my vacation - a recap

we left new york at the crack of dawn, on a 6:30 a.m. flight to puerto rico to be exact. it was all pretty uneventful and we landed before noon in san juan and got to our hotel unharmed. then we learned that our hotel was hosting a political rally that weekend. i don't pretend to understand puerto rico's governmental system but the guy at the front desk tried to explain it us a little. what i gathered was this: the political party of the current puerto rican governor has split in two, and both candidates are running against each other for their party's nomination. one decided to hold a rally at the hilton caribe, one of the most famous hotels in san juan (from what i could gather) and supposedly the home of the pina colada. that guy's political rival decided to hold his rally at the hotel next door, our hotel.



of course, we were only staying there one night...the night of the rally!...so we had to deal with many more people than we would have otherwise. and it was difficult to get into the hilton's beach area, but we managed. actually, we spent most of our time in puerto rico asleep. we just crashed. it was great.

our second day, we had to check out of the hotel early, but we had until 9 p.m. to check into the ship. we decided to rent a car and drive to the rainforest for a hike. rain clouds were threatening, and it even rained a little before we set out, but we decided to risk it and hoped it would blow over. it did not. we drove through a down pour, which caused many roads to collect huge puddles. it was dangerous driving and it took a lot longer than expected.

when we finally made it to the rainforest, we had to drive almost straight up a mountain, and the rain was not stopping, but seemingly getting heavier! after making it all the way there, we gave up without getting a hike or even any good pics.



hungry and cranky because of the fruitless trip, we made time getting back to the hotel and went straight to the ship.

it was great boarding the ship because it finally felt like our vacation was started! of course we went straight to the food, and then unpacked and slept some more. but it was comforting to be settled in our home for the next week.



we had better luck in st. thomas. we knew exactly what beach we wanted to go to: magen's bay. it was hot and sunny -- almost too hot -- and we were out at the beach before noon, so we headed back to the boat early, around 2, and then just laid around the deck as we set sail to the next destination.

our second night we met our dinner companions. they try to sit you with people that are close to your age, but we were not sure what we were going to get. when we boarded we had been placed in the 5:45 dinner seating, and we asked to move because that was too early. we got placed in the 8:30 seating, and with two girls, kelly and becca, just a few years younger than me and really fun. we bonded right away.

sadly, we weren't as lucky with our waiter as we were with our dinner tablemates. you get so pampered on these trips, its hard to deal with slow service and lack of attention. but if there was one thing to complain about on this trip (besides the weather) it was this guy.

anyway, the next island was fun. it rained in the morning, but it cleared up by midday. we took a snorkel trip in the afternoon to two spots. the second, champagne reef, is the best place i have ever snorkeled. because of a volcano, there are underwater hot air vents that pump warm bubbles into the reef. as the bubbles brushed against your skin as they headed towards the surface, it felt like the water was actually fizzy. like warm champagne.



i'm not sure when we discovered the cigar bar, but we started going there before dinner pretty early on in the trip. the room was dark, there was a live jazz trio, and it was cozy. any the first time we went there they had champagne on special. does it get any better than that? we went there every night before dinner to enjoy a drink, chat and enjoy the soothing jazz. a highlight of the trip.

the next few spots were unremarkable: barbados and st. lucia. eh. it rained a lot. in barbados we went duty free shopping. i bought pounds of yummy cadbury chocolate and matt bought cuban cigars. he smoked them in the cigar bar before we came home. in st. lucia matt went deep sea fishing. he loved it. they caught a big swordfish, but they had to throw it right back.



our last stop was in antigua. we got advice from a waiter (not ours) to go to a good beach there. it was deserted and perfect. but of course it rained! we took refuge in a beach-side restaurant, where we drank red stripe and played with some scary stray cats.

at last, we had a day at sea. it was our last day of vacation, but it was beautiful. there wasn't a rain cloud in the sky. i spent the day on the deck basking in the sun and working on my third novel of the trip. matt went for a run, as he did almost every day while we were on vacation (who exercises on vacation? seriously.) and he met me there later. we drank frozen mixed drinks and just read and read. it was honestly the best day of the whole trip. the weather, the drinks, the company. it was perfect.

the next day we had to say good bye to the caribbean. it was a sad day... wish i would stay forever. in the dark cigar bar, on the ship's deck sunning, drinking a pina colada. well... there's always next year.