Puerto Rico 2009: The Fort Looking South

8:04 PM: Today, we went back to Old San Juan because we realized we missed a few things on our first trip. The highlight of our return trip: Restaurante El Jubarito. Found at the top of Old San Juan on Calle Sol, this inexpensive restaurant served authentic Puerto Rican food at extremely reasonable prices. Frank had te the masitas de cerdo (pork and yellow rice) and I had the fricase del dia (baked chicken in gravy with a side of smashed plantains). Both dishes were delicious, but I was especially suprised at tasting the smashed plantains. There was no fruit flavor to them. They tasted like garlic mashed potatoes.

If you’re ever in Old San Juan, make the effort to go to Restaurante El Jubarito.

My other goal of finding a brown ceramic coqui (native frog) yeilded less specatular results. I bought one, but I would have gladly bought several as gifts for family and friends if there had been more. There is a market here for a creative artist/euntreprenor. Give us more authentic coquis!

We ended our day back on the beach where we enjoyed a bottle of wine given to us as a gift from our airline steward. When it started raining, we moved under an umbrella in the hotel’s lagoon-shaped pool area.  When it started pouring, we moved to our favorite beach-front restaurant and order a pizza and a couple more mojitas. (Yes, I became a fan, despite my previous feelings about the drink.)

Tomorrow, we leave for three days in New York City. Enjoy the pictures of Old San Juan.

7:59 AM: We’re headed across the street for breakfast at Mi Casita and then I’m going to search for a souvenir coqui. Our guide in the rainforest, Juan Pedro, told us yesterday always to buy a brown one, never a green one. Coquis are never green.

Last night, we ate at the beach restaurant again. I had nachos and a Corona and Frank had pizza another mojito. That drink has quickly become his favorite cocktail. I’m not a fan of spearmint, probably from my years of dipping spearmint-flavored tobacco. Anyway, I broke all of the IBS rules last night and I can’t tell that it made a bit of difference. Not that I’ve been following the diet very strictly these last few days. I try, but I’m too shy about asking exactly how the food I order is prepared, and I’m not bold enough to ask for items I don’t see on the menu.

Yesterday’s breakfast was a good example. I had french toast, which is okay if prepared in an IBS-friendly way. While we waited for our meal, we local man order oatmeal and a banana (not on the menu and what I would eat at home) and a tourist order a three-egg white omelet (also not on the menu and completely safe, if cooked in a non-stick pan with just a spray of oil).

I don’t want icanhasgrace to turn into an IBS eating journal, but you can get a sense of how frustrating this disease is, especially when one is traveling.