AUTOPISTAS Y TORMENTAS.....................

How's our Spanish coming along?............... This little catch-phrase means "Tollways and Hurricanes" ............... Bet you didn't guess that one........... Might just write a book called "Speaking 'down-under' Spanglish" .............. Maybe even a dictionary, with real classics, like "Hola, mate" and "Muy Bueno, haveagoodweekend" and "Hasta la vista, maybe tomorrow".................and "Hablas hablas sexy" ............. And don't think that you can just learn the language by listening, for they speak faster than bullets from a machine gun.

We left Culebra to do another trip to mainland PUERTO RICO on the ferry, rent a car and drive to SAN JUAN to see the old city................ somewhere out there is a tropical disturbance called "EARL" that should be nearer by the time we get back.............



What hits you immediately is that 'OLD SAN JUAN' is in constant change to produce a mixture of old and new alongside each other...............Stone walls of imported Spanish bricks alongside cement blocks...............But despite all that, there is a very real attempt to preserve history.................. The Spanish fort " FORTE DE MORRO" is imppressive with its extensive lawns and its cemetery ............... Everywhere there are bronze sculptures and works of art................. We captured only two of them..................You might just try that balance position with your kids, the next time you feel athletic...................PARKING is another art-form, practiced by many but achieved successfully, by very few............... we actually drove backwards down one of the street for almost half a mile before we could turn around.........Oh, to be a gringo and be able to laugh about it............



Most of the highways are toll-ways (See there you have it ...AUTOPISTAS ) and very effective moneymakers...............But what a weird feeling to leave blue water and suddenly be on a freeway going nowhere in a traffic jam............... Every couple of miles there is another toll-booth and you need to cough-up another buck and a half..................But look what you get to see...........Cobble-stoned streets almost as old as Columbus, and architecture that can never be built again........ And people in doorways................



Later this evening, we are to meet up with Dwight, the famous chef and Marjorie, our hosts in NEW AND OLD SAN JUAN.....................