{"id":4553,"date":"2025-01-30T06:25:51","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T05:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4553"},"modified":"2025-01-30T06:52:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T05:52:06","slug":"week-02-three-kings-day-in-puerto-rico-ponce-maunabo-and-a-day-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4553","title":{"rendered":"Week 02: Three Kings Day in Puerto Rico, Ponce, Maunabo, and a day in Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

The week began in Puerto Rico and ended back home in Alicante, with a stop in Madrid along the way.<\/p>\n

2_1<\/strong>
\nBut I start with a throwback to week 1, with an image from the New Years Eve flight from Madrid to San Juan. A couple of hours before we landed and midnight (Madrid time) was approaching, the flight attendants distributed champagne and the “uvas de suerte”, the 12 grapes that are eaten in Spain at the stroke of midnight as the bells ring in the new year, and we toasted the beginning of 2025 high over the Atlantic:
\n\"R000754\"<\/p>\n

2_2<\/strong>
\nBack to the second week. On Sunday morning I went for a walk in the centre of Trujillo Alto, where we had spent the night with my wife’s sister Damarys. Trujillo Alto is a suburb of San Juan, and on this Sunday morning it was rather deserted:
\n\"DSF3637\"<\/p>\n

2_3<\/strong>
\nThe square in front of the church has sculptures depicting traditional rural activities in Puerto Rico:
\n\"DSF3639\"<\/p>\n

2_4<\/strong>
\nThe Trujillo Alto police station. Santa is watching you:
\n\"DSF3643\"<\/p>\n

2_5<\/strong>
\nLater that morning, we had one of the almost daily rain showers. This is what passes for winter in Puerto Rico; it is still warm but there is more rain than in the summer:
\n\"DSF3645\"<\/p>\n

2_6<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3647\"<\/p>\n

2_7<\/strong>
\nWe were going to drive to San Lorenzo to spend Three Kings Day with my wife’s parents, but first we drove to the broad avenue in front of Puerto Rico’s capitol building. Like everywhere else in the US, the flags were at half mast to mark the death of Jimmy Carter:
\n\"DSF3672\"<\/p>\n

2_8<\/strong>
\nThe main reason for stopping here was to see the Holocaust memorial. I was not aware that such a thing existed in Puerto Rico but I had spotted it on Google maps and wanted to see it. It turned out to be very well done and quite moving:
\n\"DSF3654\"<\/p>\n

2_9<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3657\"<\/p>\n

2_10<\/strong>
\nAfterwards, we drove to San Lorenzo, stopping in Caguas to visit the FOK craft brewery:
\n\"DSF3685\"<\/p>\n

2_11<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3684\"<\/p>\n

2_12<\/strong>
\nThe next day was Three Kings Day. In the morning, I drove up to the hills above San Lorenzo. It was raining again. This is the main road through Jardines de Cerro Gordo, where my in-laws live:
\n\"DSF3698\"<\/p>\n

2_13<\/strong>
\nI stopped to photograph the misty hills:
\n\"DSF3701\"<\/p>\n

2_14<\/strong>
\nOutside the municipal building in San Lorenzo. Since the widespread destruction by Hurricane Maria in 2017, the electricity infrastructure in Puerto Rico has been highly problematic, and many homes and offices have their own generators:
\n\"DSF3717\"<\/p>\n

2_15<\/strong>
\nBack home, my wife’s parents were busy preparing the evening meal, peeling \u00c3\u00b1ame<\/em> and other veggies. The meal was going to be the usual rice, beans and pork. Not original but delicious:
\n\"DSF3707\"<\/p>\n

2_16<\/strong>
\nIn early afternoon, my wife and I drove to a roadside bar called Colmado Cafet\u00c3\u00adn Florida on the outskirts of San Lorenzo. We had the habit of going out for an hour or so every afternoon to relax and have a beer in a place like this. This bar turned out to be very nice:
\n\"DSF3725\"<\/p>\n

2_17<\/strong>
\nThese two dogs are not strays, they belong to the family running the bar and are very friendly:
\n\"DSF3736\"<\/p>\n

2_18<\/strong>
\nBecause it was Three Kings Day, the bar owner offered everyone a nice snack of \u00c3\u00b1ame<\/em> and chicharrones<\/em>:
\n\"DSF3734\"<\/p>\n

2_19<\/strong>
\nIn the evening, Damarys came, along with her sons Gustavo and Fabian, and Gustavo’s wife and two children, a five-year old daughter and a brand new baby. Here, Gustavo and Fabian are playing with the little girl:
\n\"DSF3744\"<\/p>\n

2_20<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3747\"<\/p>\n

2_21<\/strong>
\nGustavo’s wife with the new generation of the Reyes family:
\n\"DSF3751\"<\/p>\n

2_22<\/strong>
\nWhen I first visited this house in early 1980, Three Kings Day was a big deal. There were many children in the family, a Christmas tree, and they spent a long time on the front terrace exchanging presents. Now, 45 years later, it was a much more low-key affair, with Gustavo’s two children the only ones present. But they did get their presents and there was a bit of the old ambience:
\n\"DSF3757\"<\/p>\n

2_23<\/strong>
\nGiving a present to her baby sister:
\n\"DSF3759\"<\/p>\n

2_24<\/strong>
\nThe following morning there was a horseback parranda<\/a> in San Lorenzo, and for much of the morning, groups of people on horseback passed by our house:
\n\"DSF3759\"<\/p>\n

2_25<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3769\"<\/p>\n

2_26<\/strong>
\nThe neighbours also participated:
\n\"DSF3770\"<\/p>\n

2_27<\/strong>
\nLater in the day we met up with one of my wife’s oldest friends, Ada, to go to the city of Ponce together. Ponce is Puerto Rico’s second city, located on the south-eastern coast of the island. We parked near this attractive main square, called Plaza P\u00c3\u00bablica de Ponce Federico Degetau:
\n\"DSF3776\"<\/p>\n

2_28<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3778\"<\/p>\n

2_29<\/strong>
\nOne of the best-known buildings in Ponce, a 19th century fire station, Parque de Bombas:
\n\"DSF3779\"<\/p>\n

2_30<\/strong>
\nMy wife Aixa and her friend Ada inside the Ponce marketplace hall. I have known Ada for many years and like her very much:
\n\"DSF3800\"<\/p>\n

2_31<\/strong>
\nWe hung around the market hall for a while. Many of the stands were closed for the holidays, but this fruit and veg stand was open:
\n\"DSF3793\"<\/p>\n

2_32<\/strong>
\nWe had a chat with the woman manning the stand:
\n\"DSF3798\"<\/p>\n

2_33<\/strong>
\nI am used to markets like this from Spain, but this one had a somewhat different selection, like this bunch of bananas:
\n\"DSF3796\"<\/p>\n

2_34<\/strong>
\nPlantain leaves, an essential ingredient in Puerto Rico and the other Caribbean islands:
\n\"DSF3797\"<\/p>\n

2_35<\/strong>
\nSleeping dogs in front of Ponce town hall:
\n\"DSF3812\"<\/p>\n

2_36<\/strong>
\nWe finished the trip with a nice lunch in Ponce with Ada and her children. She has basically raised them alone, and done a very good job too:
\n\"DSF3825\"<\/p>\n

2_37<\/strong>
\nOn Wednesday we did not do much, but we took our daughter to the roadside bar we had liked so much a couple of days earlier:
\n\"DSF3832\"<\/p>\n

2_38<\/strong>
\nThursday was our last day in Puerto Rico, and we spent much of it in Maunabo on the south coast, one of our favourite places on the island. This is the town Puerto Maunabo:
\n\"DSF3834\"<\/p>\n

2_39<\/strong>
\nThe beach at Maunabo:
\n\"DSF3835\"<\/p>\n

2_40<\/strong>
\nMy in-laws joined us for this trip, to my delight. It is not easy to get them out of the house these days. This is my father-in-law, in his late 80s but in good shape still:
\n\"DSF3838\"<\/p>\n

2_41<\/strong>
\nThe Reyes family posing for me. Our children are citizens of the world, but they are half Puerto Rican, and it is an identity that we cherish and are proud of:
\n\"DSF3848\"<\/p>\n

2_42<\/strong>
\nWe drove on to the El Cocal beach, my wife’s private paradise (she says that when she dies she wants her ashes scattered here):
\n\"DSF3858\"<\/p>\n

2_43<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3860\"<\/p>\n

2_44<\/strong>
\nA chat with a man fishing on the beach. He has lived here all his life. So different from my nomadic life:
\n\"DSF3855\"<\/p>\n

2_45<\/strong>
\nA slightly creepy beach detail:
\n\"DSF3870\"<\/p>\n

2_46<\/strong>
\nOn the way home, we stopped at another roadside bar, in Humacao:
\n\"DSF3878\"<\/p>\n

2_47<\/strong>
\nAs usual there was a friendly dog around:
\n\"DSF3880\"<\/p>\n

2_48<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3881\"<\/p>\n

2_49<\/strong>
\nOn Thursday evening, we drove to San Juan, returned the rental car and flew back to Madrid, arriving there Friday morning. My wife had made a mistake when buying the tickets, and as a result, we had 9 hours layover before the final leg to Alicante. We decided that my wife would simply skip the Alicante flight and take the train instead, so she would be home several hours before Monica and me (we had checked luggage so we had to wait for the Alicante flight). After accompanying my wife to the train station, Monica and I took the metro to the Chueca neighbourhood to walk around a bit and have lunch somewhere. When you arrive at the main square, there is little doubt about the nature of Chueca:
\n\"DSF3883\"<\/p>\n

2_50<\/strong>
\nChueca is full of gay bars and discos, like this one, called “Who invited her?”:
\n\"DSF3891\"<\/p>\n

2_51<\/strong>
\nAfter some research on the phone by Monica, we found a Georgian restaurant for lunch. This was my second experience with Georgian food, having tried it in London in April, and as on that occasion, I liked it very much, especially these khinkali<\/em>, a type of dumplings designed to be eaten by hand:
\n\"DSF3888\"<\/p>\n

2_52<\/strong>
\nWe then went to the Caixa Forum, one of Madrid’s many great art institutions. Outside, a man was playing with his dog:
\n\"DSF3894\"<\/p>\n

2_53<\/strong>
\nThe exhibition we wanted to see was called “Germany between the wars”, about the flourishing of German art and science between the end of World War I and Hitler’s takeover in 1933:
\n\"DSF3896\"<\/p>\n

2_54<\/strong>
\nStaircase at the Caixa Forum:
\n\"DSF3898\"<\/p>\n

2_55<\/strong>
\nSome examples of the art we saw, K\u00c3\u00a4the Kollwitz (1867-1945): Mutter mit zwei Kindern, 1932-36:
\n\"DSF3900\"<\/p>\n

2_56<\/strong>
\nKarl Hubbuch (1891-1979): Zweimal Hilde II, 1929:
\n\"DSF3904\"<\/p>\n

2_57<\/strong>
\nFritz Lang’s Metropolis movie poster and robot:
\n\"DSF3902\"<\/p>\n

2_58<\/strong>
\nWe arrived back in Alicante late Friday evening, and spent the weekend just relaxing. In the afternoon I went to 100 Montaditos on the beach and enjoyed the sunset over the mountains:
\n\"DSF3913\"<\/p>\n

2_59<\/strong>
\nEl Campello, illuminated by the setting sun:
\n\"DSF3914\"<\/p>\n

2_60<\/strong>
\nMoon rising:
\n\"DSF3909\"<\/p>\n

2_61<\/strong>
\nTwo young girls in the sand, enjoying the last rays:
\n\"DSF3912\"<\/p>\n

2_62<\/strong>
\nBrother and sister on the beach wall:
\n\"DSF3920\"<\/p>\n

And so ended our trans-Atlantic week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The week began in Puerto Rico and ended back home in Alicante, with a stop in Madrid along the way. 2_1 But I start with a throwback to week 1, with an image from the New Years Eve flight from Madrid to San Juan. A couple of hours before we landed and midnight (Madrid time) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4543,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4553"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4553"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4560,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4553\/revisions\/4560"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}