Caribbean Cruise 2020 (page 2 of 10)

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Greta's blog:

Day 2 - February 22, 2020
Today we slept in for a bit again, and then headed to Manolin for breakfast. It's a true little cafe inside with stools at the counter & booths at the side. Trina & Jim had traditional eggs with sides and OJ, Mike had a western omelet with a side of bacon & coffee and Greta had a salmon omelet. All the food was good, although at the end, the waiter asked if we wanted pastry which prompted Mike to order coconut flan, and then the waiter brought us our receipt, and no flan (nor was it on the receipt). Oh well. More desserts are in the future of this vacation.

We wanted to go to Bacardi today and found out you could take the ferry to the other side of the harbor for $0.50. The ferry wasn't running for some reason, but we could buy bus tickets for the same price, so we did that, then headed back to the hotel to book a tour and then get the bus. Unfortunately, we missed the bus, and opted for a taxi. We thought he said "$3" for the fare but it came to $30. Maybe it was $3/mile? Oh well - we got there in one piece.

We booked the mixologist tour, and were told we got one free drink before hand, and we'd learn to make three more. We should order the Bacardi Sunrise for our free drink as that was the one we wouldn't learn how to make. It was very good, with a large orange slice. We were in an outdoor patio area where we could take some pictures and enjoy the shade before our tour started. The tour started with a historical tour that was interesting, although sometimes hard to hear. Then came the class, which was a lot of fun. A lot of our group was VERY loud - our guide was very patient.

We learned out to make a Cuba Libre (ice, Golden Rum, Coke, and limes). First put ice in a metal cup. Then you season the ice with squeezed limes. You then add the coke & rum, stir it, and add a slice of lime for garnish.

Next we learned how to make a mojito (sugar, muddled limes, rum, mint leaves, club soda & ice). First you add 3-4 lime slices to the glass and muddle them for their juice. Then add a bit of sugar and muddle them again. The secret is you do NOT muddle the mint leaves - crushing them gives them a bitter taste. Instead you put 8 leaves in your hand and smack them a number of times, rub them lightly on the rim of the glass and then place them in your glass - that's it - no smashing, no muddling. Add the ice and rum and stir. Top with club soda, you're done. It was very crisp and refreshing.

Lastly, we made a traditional daiquiri - which is "on the rocks" - not frozen. We placed sugar and rum into a cocktail shaker and stir it until the sugar is dissolved. Next you add the fresh lime juice, and fill the shaker with ice. Put the lid on the shaker, pull the top off the lid, then put it back on (this helps pull some air out). You shake the drink until it's very cold - our guide played music as that we need rhythm to shake it properly. Finally, you remove the top, strain it through the shaker top in to a glass and enjoy!

We downloaded Uber for the ride back to the hotel and that was much more economical. We headed up to the room to change, then got another Uber to a beach called Escambron. There were a lot of people there (it was Saturday) but no food or drink stands. There was some broken glass in spots, so you had to watch where you walked, but plenty of fine sand and only a few areas of rocks. We staked out a spot near then end of the beach. We spent time resting on the beach, wading in the water, taking pictures, and snorkeling. There was a huge school of thousands of smaller fish in the swimming area once you got a little bit away from shore - that was amazing. After a couple hours, we shook the sand out of everything and Ubered back to the hotel (with a quick stop for ice cream bars for Mike & Greta before we left).

Everyone cleaned up before supper, then we opted just to walk up the hill & pick a place to eat. We ended up stopping the place at the top of the staircase called Mojitos for supper as the smells coming from the restaurant were good. We started out with some fried cheese with guava sauce and some beef turnovers for appetizers. We also had some fruity drinks and Jim had a bottle of the local beer Magna. Trina and the Ropa Vieja Mofongo (beef in creole sauce) and Greta had the Mojito's Mofongo (cured beef with creole sauce). Mike had the beef with onions and Jim had the Grouper with rice and beans. Mike ended the night with guava cheesecake. The food was pretty good and we all definitely had enough to eat.

We stopped by Walgreens to pick up a few last things for the boat and a 6-pack of the Magna. Then we headed over to Senor Frogs for a couple more fruity drinks and we all got to wear twisted balloon hats. It was REALLY dead there... 9 pm on a Saturday night and there were VERY few customers. Maybe the young partiers came later? Maybe it's a night where no cruise ships are staying overnight? We weren't sure. We ended the night sitting by the outdoor pool with our beers, and then headed to bed.

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