Got a few hours to burn in San Juan, Puerto Rico? Here’s something to do.
Got a few hours to kill in the San Juan, Puerto Rico airport? Here’s what to do:
Over the years, I have flown through the San Juan, Puerto Rico airport a number of times. Frequently I have had 3-5 hours between my connecting flights. If you find yourself in this situation I would like to make a couple of suggestions.
First of all, go outside of security. If you try to stay in the gate area you will either drive yourself crazy or have the opportunity to eat some of the worst airport food in the world!
In the main lobby of the airport there are at least a few interesting shops to visit. There is also a fair selection of fast food restaurants. If you are a gambler, there is a casino right across from the American Airlines ticket counter inside the airport lobby.
If you walk outside the airport there are two more restaurants in the parking garage(no kidding!) right across the street . One is a Buffalo Wild Wings and the other is a Wendy’s.
However, my favorite thing to do is to go downstairs to the baggage claim area, grab a taxi and head to the Metropol Café in the Isla Verde area. It is a $12–10 minute taxi ride to this great Cuban restaurant. If you have a Guayabera shirt, put it on! Here is the front of the restaurant:
Metropol Cafe in San Juan, Puerto Rico
If you have never eaten Cuban food then this is your big chance. Bring an appetite and pig out!
After you have eaten plenty of food with lots of garlic and onions, you will want to walk it off. Go outside, turn left, walk two blocks to the famed Hotel El San Juan. If you don’t want to do the Metropol gig first then just go straight to the Hotel El San Juan from the airport. The hotel has a beautiful lobby, interesting lobby bar, and a good size casino. For the shoppers, they have some really nice shops in the hotel where you can spend what little vacation money you may have.
The beautiful lobby of the Hotel El San Juan
If you didn’t eat at the Metropol then treat yourself to a meal at poolside at the hotel.
Pool area of the Hotel El San Juan in Puerto Rico
Make sure you leave yourself enough time to get back the airport and re-clear security.
If you don’t want to do any of the above between flights, then just stay in the gate area, drive yourself crazy and eat some of the worst airport food in the world. Bon Appetit!
Steve
Barbuda-An unspoiled island getaway in the Caribbean
I thought I would temporarily break from writing my blog about my travel through Colombia to bring you some information that I learned recently about a interesting island in the Caribbean
I am not in the habit of blogging about places that I personally haven’t visited, but I felt this was too good to pass up.
Take a look at this approach photo:
Don’t confuse it with Bermuda or Barbados. It’s Barbuda. It is not necessarily well known because there isn’t much there. Not much……. except some stunning beaches
I had first heard of Barbuda over 20 years ago when I was spending some time on the island on Antigua. At that time I was told I needed to visit Barbuda someday because not many people traveled there. Over the years I have kept it in the back of my mind.
It was not until this year that my interest in Barbuda was re-awakened by a chance meeting on the island of Anguilla with a Brit named Mark who lives on Antigua and has for the last 20 years. Mark and his girlfriend happened to be staying in the apartment just beneath ours on Meads Bay, Anguilla. Mark is a friendly chap who shares my interest in travel and out of the way places. He told me about spending time on Barbuda and how remote and unspoiled it was. He had his laptop with him and he showed me many, many pictures of the beach and the small inn (4 rooms) where they had stayed.
I asked Mark to forward some of his photos to me and I would put them on my blog. He said if you are looking for a true unspoiled island getaway then Barbuda is for you.
(All photos are courtesy of Mark Harrold)
Mark told me about spending some time in one of 2-3 beach cottages on North Beach. Here is a link to the cottages:
http://www.northbeachbarbuda.com/
Barbuda can be reached by boat from Antigua but Mark advised against it because of the possibility of rough seas. His recommendation was to take Carib Air from Antigua. I took a look at their web site www.carib-aviation.com and it looks like most days they fly twice a day to Barbuda for $44 each way from VC Bird International Airport on Antigua. Looks like they fly the DHC-6 Twin Otter 20 passenger STOL(short take off and landing) that are known throughout the Caribbean.
Here are a couple of other links that list some info about the island.
www.barbudaful.net/
Barbuda looks like an island of which dreams are made. Not many people have heard about it, friendly people, safe, no major developments and maybe the best of all……your friends haven’t been there yet!!
Steve
