I see you have some photos with you.
Yeah, I thought I would share with you some vacation pictures.
Okay
Well, I’ll start with a visit to Nassau, which is on the Island of New Providence, which is an island in the Bahamas. Follow that?
Sort of.
It’s east of the Florida Keys. Here’s a map.
And a photo. Not mine, unfortunately. For some reason it seems I didn’t take any. Or maybe I’ve misplaced them.
Still good to have these images.
Yeah, it was nice there. And at our hotel we heard calypso music by a steel band.
Only problem in Nassau was — I rented a car — I had to learn pretty quickly how to drive on the left-hand side of the road. They had signs out for Yankee dummies like me.
British style.
Yep. Actually I got used to it okay. I mostly had to pay attention when turning a corner. Make sure I stayed in the left-hand lane.
Now, here was another trip we took. To the island of Jamaica.
We were based in Kingston, on the south coast, but we took a tour around the island. Including up to the resort area of Montego Bay on the north shore.
Here’s a shot I took at our place in Kingston.
Nice.
t was a pleasant visit. The country had recently won its independence from Great Britain, so the people were in a good mood.
Which reminds me. There’s a brand of rum made by an outfit there called Appleton Estate.
I’ve bought it at home. But, because of Jamaica’s independence, they had come out with a special label celebrating the event. So I wanted to buy one as a souvenir. Not for the rum, but for the label. However, because of some kind of restriction, I wasn’t allowed to carry it out of the store. They had to deliver it. Okay, so I paid for it and, when it arrived, guess what. It didn’t have the special independence label. It had the common, every-day label I could buy at home.
Too bad.
Yeah. I imported from the Caribbean a bottle I could have bought at the corner discount store. Oh, well. The trip itself was a good one.
Good.
And speaking of the Caribbean, here’a another vacation trip: to Puerto Rico.
Before we start, do you and your IT person know enough Spanish that you’ll get the spelling right for uploading if I pronounce a word as the Hispanic people do?
I think we can do it.
Okay, then, let’s plunge ahead.
We visited Old San Juan, where they have preserved a lot of the old architecture. For instance, here is a shot I took of a street called Calle Cristo.
Quaint.
Right. And typical of what they’ve preserved. And look down to the end of the street. That’s a small chapel called Capilla del Cristo, or Christ’s Chapel.
It was built several centuries ago. They say it has a capacity of only 12 people at a time.
Small.
Right. But, on the other hand, there’s this fortress called El Morro.
Big. And impressive.
Sure is. And what you see is only part of it. And for centuries it guarded the island very successfully against potential invaders.
I guess it would.
We took a guided tour to some other parts of the island. Over on the northeast corner there’s a rain forest worth noting.
It’s the El Yunque Rain Forest. And here’s what’s unique about it. According to my notes, it’s in the only tropical U.S. National Forest. And the average rainfall is 200 inches per year. And that’s the most rainfall in the continental United States. I think I’ve got that right.
Impressive.
After that, we traveled through the interior of the island. And I snapped this photo.
Wow.
Wow is right.
Then we drove down to the southern coast.to Ponce, the second-largest city on the island. And here’s another photo for you. In Ponce there is this multi-colored firehouse.
You don’t see one of those every day.
I’ll say.
Well, that’s enough for now. Put this in the Vacations section of the Website, please.
Will do.