Miami food tour

The view from Joanie and Nash's place.

I'm gonna call Miami our food tour vacation with a little bit of sight seeing.

Our host are foodies. Our first stop, Spanish Tapas. The goal: To experience the many Latin flavors of Miami.
Sangria
Jamon Serrano wrapped around a white asparagus (NOT to be mixed up with the Italian Prosciutto)
Choripan
Huevos Rotos (Spanish Actor, Javier Bardem’s favorite dish)
Pulpo Gallego: Octopus
Salted quail eggs, I really liked these.
Crema Catalana



The Espirito Santo Plaza (Espirito Santo means “Holy Spirit”)

An amazing looking sky scrapper with hurricane glass all the way through.

I took this shot in a moving vehicle and it still came out nice.

The Four Seasons Hotel is to the right (behind the tree) is the tallest building in Miami.


Downtown Miami
No shame. Just dance. This is the Latin version of the electric slide. Would you believe it they are all random customers who couldn't resist to boogie.
my mojito
u like?

Gary got an Argentinian plate, I got Greek.
our view from the table.

Miami heat flag
Miami Heat
The AmericanAirlines Arena where the Miami Heat play.

Miracle Mile Outdoor shopping mall

Gary's camouflage between some giraffes

Portugal Restaurant
Portuguese Soup – The National/Original Portuguese Soup – Potato Based, Kale and Portuguese Sausage
This was da bomb.
Calamari (Squid), the broth was delicious
Pork and Clam dish
Its very custardy and eggy.
The dessert is called delicia de Fatima... (noticed the words, delicious and fat)

Introducing Johnathan and Vanessa!

We got invited to Johnathan's house for dinner.

His parents house is right across the street from his.

They are getting married a week from our dinner night.

Guess where they are going for their honeymoon?

HAWAII!!!


Caprese and cucumber salad

A famous Hotel in Coral Gables, Miami is the Biltmore Hotel.
One of the most beautiful swimming pools of the USA is the Venetian Pool.
You better believe it cost money to swim there.

After the meeting (yes, in Spanish) we had wine and cheese at Jorge and Mariaelena (Carlos and baby Emma) Baez house.
The yummy fig spread
Cheese and crackers
Ciao!

A Colombian Restaurant called, Rincon Antiqueño
The menu
Café con Leche
Beans poured on rice
Bandeja Paisa
Pan de bono (it has cheese in it)
So far I'm enjoying this food vacation!

Caribbean Cruise

Spectators from another cruise line watched us leave.
Each day the elevator's carpet would tell you the day. Sunday was our first day.

Our Ports of Call:

Round trip: Fort Lauderdale
1. Grand Turks & Caicos
2. San Juan (Puerto Rico)
3. Philipsburg/St.Maarten
4. Half Moon Cay (Bahamas).

Our first port got cancelled because of high winds. So we had TWO sea days in a row. We both got sea sick during that time.



We got into the spa room. The seat was warm.



Dinner at the Tamarind. We used our ship-board-credit.


Tea time hors d'oeuvres
Last cruise I missed the Culinary Shows, so I made sure to check it out this time.


This is the Atrium, the center of the ship.

It hangs over the main lobby.

If you look carefully, the chandelier is NYC and the bottom is its reflection.

The ship's size is 100 feet wide and almost 1,000 feet long with 11 decks.

The Niew Amsterdam is Holland America's newest ship, 2010.

There were almost 1,000 crew members working.
This ship was completely booked with over 2,000 guests!
Making a Flaming Spanish Coffee
Our first port-of-call: Puerto Rico!
We took a free trolley ride around the old San Juan.














We asked a few locals where do they like to eat.

Cafe Del Punto was mentioned each time.

Even Gary's co-worker back home referred to this restaurant.

Finding it was a challenge. It had such a small opening that you would quickly walk right past it. Then you walk through an art store till the end.

We were so happy we found it.


Gary had the Mofongo Carne with banana fritters

With a side of beans over rice.

And a Mango Smoothie.


I had the stuffed avocado relle pollo (Poi-yo)... After I mashed it up, it was more like a salad. I absolutely loved it!








Gary had some fun with the Columbus fountain in the middle of the Plaza de Colón or Columbus Square.

Christopher Columbus got this statue made after 400 years from discovering P.R.

The next two pictures were in a Haitian store.

Located right across the street from the square. We had a lot of fun in there.





Mavi is a non-alcoholic beverage that taste like a fermented carbonated apple cider. The man was nice enough to give us a free sample.


EARTHQUAKE!...nah j/k, just rain.
Now back on the ship...




St.Maarten/Philipsburg: The small island with two governments. The French and the Dutch.












On the French side, we met this lady with beer bucket who was topless. I asked her if I could take a picture of the bucket. I kept telling her, "Higher" for reasons I need not say. Finally she lifted it as high as she could. Doh!
Crepes for lunch on the French side.








Back on the ship.

Its tea time!

We met this Japanese lady who made origami out of dollar bills.

"My husuban bery rich but he no like tilavel (travel) so I do what eva I like."

She was traveling all by herself.

We were two dollars richer after meeting her.

Some of the nightly entertainment. The guy second to the right was born and raised in Hawaii.

Dessert Extravaganza! 10 P.M. Poolside. It was the coolest night on the ship!




There were all kinds of food art... Ice sculptures, Cake sculptures, fondues, castles, and lots of tiny desserts.

The bread display had braided breads, octopus shaped bread, kissing swans, an owl and even a bread that was shaped as a wedding cake!

Here's an alligator bread.

And a crab bread.


Candied apples
Just help yourself!
Bananas castle!
Cotton candy!

The last Port-of-Call: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
When you say it fast, it sounds like, "Half Monkey".



Our horseback riding excursion





At first I thought the horses names were "My lady"...

But the locals call all female guests, My Lady and even Princess!

We rode two sets of horses.

The first horse was the land horse.

We rode him to the highest point of the island.






Gary's horse's name was Just-For-Me.

Mine was Matty.

I forgot other two.

The second horse was a water horse.

As soon as he saw the water, he jumped in it with us on top!

We felt the HORSE POWER!

It felt like the horses were GALLOPING in the water!

My legs were flying backwards!


Definitely the highlight of our trip.
After the horseback riding, we walked the beach.
And took a dip.
There was an island-wide Beach BBQ. Since this island is owned by our cruise line, everything is cash-free. If you bought something, it gets billed to your stateroom. The BBQ however was free.


My thoughts exactly.
The crew sings farewell

I loved the sounds of these breads. Its like cracking an egg.



Our Comedian-entertainer on board. Gary really loved this guy.


Breakfast on the last day


The Big Apple