The southern Puerto Rican city of Ponce (pronounced PONE-say) has been celebrating its annual carnival for 165 years, making it one of the longest-celebrated carnivals in the Caribbean. The festivities are brought to life by vejigantes, a local folk character that wears a colorful paper-mâché mask and a bright jumpsuit. Since we have commissioned a couple of vejigante masks from renowned mask maker Miguel Caraballo, we were eager to see the colorful masks in use during a carnival parade!
The event spans six days right before Lent. The carnival parades include King Momo’s appearance and the Carnival Queen’s coronation, a masquerade ball, and the Burial of the Sardine, a simulated funeral marking the beginning of Lent.
We were there on Saturday night for the kids’ day and Queen’s Coronation activities, which included a family-friendly version of the main event. It was a delight! (But thank God we brought our earplugs.) Enjoy!
Playa Ostiones is the very definition of off-the-beaten path. It’s a little neighborhood beach, not mentioned in any tourism brochures. It has a small, deeply-potholed dirt parking lot among the palm trees, a put-in for small boats and jet skis, a small beach and swimming area for families, and a few wooden benches. No bathrooms. No restaurants. No facilities. There are a couple of small condo complexes behind it. But if you have simple tastes and a deep appreciation of nature’s beauty, it has everything you need.
You can walk through a nature reserve down a path beautifully maintained by a dedicated local man by the name of Harvey John Ducot, and take your choice of countless small beach areas tucked within the mangroves. You can sit under a low shady tree and watch the placid water. You can snorkel from a beach, or kayak out onto the water, and see countless reefs, plants and sea life. You can do yoga in the sand, fish off the jetty, or just laze the day away.
(Shh, don’t tell anyone!) Playa de Ostiones is our definition of Paradise.
Note: In the summer, the crowds on weekends can be loud and raucous, with lots of jet skis and speakers blaring Daddy Yankee.
The name Bacardi is synonymous with Puerto Rican rum – even if is originally from Cuba. We decided to take a tour of its factory! We combined it with a $75 mixology class, which you can watch in a separate video.
The tour itself was very crowded and not as comprehensive as we expected for such a sprawling factory, but the drinks were great! Interestingly, Bob did this tour in 1994 and it was dirt cheap, maybe $5. How times have changed! Rum tours are now big business, and an obvious revenue stream from tourism. But if you’re on a Puerto Rican vacation, why not? Experiencing rum is an important part of experiencing the local culture. Bacardi offers a number of different tours, ranging in price from $40 to $200.
Normally, to get there, you take a ferry across the water from the ferry terminal in Old San Juan – an awesome experience in its own right! – then grab a quick Uber to the factory in Catano. We went on a Puerto Rican holiday when no ferries were running, and had to drive.
Ron del Barrilito) is the original Puerto Rican rum, and many would say the finest. Bacardi, rum purists claim, is originally from Cuba and therefore not Puerto Rican at all – despite its huge factory in San Juan and its reputation worldwide as THE Puerto Rican rum of note.
We decided to tour both, starting with Barrilito. The name means Rum from the Little Barrel, a reference to the little barrels that the original moonshiner hawked his potion from in 1880. The factory is in Bayamon in greater San Juan, and easy to get to by Uber if you’re a tourist without a car. (Also a short drive, if you have rented a car and have the heart to navigate traffic in San Juan.) The tour isn’t cheap ($80), but it’s fun! You’ll learn a lot about the different types of rum and have a great time learning about island history and rum culture.
We spent our time in the southeastern corner of the island searching for beaches. Since the one at Palmas del Mar was covered with seaweed and had dangerous waves, we headed west, and discovered El Cocal and Punta Santiago.
It had been at least 15 years since we attended the Vermont State Fair. Back, then we had small children and spent a lot of time in the 4H Barn looking at the cows. Now it was just the two of us, going back to the Rutland Fairgrounds in summer 2022 to see if this annual Vermont tradition is worth our time as adults.
The highlight of the Bateaux Mouches dinner cruise on the River Seine in Paris was when the Eiffel Tower put on a light show at 10 o’clock. Glorious!
We highly recommend this experience for anyone looking for a romantic or noteworthy evening in Paris. the views are unparalleled, and we lucky to have a clear, warmish early-fall with a full moon. Our only regret was that we neglected to inform them in advance that we were celebrating Lisa’s birthday! If we had they would have brought her dessert with a sparkler on top and played Happy Birthday on the violin! (Come to think of it, maybe it’s better she didn’t singe her eyebrows,)
We love to travel, but planning a trip can be really labor- and time-intensive. Bob has great ideas for places to go and things to do, but no patience for all those logistical details, so the work falls on my shoulders. Sometimes, when I have been poring over AirBnBs and hotel options, comparing flight prices, and looking at rental cars vs. trains, I find myself feeling overwhelmed by all the choices and resentful that it’s keeping me from enjoying the place I am actually in. I have often thought how nice it would be to let someone else do the planning for once! So Bob and I decided to try an organized tour for the first time and see if we liked it.
We knew we wanted to travel in the fall, at the end of our time in Vermont, and before settling into our new home in Puerto Rico. We knew we had to work around our oldest child Aryk’s schedule, because they were just finishing their work for their Master’s degree from Bath Spa University and we wanted to give them the gift of a trip together to celebrate all their hard work. We knew we wanted to see my brother Pat and his family, who live in Germany and whom we haven’t seen since pre-COVID. So that meant the destination was likely northern Europe, and the dates available were mid-September to mid-October.
We decided to start in northern Europe and work our way south as the fall season progressed, in order to enjoy the best weather. I don’t know why we chose Scandinavia for the first ten days, when Bob and I would be traveling alone before meeting up with family for the second half of the vacation. But a company called Tour Radar, offered a reasonably-priced tour of four countries on the perfect dates for our schedule. (We love traveling, but we’re not rich!) Bob found a 10-day tour of Scandinavia that included breakfasts but no other meals, an option we preferred because sometimes we like to share meals, or just have ice cream for lunch, or try street food while exploring a town. The cost was $1600 apiece.
The tour looked pretty whirlwind, so we decided to treat it as a “taste” of Scandinavia, with the idea of going back and spending more time in any places we found particularly appealing. It included travel by bus in a clockwise circle around Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, by way of buses, a funicular, several water crossings, a fjord cruise, and even an overnight ferry.
The tour was actually conducted by Europamundo, a company of the JTB group, the largest company of tourism and travel in Asia.
This was the itinerary, lifted directly from the provided literature, with some edits for brevity or clarification:
Day 1. Copenhagen (Denmark)
Arrival and free-time exploration of Copenhagen.
Day 2. Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus (Denmark)
Bus tour of the Danish capital with a local guide. Travel to Jutland, passing through pleasant scenery on our way. En route we take a 20km bridge over the sea and stop at Odense, where we can visit its gothic cathedral and the house where Hans Christian Andersen grew up. We continue on to Aarhus and our accommodation.
Day 3. Aarhus (Denmark), Ferry to Norway, Kristiansand , Kristiansand , Stavanger (Norway)
We travel to the coastal city of Hirtshals, where we take a 3-hour ferry crossing the North Sea to Kristiansand (Norway). We will continue along Norway’s southern coastline and enjoy its stunning landscapes. Next stop in Flekkefjord, a town with its wooden houses and tiny restaurants on a fjord. Arrival to Stavanger, a small picturesque town that has an active port by the fjord.
Day 4. Stavanger, Bergen (Norway)
Upon leaving the city, we will stop at the ‘Swords in Rock’ monument, where we will be reminded of the Vikings, before continuing the very beautiful scenic tour. We follow the route going through tunnels, bridges and travel some stretches by boat to go along the fjord coast of Norway. One of its undersea tunnels is the deepest one in the world. This stage gets more relaxed and spectacular with its two boat trips. We will arrive in BERGEN at lunch time. We take a funicular trip to Mount Fløyen which offers amazing views of the town and Bergen fjord. There will be some leisure time later to enjoy the capital city of fjords.
Day 5. Bergen, Oslo (Norway)
More fantastic landscapes today, images of Norway’s interior region fjords, glaciers, lakes and forests. We will travel to Sognefjord, Norway’s largest fjord. Prior to arrival, we will stop at the beautiful Tvindefossen waterfall. We will take a magnificent cruise through a fjord between the cities of Gudvangen and Flam, and enjoy stunning landscapes and views of glaciers during this two-hour voyage. We continue our journey crossing magnificent snow-covered landscapes. We travel through Lærdal Tunnel, one of the longest in the world. Next, a visit to Borgund’s 12th-century wooden church which is considered Norway’s best-preserved medieval church. We arrive in Oslo with free time to check out its port, main streets, and the artworks at Frognerparken.
Day 6. Oslo (Norway), Orebro, Estocolmo, Stockholm (Sweden)
We include a sightseeing tour with a local guide of the Norwegian capital; this city combines its vibrant modern architecture with its classical buildings, magnificent scenery and large parks with sculptures. It has been nominated the “European green capital”. After the tour, if you want you can visit the Vikings museum. Departure for Sweden. Enjoy landscapes with forests and lakes. Next stop in Orebro, a town next to a beautiful lake with a castle and charming historic center. Time for stroll and to take lunch. Continuing to Stockholm, arriving in the evening.
Day 7. Stockholm, Estocolmo (Sweden)
Today we take a panoramic tour of this very beautiful capital city built on 13 islands joined together. We will see the Gamla Stand or the “City between the Bridges”, the old quarter of the city, full of life where there are many monumental buildings such as the Nobel Museum, alongside the main square of Stortorget, which pays tribute to the winners of the Nobel Prizes, the Cathedral, and the Royal Palace. Whenever possible, we will enjoy a pretty view from the Fjällgatan viewpoint. Then leisure time. We recommend visiting the museums and parks. Optionally, we suggest a visit to the City Hall and to the Vasa Museum.
Day 8. Stockholm, Estocolmo (Sweden), Ferry Estocolmo, Turku (Helsinki)
Enjoy a free day of leisure in Stockholm. In the evening we will board a modern ferry traveling overnight to Finland, where accommodation will be in double cabins with private bathrooms.
Day 9. Ferry Estocolmo (Sweden to Finland), Turku , Naantali, Helsinki (Finland)
As we arrive to Finland, we recommend that you go to the ship’s deck for sunrise, enjoy mesmerizing landscapes from the sea as we sail along Aland Islands, hundreds of islands covered by forests. We disembark the ferry and have time to walk around Turku, a city with a very strong Swedish influence. We continue our journey to the neighboring city of Naantali, a very picturesque town with wooden houses next to the sea. We travel on until we arrive in Helsinki, reaching at lunchtime. In the afternoon enjoy leisure time, you will be able to explore the city, with its old market, buildings with Russian influence, and churches.
Day 10. Helsinki (Finland)
We enjoy a boat trip to Suomenlinna Islands, a group of islands where we can witness a great fortress that used to protect the sea entry to the city, it has been declared World Heritage Site. Take time to walk around, it is possible to cross the islands through small pedestrian bridges. Free time during the afternoon.
We were excited! We scheduled a couple of nights in Copenhagen at the beginning of the tour, packed our KF-94 masks, found house sitters to live with the cat, and set out on Sept. 18 from Boston Logan for a new kind of traveling adventure.
Next up … Scandinavian Tour, Part 2: Exploring Copenhagen
Playa Montones is a beautiful family-friendly beach in Isabela, Puerto Rico. It has sand dunes as well as rock formations, though not a lot of shade, so bring your umbrella.
Its shallow water make this natural pool the family-preferred beach in Isabela, a safe environment for kids and toddlers to play around. A natural wall prevents the strong surf from rushing in.
The beach is also right next to the jogging/biking trail in Isabela, so you can add a nice walk to your day out.
Watch where you park, though! We got a ticket for facing the wrong way on the street.
When we lived in San Juan 28 years ago, Bob and I journeyed south to the Ponce home of Puerto Rico’s renowned carnival mask maker, Miguel Caraballo. We commissioned a beautiful mask that dominated the dining room wall of our homes for more than two decades.
That “vejigante” mask is now in storage in Colorado, and a little bent at the tip of one of its horns. Since we spent a few months in Puerto Rico last fall, we decided to commission another one. So last November, we journeyed to Ponce again, and met Miguel Caraballo, his son and his grandson.
Caraballo’s masks are world-renowned. He has a mask on display in the Museum of the Americas in Old San Juan, and another in the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American Art.
These papier-mâché masks are typically worn by young men who don the colorful costume of a vejigante, a character who roams the streets during Carnaval de la Playa de Ponce, or the Ponce Beach Carnival, playfully scaring children and other revelers. The carnival held each February, features a huge parade, with the vejigante as a protagonist along with the kings and queens of carnival.
Miguel Caraballo started making masks as an apprentice to a woman in his neighborhood when he was 15, 66 years ago. The masks are made with cardboard, newspaper and brown paper, pressed onto molds and held together with a glue made of flour and water. His son makes masks now, and his grandson of the same name does the family marketing.
We picked up our new mask five weeks after our visit. We were delighted! But it was so big that we almost didn’t get it onto the plane back to the States. We had to buy a very large bin from Home Depot to accommodate all the protruding horns. Although the package weighed hardly anything, the combined length, width and height exceeded Southwest’s size limitations by 2 inches. It was only after we cut open the package and took out the mask to show the ticket agent what we were carrying that he decided to seek special approval from his manager. We had to pay $75 for the oversized item, and the agent exhorted us never to try to fly with such a large item again.
We would have been heartbroken to have to leave such a special item behind.
Now that we have purchased a home in Puerto Rico, we plan to return to the Caraballo home to commission yet another mask!
