day on the beach, grabbed lunch from Subway (a block away and cheap) and ran back to the beach to eat it. I was able to grab some pictures of some of the fish hanging around at the beach. Hint: they like to hang out underneath the 2 floating platforms. There are so many of them and I love it!

The hotel also has a lookout where there are plenty of fish but you can’t swim there unless you like turbulent water and getting bashed up against rocks and coral. Your only option: look down into the water and do some major fish spotting.

Look! FISH! Yay, des poissons!

More FISH! Il y en a d’autres!

Supper was at Il Giardinieri (a restaurant at the hotel). I had some passion fruit juice and they were out of coconut shrimp so we had the calamari. Salem ordered a steak with plantain chips/gallettes and I ordered lasagna (and they actually confirmed there was only beef in there – woohoo!). The service was good and the price decent for what we had.

Salem had steak and plantain “galettes”. Salem a pris le steak et des galettes aux plantains.

Lasagna, how I have missed you! La lasagne, comme tu m’as manqué!

Later on, we had smoothies and a chocolate treat from Starbucks. And with that, we ended our last full day in Puerto Rico.

Heading on home
There isn’t much to write about concerning our trip home.

Warning: We were actually charged for a few things we never ordered. The clerk at the front desk never checked with Salem, but thankfully Salem looked before leaving. He went back and got a refund. Honestly – always review the bill with your customer!

We got to look like mad people when we had to dig things out of our bags because they were overweight. Thankfully, the staff at the airport were nice about it – I guess they’re used to it. I still felt a bit embarrassed – where did all this stuff come from?

And we had to run, but RUN, to our connecting flight – I think we had 5 minutes to spare before the flight took off. Our arriving flight was late, it takes forever to taxi to the gate (JFK) and then everyone wants to get off immediately. How about letting the people with a connecting flight go first? No, of course not!

Missing luggage: we came back rather empty handed – We ran to the plane but our bags couldn’t. After a lengthy wait to submit the paperwork at Trudeau Airport, we went home (thanks for the ride, Dad) and got our luggage the next day. Alhamdullilah, nothing was missing. 🙂

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Puerto Rico – April 2013 – Day 6

Back to Old San Juan for a day full of fortresses and some shopping!

Morning

Today was our highly anticipated day back to Old San Juan! We were up at 8 (that’s early for us, when on vacation), dressed, out the door and driven to Plaza Colon by 9 am. We decided to try out Café Berlin for breakfast (I had heard good reviews about one of their morning drinks). We sat on the terrace in order to enjoy the nice weather and do some people-watching.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, any style (Caro = sunny-side up, Salem = scrambled) for $2.50. 2 orders of tomato-basil bread ($2.00) – Oh my was this bread ever something to write home about! One coffee, one americano and their famous breakfast juice (zucchini, mint, lemon). The coffee was great, the breakfast juice was amazing. Honestly, we wish we could’ve gone back again to experience breakfast all over again! Great service too, all for less than $20. Woot woot!

On the terrace at Café Berlin. La terrasse au Café Berlin.

Café Berlin’s tasty breakfast drink. Le fameux breuvage-matin au Café Berlin.

Breakfast is served! Le déjeuner est servi!

Salem enjoying his coffee. Salem profite de son café.

Castillo San Cristobal

Our tour started around 10:30 at the Castillo San Cristobal about 100m away. We were lucky – it was some sort of federal park day so entrance was free. Salem’s co-workers had said it would only take an hour to visit. Right… It took us over 2 hours, but then again, we like history and reading the information plaques and taking pictures, etc.

Let me share a bit of history with you: The fortress was originally built in 1634 to defend (Spanish) Puerto Rico and the Americas from attacks by other European powers (ie: English, Dutch, French) as well as other entities in the Caribbean sea.

Drawings on the dungeon wall. Des dessins sur un mur du dongeon.

More dungeon drawings. Un autre dessin dans le dongeon.

Tunnels inside the fortress. Les tunnels de la forteresse.

A Spanish boat. Un navire espagnol.

Salem + musket = happy Salem. Salem + musquet = Salem est très content.

Thankfully, the musket isn’t loaded. Dieu merci, le musquet n’a pas de balles!

Cannon balls – I can’t imagine the weight of these. Des balles de cannon. Je ne peux m’imaginer du poids de celles-ci.

Very nice views of the sea and city are offered and the fortress itself is very well maintained and offers a lot of information. Admission is $3.00 for this fortress alone or you can do a combo of Castillo San Cristobal and Castillo El Morro for $5.00.

On the roof of Castillo San Cristobal. Sur le toît du Castillo San Cristobal.

C&S posing inside the castillo. Below if the way to El Morro. C&S font une pose dans le castillo. An arrière-plan; le chemin pour se rendre à El Morro.

Caro peeking out. Caro regarde par une grosse fenêtre.

Looking east. Apperçu vers l’est.

Salem, Old San Juan and the port below. Salem, le vieux San Juan et le port en arrière-plan.

Up on the rooooooof! Sur le toît.

View from a WWII lookout, towards the east. La vue à partir d’un poste de guet datant de la 2e guerre mondiale. Vue vers l’est.

There’s a shuttle between San Cristobal and El Morro which is included in your entrance fee. Or, you can do like us and walk the 1.5-2 km stretch from one to the other. If you’re going to do the walk along the fortification walls, I would suggest you stay just south of the wall (as many are advised on Trip Advisor forums) otherwise you might end up in La Perla, which is supposed to be a bit of a rougher neighbourhood. it’s a 15 minute walk which felt like longer because we had a backpack, it was hot and the sun was at its zenith. Woops! Thankfully, we had plenty of water, sunscreen and snacks.

On our way to El Morro. En route vers El Morro.

Castillo El Morro

There’s El Morro in the background. El Morro à l’horizon!

We finally made it to the gates of El Morro! Ça y est! Nous sommes arrivés à El Morro!

El Morro is a bit more of a maze and is larger than Castillo San Cristobal and it is also older (construction started in 1529 but expansions continued over the next 400 years). It spans 6 different levels (you start on level 5). We went to the 6th level for some amazing views and went down to the 4th level but we gave up after that because it was so hot (stone fortress + full sun + humidity + not much air circulation in most areas). Either way, it was almost 2 pm and we were getting hungry. This too offers great views of the sea and historical info.

Canon aimed at the beach? Un cannon qui vise la plage?

I guess that explains why it’s pointed at the beach! Ça explique pourquoi il vise la plage!

Salem looking out at El Morro. Salem scrute l’horizon à El Morro.

A look into the center of El Morro. On voit le centre d’El Morro ici.

The fortress walls, coast and the ocean to the east. Les murs de la forteresse, la côte et l’océan vers l’est.

Salem and the northern cost of El Morro. Salem et la côte nord d’El Morro.

Lizards also like tourism. Les lézards aiment aussi les visites touristiques.

Salem posing on the south side of El Morro. LOL! Salem pose du côté sud d’El Morro. LOL!

The 4th level of El Morro – it’s hot here! Le 4e niveau d’El Morro; il fait très chaud ici!

We took the free shuttle back to the more central part of Old San Juan and made our way to Barrachina (104 Calle Fortaleza) as I had heard some good reviews about it. You can either sit indoors or in a “courtyard”. Of course, we picked the courtyard. I ordered the shrimp mofongo in a tomato sauce over cassava, Salem ordered the combo mofongo (chicken, beef, shrimp) in a slightly different tomato sauce over a plantain base. Very tasty. We also had 2 virgin Pina Coladas which were just what we needed! Unfortunately, the only dessert available at the time was rhum cake. 😦 Total was $54 + tip. The service was very friendly so we tipped accordingly.

Pina Colada!

Courtyard at Barrachina. La cour intérieure au Barrachina.

Happy Pina Colada!

Salem’s mofongo combo – beef, chicken, shrimp. Le combo mofongo de Salem: boeuf, poulet et crevettes.

Caro’s shrimp mofongo. Le mofongo aux crevettes de Caro.

Refuelled and ready to go! Rechargés et prêts à continuer!

After refueling, we went souvenir shopping. I’m trying my best to stay away from “junk” souvenir stores in order to support more local artists – and Puerto Rico has lots of artists. Thankfully, Salem was agreed with me given what was available. So, less volume as far as souvenirs go, pay a bit more, but get something authentic and locally-made.

We purchased from the following stores:
– Puerto Rican Arts & Crafts (204 Calle Fortaleza)
– Mundo Taino (Calle San José)
– The Handcraft Store (208 Calle Fortaleza)

Unfortunately, the backpack was getting very heavy and giving Salem problems. So we decided to take a coffee break at Café Cola’o. Can I just repeat how great their coffee is? This must’ve been one of the best cups of coffee I have ever had. That, and the barista made some nice art with the foam – I loved it! PS You can buy coffee beans there!

I love you Café Cola’o! Que je t’aime Café Cola’o!

Caro gets to enjoy her coffee. C’est au tour de Caro de savourer son café.

We took a taxi back in the early evening and just had a quiet night eating supplier-sponsored cheese and crackers on our balcony, enjoying Starbucks coffee from the lobby.

Puerto Rico – April 2013 – Day 5

The day everyone left.

Morning

Our last breakfast buffet with and paid by Salem’s work. People were leaving at various times in the day so we were still running into people until the early afternoon.

A view of the beach from our room. La plage à partir de notre chambre.

We spent most of the day on the beach and, to our surprise, it got rather crowded. My guess: the hotel may be selling day passes to locals on Sundays. I wonder how much that costs! There was a public beach right next door, it had a lot more people and kids but there is a division to keep both beaches apart. I have mixed feelings about the division…

We also had a non-human local come and sun himself with us. Some of the female guests were freaked out – I thought he was pretty cool and rather cute!

This local would like to borrow Salem’s goggles. Ce gars du coin voulait emprunter les lunettes de natation de Salem.

A local tanning. Le gars du coin en train de se faire bronzer.

For lunch, we made our way to the beach grill. I was hoping to get a kosher hot-dog (advertised as so on their menu) – I haven’t had a hot-dog in years! I would love to get a good “steamy” but God knows what is in those things! Thankfully, Salem asked an employee what was in the hot-dog. Their answer a mix of either chicken or beef and pork! How is that kosher? No thanks. Now the big question: is this false advertising on the Hilton’s behalf or a mistake on the employee’s behalf? Either one is not a good thing!

We decided to enjoy the beach a bit longer and go back to our room in the late afternoon. We did a little tour of the hotel grounds and found this cute garden with some resident pets! I wouldn’t suggest you try and pet them though.

Duck and a rooster! Un canard et un coq!

Turkey in mid gobble. Dinde en plein milieu de son glou-glou.

2 swans. 2 cignes.

Supper was at the Pina Colada Club (part of the hotel). We had the same thing as last time – Caro = fish tacos (I had been dreaming about them) Salem = chicken wrap.

Back to the Pina Colada Club! YUM! De retour au Pina Colada Club!

Prepping for our walk! Prête à marcher!

Evening in Condado

After that, we made our way across the bridge to Condado – it’s a nice walk (10 minutes from our hotel) – it seems this is where most American tourists hang out. There are quite a few American restaurants and chains, some stores, green spaces, beach access, etc along Ashford Avenue. Be prepared as it’s rather busy with cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Yes, cyclists – lots of them. But they don’t seem to be psychotic like Montréal cyclists even though you do have to have your wits about you – you do share the sidewalk with them. I also noticed that they seem to have this sense of pride with their bikes – really colourful, new, mostly mountain bikes (or at least with a heavier frame). It was actually kinda nice to see.

On the bridge to Condado. Sur le pont. Destination: Condado!

I love this Miami-style architecture. J’adore l’architecture style Miami.

Beach access! L’accès à la plage.

Condado green space between hotels. Espace vert entre les hôtels à Condado.

Salem along a rocky part of the beach. Salem posé en avant d’une partie rocheuse de la plage.

Upon later discussion, Ashford avenue felt like a bit of a mix between Ste-Catherine and St-Laurent with a bit of beach added to it. Rather nice.

Ashford Avenue in the evening. L’avenue Ashford en soirée.

Bridge on the walk back to the hotel from Condado. Le pont lors de notre retour de notre sortie à Condado.

We grabbed a coffee and slit a piece of chocolate cake at the Starbucks in the lobby. We were tired so bedtime wasn’t too late – I blame it on the sun and fresh, beach air!

Puerto Rico – April 2013 – Day 4

The last full day with the team from my husband’s work.

Morning
After the breakfast buffet and a quick meeting for my husband, many people from the Montréal team decided to get together to go and visit Old San Juan. We commandeered a few taxi vans and headed off there en masse. The 10-15 minute taxi ride for about 5 people cost us $24 USD. We broke up into smaller groups as some people had kids and everyone had their own list of things they wanted to see. We were about 6 people to our group. We were all to meet for lunch at Café Puerto Rico near Plaza Colôn.

Our walk wasn’t very structured and we tended to just go where the wind took us. We started down Calle O’Donnel to Tetuan then onto Fortaleza where there are many arts & crafts stores. Looking for outlet stores? Head to Del Cristo for Guess and Coach stores that offer amazing prices. There are more stores but I think most of my readers, who know me personally, are fully aware that I don’t really care about brand names.

Caro, the damn tourist, is ready! Caro, la maudite touriste, est prête!

Calle O’Donnell.

Salem, the port and a battleship in the distance. Salem, le port et un navire de guerre à quelque distance.

Now, please take note! I do not condone alcohol consumption – I think we all know that. That being said, what others do is their own business. And I’m fully aware of what people like to do when they are on vacation. But please, please – if you are going to drink while on vacation, do it responsibly! Going for a day-long walking tour when it’s sunny and about 30+ degrees C plus humidity? Maybe, just maybe, you might not want to down half that 40oz bottle of rhum by 10:30 am. Perhaps you should consider bringing actual water to drink, rather than more straight-up rhum while on your walking tour. I’m just putting this out there for more health-related reasons. I’m not even going to go into a long spiel about altered behaviour while drinking such quantities of alcohol. I think it’s quite clear how I feel about that! 😉 ‘nough said!

Now, back to the fun at hand! after some shopping, we had to rush back to our starting point in order to make it fashionably late to our lunch meetup. What awesomeness did we encounter along the way? FREE HUGS!! Yes, those people that stand around, in large groups, with t-shirts saying “Free hugs!” and actually dispensing them to anyone who happens to pass by and want one. Of course, I stuck to the women, but I must say, it really is fun and quite contageous. Salem wasn’t too keep on the idea but was still suckered into a few. One of his co-workers went a little berserk and started offering some to complete strangers not even part of the group. It was actually quite funny and I think we could all use a little positivity and hugs in our lives.

Old San Juan and its artistic touches. Le vieux San Juan rajoute ses touches artistiques.

Why so serious, Salem? Pourquoi si sérieux, Salem?

FREE HUGS! Des calins GRATUITS!

Pigeons flying around a boy in a plaza. Des pigeons volent alentours d’un garçon dans une plaza.

It’s lunch time!
Café Puerto Rico is a 2-floor, wooden-furniture adorned restaurant that also has a terrace. Our group of about 12 people was seated upstairs. Having read up on local cuisine before we came, I had Salem and I try the mofongo – a typical Puerto Rican dish. Salem’s dish: a shrimp mofongo in a garlic sauce with a cassava (or yukka) base. I ordered the vegetarian one (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower) also in a garlic sauce with a green/sweet plantain base. Comes with salad and rice. The slightly crispy base is hollowed out a bit to make space for the filling. Mine was very good, but Salem’s was AMAZING! With tax and tip, lunch for the 2 of us was $34 USD.

It’s lunch time! C’est l’heure du dîner!

Shrimp mofongo from Café Puerto Rico – THE BEST! Mofongo aux crevettes du Café Puerto Rico; c’est LE meilleur!

Vegetarian mofongo from Café Puerto Rico. Mofongo végétarien du Café Puerto Rico.

Afternoon
We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a bit more shopping and sight seeing.

I’ll take this opportunity to say a few things about San Juan.
1- Wow!
2- Salem and I could easily move there.
3- It made me feel even worse about things in Cuba.

Why? The buildings are (for the majority) well maintained. Of course, there are a few here and there that are a little worse for wear, but you can see that just about anywhere. The architectural style is so nice, the colours are plentiful. The people are nice, you don’t get harassed, you feel safe. I was out in full-on “tourist” mode with my camera around my neck, snapping pictures all over the place, and not once did anyone even get close to me.

What Caro looked like for most of the day. Caro a passé 80% de sa journée dans une position semblable.

Colourful cobblestone road. Rue en pavé en plusieurs teintes de bleu.

Local cats. Les matous du coin.

Lovely, colourful buildings. De jolis édifices de toutes couleurs.

Details, details. Les détails font la photo!

Old buildings, new cars. Vieux édifices, nouvelles voitures.

An example of colour used to highlight architectural detail. Comment utiliser la couleur pour mettre en valeur l’architecture.

It never ends! Ça ne fini pas!

Can you even find tiling like this anymore? Est-il possible de trouver des tuiles de ce genre de nos jours?

Secret garden. Jardin secret.

Iron work can also be light and dainty. Le fer peut aussi prendre une apparence jolie et délicate.

Just enjoy the picture! Chut!

C&S by a seaside old city wall with one of the many symbols of Puerto Rico. C&S en avant d’un mur de la vieille ville et un des symboles les plus reconnus de Puerto Rico.

Yes, we did see a few downtrodden people, again, you’ll encounter that just about anywhere you go. And yes, I am certain that there are lots of destitute people in Puerto Rico and that poverty exists, it’s just been either relegated to non-touristy areas of the country (or less touristic). But, like I said, I felt safe and no one approached me. And here’s where I’m going to come in with Cuba – Salem and I were both saddened by what we saw when we visited Havana. I think Salem may have interpreted it a bit differently than I did given the places he’s been and lived. In one sentence, I’ll sum up about how I see San Juan (or perhaps Puerto Rico) in comparison to Havana (or Cuba):
“San Juan is what Havana could’ve been”
Now, that being said, I could be totally wrong in comparing the 2 – they do have very different recent histories! But, they did have very similar histories up until a certain point and then they both went in 2 different directions. It all boils down to alliances, politics and opportunities. I won’t get into anything political (although I may have already), but I just cannot help but compare one city to the other given their striking similarities and history, but their completely different realities. And while I felt bad after visiting Havana, I felt even worse about the situation in Cuba after having seen Old San Juan.

Yes, poverty does exist. This man was talking to himself and writing something in the sky. I still wonder what he was writing. Oui, la pauvreté existe. Cet homme se parlait et écrivait quelque chose dans le ciel. Je me demande toujours ce qu’il écrivait.

Now, to move onto brighter things…

Salem and a warship – of course! Salem et un navire de guerre… quoi d’autre?

We topped it off with a visit to a place I hard heard about on Pier #2 – Café Cola’o. 2 double espressos and an iced coffee came out to $8 USD. Let me tell you, Puerto Ricans know coffee! My espresso was so strong that I had to add sugar twice and then a bit of my iced coffee to finish it up. Oh, and the iced coffee – that’s not milk! That’s cream! Real cream! What a treat that was.

Double-espresso that will knock your socks off! Un double-espresso qui fesse en ‘ti pépère!

Café Cola’o – how I miss you! Café Cola’o; que tu me manques!

But we couldn’t stay very late as we had the “Goodbye dinner” to get ready for. On our way back, we shared a cab with the CEO of the company and his wife – very nice people!

Evening
What was going to be a beach party turned out to be indoors given to the so-so weather forecast. That’s ok! We still had lots of fun dancing to the live band and eating from the buffet: mixed salad, tomato and boconccini salad, shrimp & crab salad, cheese platter (you know I love cheese), cold cuts (ix-nay!), asparagus salad, jerk chicken, vegetable and soy fried rice, mahi mahi, etc. Good food! And then there was dessert! Chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, pineapple coconut tarts, vanilla cake.

Foooood! C’est le temps de bouffer!

Salem even had a dance-off with a co-worker and we got to enjoy a performance by a traditional Puerto-Rican group. Unfortunately, the party was shut down at 10 pm – just as I was getting into it – and everyone headed off to the lobby bar to continue the party – or so we were told. I guess to some, party = sit and drink. Boring! WE went for a walk outside and ended up doing a 2-person dabké practice on the very windy beach. We went to bed around 1-2 am.

C&S at the dinner party. C&S prêts à faire la fête.

Our trip to Varadero – Days 3 & 4

Tags

Cuba, travel, varadero

Morning
And this is where the fun started – I woke up with a sore throat which I thought was simply due to the air conditioner but soon turned into a full-blown cold (one of the worse I had in a long time). Breakfast was at the buffet and then we decided to make an excursion to Downtown Varadero. Thankfully I have a good looking husband to cheer me up!

He makes me feel so much better! Ce beau gars me fait oublier mon rhume!

Caro posing outside of our room – the grounds are amazing. Caro prends une pose juste à l’extérieur de notre chambre. C’est un très beau terrain.

Downtown Varadero
Varadero is equipped with public buses that cost 5 pesos for the whole day – you can then take the double-decker bus to the city. Sit on the top if you like views but don’t mind the wind. It’s a 40 minute ride with stops made at what seems to be every resort, and then for a good part of the way you have the shore to one side. It’s actually quite an enjoyable ride.

Riding on the double-decker! On se promène au 2e étage!

The coast along the way to Varadero. La côte le long du chemin vers Varadero.

We got off around Caille 52 and proceeded to walk west along their main street. A few words of advice: bring sunscreen, bring cash, be mentally prepared to be honked at every minute or so by taxi drivers, caleche drivers and cocotaxi drivers, as well as being offered a spot at a good restaurant. Go and check out the little arts and craft shops. The artisans will try and chat you up, sell you some of their wares, etc. That’s fine, just be polite and if you find something you like, there’s nothing wrong with bargaining. Now, a word on these arts & crafts – are the people in the stalls really the artists themselves? Darn good question! To this day, I am not so sure myself. I don’t really think the items are imported but perhaps produced in more remote areas of the country and then sold in larger tourist centers. Either way, these people will do what they can to make you a happy customer but also make a living for themselves. Please, don’t bargain too hard though – help stimulate the economy a bit. What we bought: a wooden classic car for my dad, some wooden jewelry and a wooden vase.

An old house in Varadero – people live here, they had plants on the porch! Une vieille cabane à Varadero. Des gens y habitent; il y avait des plantes sur la veranda.

A classic car for Dad! Une auto ancienne pour Dad!

All methods of transportation which love honking at or heckling you while you walk along the main street. Tous les genres de véhicules qui vont vous claxonner après lors de votre promenade.

Can you feel the love between Salem and the CocoTaxi? Ça se voit que Salem aime bien les CocoTaxi.

A note to travelers: While we may not be used to people being so forward, please be polite. Many locals survive on tourism dollars. If someone offers you something you are not interested in, a simple “No, gracias” is enough. Also, people will often ask you where you are from “Where you form, frien’?”. It’s up to you if you want to answer or not. They will try to conversate with you and there is nothing wrong with that, but keep in mind that these people may hope to get you to buy something. We see the same thing here, but I find the way the Cubans go about it is much more interactive. Also, please try not to get into a pissing contest with the locals, it’s just a waste of time – just keep walking and ignore them.

A windy afternoon
We made it back to the hotel just in time to catch the last few minutes of the lunch buffet. By then my pain killer had worn off, my throat was hurting and the sunburn had reached the whole “feels like my skin is paper” stage. Our regular waiter wasn’t there but our waitress was kind enough to get me tea with honey. All spots by the pool were taken when we got out so off to the windy beach we went (which didn’t last long). Thankfully though, Salem was able to find a basketball and got to play for a while (yes, they have a basketball court!). We finally found a spot by the pool later on and swam a bit before freshening up for dinner.

Our first dinner reservations: Sakuro – the Japanese restaurant
Unfortunately, the dinner service started off somewhat badly and it was pretty much the worst experience we had during the trip. For years I have wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant – the type where they cook on a giant grill right in front of you. I had the experience once, while in Germany, many years ago. I had seen pictures of the shows they put on at the restaurant and it looked great but it seemed it was a set menu (which we weren’t shown) and I knew they used lots of alcohol for the flambés. We were more than willing to sit there and watch the show, but all we wanted was to eat sushi. We called over our waitress and told her of the issue and she said she would talk with the chef. We wanted to have this resolved before the chef came because it certainly had nothing to do with him, we didn’t want to insult anyone. After waiting a few minutes and not getting an answer, we asked another waitress and she said she would check. The spots started filling up and I was on the verge of a panic. Finally, Salem called over one last guy, he went over and talked to our waitress and finally they took us to this little sushi-bar area (they had 2 spots) and we ate there, just the 2 of us. I was a bit sad we got to miss the show, but the other chefs in the place took amazing care of us – they actually made our night! While we were made to feel like we were bothering our original waitresses, the chefs were super kind with us. We told one of them (Adolis) what had happened and he told us to forget about it and that he would take care of us. All the chefs that came chatted us up here and there and really made quite an impression on us. One of them, José, stayed with us for a bit. We ended up having mixed sushi, tempura veggies (one had pumpkin and Salem was crazy about it, he even got seconds) and ice cream with papaya for dessert. We tipped the chefs… I guess they weren’t expecting it as they thanked us a lot and even recognized us and chatted us up again a few days later when we saw them working at the buffet. They saved the night! Thankfully the waitress we had while we were seated at the sushi bar was quite nice as well.

Salem is a happy boy when you give him tempura! Salem est instantannément content quand on le nourrit du tempura.

Simple desserts can sometimes be the best. Un dessert si simple, mais si bon.

On our way back to our room, we happened upon Perro. I asked Salem to go ahead to our room to get my pashmina and the second half of a wrap we had bought at the airport. While I waited for him with Perro, we encountered a fellow Canadian and him and I ended up chatting about how animals are being treated in the area. Somehow, we got onto the topic of tipping while staying at all-inclusives – the man was quite disappointed in people not tipping the staff. Turns out he had just dined at the Japanese restaurant as well and out of a table of 8-10, he was the only one to leave a tip. Honestly people! No worries, I’ll stay off of my soapbox since you already got to hear about it once before in this post. We chatted for a few minutes more when Salem came around. Once he left, I fed Perro the leftover lox wrap and we were on our way to watch the “Rock” show.

An amazing concert – now if only they had kept playing longer!
Unfortunately, I do not know their name, but they were great! They had a male and a female lead singer and they played a lot of the more retro Rock songs (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses, etc). It was great! Even though I was really starting to feel like crap from the cold, I wanted to dance. Thankfully, the audience seemed to really enjoy dancing. I honestly wish they could’ve played for another hour. The energy was great and the singers were really talented as well as the rest of the band. It seems they had won some kind of competition they held in Cuba. I can see why. I really hope they find even more success in the future.

We stocked up on mojitos and pina coladas while in Cuba. Still virgin though – be good! Nous en avons consommé des mojitos et des pina coladas lors de notre visite. Mais sans alcool; il faut être sage!

Amazing band! Ayoye!

Looking suave Habibi! Ah que t’as l’air bon mon homme!

Caro, pooped and ready to hit the hay momentarily. Caro, épuisée et sur le bord de se coucher.

Awwww! I love these little touches. J’adore ce genre de petit extra.

The night ended with a trip to the lobby bar and then off to bed I went – I could barely talk at this point and was shivering under the blankets when falling asleep.

Day 4
A day to relax
Yadrian, our waiter at the buffet, seemed quite worried about me because of my cold. But that’s life! Always nice to get good service though. We basically relaxed by the pool all day – unfortunately, it was very windy on the beach. My throat was better but this cold went into my sinuses. Hello mucus! *sigh*
A note to travelers (an a note to myself): don’t just pack meds for tummy troubles, also pack meds for colds! Duh!
Lunch was at the grill, we had fish – it was very good! Our buddy, Perro, was there too so she had fish as well (shhhhh, don’t tell anyone). But, in my defense, I did not feed her from the table. She would go from table to table, making sad eyes but staying quiet, then she would grow tired of being ignored and would curl up in a corner. I fed her fish on the grass, next to the restaurant. It’s quite interesting to see an animal rely on their instincts – she wouldn’t eat on the open grass, she would rather bring the food to a more secluded spot, usually near bushes and then ear it there.

The fish dish all 3 of us had! Le poisson que nous avons mangé, tous les 3!

Our second dinner reservations: Bamboo – the Asian restaurant
Again, true to itself, the service in Cuba is great, this restaurant was no exception to the rule! We started off with a soup, which I was really happy with. I also really liked the plates simply because they were not the normal round or square variety we often get.

Soup, it’s good for the soul. La soupe, que c’est bon pour le morale.

Waiting in between courses. Entre 2 plats.

Salem ordered a battered fish on seafood and veggies. Yes, the little pyramids you see are fried rice. So cute! I had the chicken with veggies on crispy noodles and rice. Dessert was vanilla ice cream atop pineapple.

Habibi and his meal. Salem et son assiette.

Caro loves this kind of dish! J’adore ce genre de mets!

Bamboo had a nice atmosphere and decor. It was actually quite nice. The walls were all a bamboo tapestry. Le resto Bamboo avait une bonne atmosphère, un bon décor. Les murs était recouverts de bamboo.

Green eggs and… salad?

So here we are for another installment of my lunch series.

Just to clear things up a bit – if there’s a day or so that I don’t post a lunch, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t have lunch. It simply means I probably had the same thing I did on another day. Sorry guys, I’m not interested in repeating myself as far as recipes go. I’m sure you won’t mind too much.

Today’s lunch was lighter considering that we had sushi post-workout yesterday.

I had what is basically a cross between an omelet and a scramble… A scramelet? And I had a salad on the side.

Everything but the kitchen sink “scramelet”
Ingredients
-Olive oil
-1 small onion, chopped
-1 leek, chopped
-1 pepper, chopped (I like to use red to give it more colour)
-1.5-2 cups chopped broccoli
-1 egg
-1/2 cup egg whites (approximately, adjust to your liking)
-Cumin
-Paprika
-Salt and pepper (to taste)
-2-3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
-2-3 Tbspn toasted pine nuts (I sub it out with either sunflower or pumpkin seeds)

Putting it together
1-Heat up a large pan with olive oil. Once heated, throw in the onions and stir from time to time until translucent.
2-Add in leek and pepper and fry until al-dente. Add in broccoli and keep cooking until done to your desire (I like it still crispy, others prefer it softer).
3- Stir in eggs and egg whites. Cook through, stirring. Add in cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and any other herb or spices you might like (chives could be lovely).
4- Serving: Crumble some feta on top and add in toasted pine nuts (or seeds).

Yield: 2 servings

Here’s a picture of my salad:

It doesn’t really deserve a recipe as it was very simple:
Mixed salad, sprouts (I sprouted them myself), red peppers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Topped with a mixture of sunflower and pumpkin seeds for added crunch.
I made a similar salad for Salem (which he raved about): Mixed salad, sprouts (I sprouted them myself), red peppers, feta cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Topped with a mixture of sunflower and pumpkin seeds for added crunch.

On the menu for tonight: fish! AGAIN! I accidentally defrosted fish, thinking it was chicken. Oh well! Recipe to come tomorrow? We’ll see.

Pear and chocolate breakfast protein shake

Alright, alright, alright! I know this looks weird, maybe no super appetizing but considering that this smoothie was made before 6:30 am, traveled with me on 2 forms of public transit and was consumed at 8:00 am and was still very tasty is a sign of a great, basic smoothie!
I had this for breakfast with half a muffin. I kept the other half for my early-evening meeting tonight. Please don’t kick me out Second Cup! I’m buying a frappé – I swear!

Chocolate and pear protein smoothie
-1 pear (as tempting as it might be at such an ungodly hour, don’t throw it in whole!)
-2-3 heaping teaspoons of dark cocoa
-1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
-a dash or two of cinnamon
-water to your heart’s desire
Throw it all in the blender. Enjoy!
**Bonus: you can throw in a few Tsbpn of oats, sub out the water for plain or flavoured almond milk.

Sunday morning breakfast = Pancakes!

Tags

Food, recipe

Salem requested pancakes for breakfast this morning. Of course, I went on over to allrecipes.com to find a basic recipe to switch around and make my own.

Pancakes with a hint of protein
Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbspn sugar
1 tspn cinnamon
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/4 tspn salt
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 cup milk
2 Tbspn melted butter
1 egg
1/2 tspn vanilla

Instructions:
1. Mix dry ingredients and form a well in the center.
2. Beat wet ingredients. Pour into well in center of dry mix.
3. Beat until smooth, cover and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
4. Heat lightly oiled pan over med-high heat. Do not mix again – this will destroy any air bubbles formed and will make for a harder and heavier pancake. 1 pancake = 1/4 cup of batter. Flip when top gets bubbly. Serve!

Weekend randomness

Yes, a double-posting today! Lucky you! ;-P

I had a 3-day weekend with Salem and got to do some relaxing, shopping, got a few things done and now I feel rested. 🙂

We ended up going to Mom’s last night with the hopes of doing laundry but the power was out. Salem and I ended up picking up some thai food and all 3 of us ate by the candle light (with a fire roaring in the fireplace). It was actually fun and Mom exclaimed her disappointment when the power came back on as soon as we were done having supper. Although I must admit that the timing was perfect – we were otherwise coffee-less. We even got to play Tock and Skip-Bo.

This weekend, I tried out another food experiment. I had eaten too many carbs the night before and was trying to do some damage control. Solution: a low-carb, high-protein version of a crêpe with filling and fruit coulis. Here goes!

Caro’s damage-control stuffed crêpe with berry coulis

“Crêpe”
1 egg
1/4 cup egg whites
A dash of vanilla extract
A sprinkling on Splenda

Simply mix all ingredients, throw into a non-stick pan on medium heat and slip over once it starts browning.

Filling
1/2 cup 0% Greek yogurt
a wee-bit of vanilla extract
A bit of Splenda (if you so wish)

Simply mix.

Coulis
A few berries (I took some fresh blueberries and strawberries I had lying around) – I took about 1/3 cup total
1 Tbspn water

Throw this into a small microwaveable dish and nuke for about 1 minute.

Assembly:Put the “crêpe” on a plate, place your Greek yogurt mix in the centre of your “crêpe”, fold the edges over to the centre and top with your fruit coulis. Enjoy!!!!

And now for something completely random!

A beauty-mark on Salem’s foot along with my added scribbling. PS I did it in permanent marker!!! Bwahahahaha!

Sutton!!!!! Way better than Mont Tremblant!

Yeah, you heard me! Mont Tremblant is over rated! Why? Because it’s quite expensive, you’re packed in like sardines and everybody goes there.

Salem and I wanted a quiet, relaxing and romantic couple of days out of town during the holidays. After searching all over the place, we decided to head for the Eastern Townships – affordable, quiet, quaint and welcoming.

On our way in, we drove through St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. I’d love to come back through there sometime in the summer to take more pictures along the waterfront.

On the other side of the river, looking towards St-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

My habibi!

A beautiful place to take pictures.

The happy couple – along with the darn Maximum 50 sign that kept creeping into our pictures. I just had to throw this one in here!

Most of the Eastern Townships are characterized by flat patches of land (hello agriculture!) with hills off in the distance here and there. Actually, it reminds me of my childhood visits to see my Pépé. It’s a bit bittersweet honestly – the good memories but also the reminder of just how much I miss him.

A typical winter view outside the car window while driving through the Eastern Townships.

Our arrival in Sutton was nice – you see more hills in the background. We arrived later on in the day so we were gunning to make it to the B&B before darkness was fully upon us. We made it!

Sutton at our arrival – you can see the hills in the distance.

The house was amazing, the hostess was super nice and the room – OH MY!!! A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a couple thousand words! We’ll definitely be going back to Les Caprices de Victoria!

Our room as we come in. A magnificent, old, metal bed, amazing old wood floors and the ceiling beams just added so much charm to the room. I think I could’ve spent the rest of my life living out of that room alone.

From the window: Our bed, the sink and the washroom hidden away.

The couch by the window and fireplace. So romantic.

I love the sink and the little details that went into everything in the room and the house itself.

My favorite part of the room!!!! And yes, the bath fits two!

Here’s a note to you all: to add a bit of romance to a room, never under-estimate the power of light dimmers!

And because Les Caprices de Victoria is a B&B, well there has to be an amazing breakfast, right? Well, this place certainly didn’t disappoint! Every breakfast started with fresh juice, a patisserie, a starter (usually dairy and fruits) and the main course along with plenty of coffee and tea. They also offered a dessert but Salem and I were always too full by then. Here’s some of what we stuffed ourselves silly with (boy was it ever gooooooooood!!!)

A mixed berry juice with berry skewer on top. So cute!

A mandarine and fruit juice with a “cerise de terre”. Very sophisticated!

I fell in love with this berry and cheese pastry.

Salem thoroughly enjoyed his almond and crème anglaise pastry.

One of the starters: a soft cheese with some berries in a light dairy sauce.

A fruit kabob over yogurt in a light honey sauce, sprinkled with lavender. Yum!

A new twist on eggs Benedict: mini pie crusts topped with smoked salmon, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce, served next to a soft cheese and tomatoes. Where does this woman get her ideas? Spectacular!

The dinning room.

The wonderfully decorated living room.

We relaxed, walked around the village, did some cross-country skiing – to which I forgot to bring my camera, but perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing after all considering all the falling we were doing. Honestly, the cross-country skiing was almost therapeutic for me: it was a bit cool but my body warmed up quickly, the trails weren’t crowded so we could take our time, etc. I recall one spot where I actually felt the first bit of utter piece I have felt in a very long time (years maybe?). I was standing there, at the top of a small hill, waiting for Salem to get a bit further ahead so I wouldn’t run right into him at the bottom (I can’t stop yet). I looked up at the trees and their branches covered in snow, listened and heard nothing, took the time to breathe the fresh air and enjoy the rays of poking through the branches here and there. It was as if the world had stopped. I wish I could go back. Alhamdullilah, I think Allah gave me a glimpse of what heaven could be like.

The trees! The Snow! Breathtaking!

Just an idea of what the trees looked like with the snow stuck on their branches. I love this part of winter.

Salem and I drove back up the hill at Sutton on the day we left. Here are a few pictures of the storm we drove in (we got stock once or twice – I helped push the car out at one point). We made our way to Lac Brome and then took our time making our way back home.

Salem cleaning off the car playing in the snow while I take pictures. Bwahahahaha!

Going up Mont Sutton. There’s some snow falling.

Near the top of Mont Sutton.

At the top of Mont Sutton – Holy Snow!!!

Of course, we just had to take a picture! I can’t just be quiet for a minute.

On the way back down! To the village!!!!

My hot husband.

Sutton – the Village. Really cute! Checklist: chocolate, patisseries! Done and Done!

I love shopping!

On our way to Lac Brome – I love the winding roads. I also love that my husband knows how to drive in this kind of weather. 🙂

A few pictures of the daytime (winter) skyline of our beautiful city. It’s only in the last couple of years that my love has truly grown for the beautiful city I call home. Don’t get me wrong, Montréal has it’s pros and cons, just like any other city, but any time I travel and go to another place, I end up missing this city and looking forward to just walking its streets again. It really is one of a kind.

Downtown Montréal from Pont Champlain – click the image for a bigger picture.

Pont Jacques-Cartier, the top of the Stade Olympique and part of Île Sainte-Hélène (Expo 67) from Pont Champlain – click the image for a bigger picture.