As I commented to Luis the other night, I noticed that the Puerto Rican flag at El Morro in San Juan underwent an interesting change sometime between 2002 and 2007.
Notice that the flag displayed in 2002 used a dark blue triangle….
El Morro 2002
When I returned to Puerto Rico last year, we again visited El Morro and I took a similar photo. But it wasn’t until later that I realized the PR flag now in use has the light blue triangle.
El Morro 2007
For those who are unaware, the light blue triangle is the original design, from 1895. It was based on the Cuban flag, which was in turn based on the US flag. For the colonial authorities (first the Spanish then the Americans) it came to represent the spirit of revolution and was thus banned on the island. When Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth of the US in 1952, it was adopted as the official flag of Puerto Rico, with one important change. The blue triangle was darkened to match that of the US flag.
Fast forward to the present, and the dark triangle is commonly regarded as representative of the statehooder sentiment, while the light blue triangle is that of the independence movement.
In 1995, the official flag of Puerto Rico was reverted to that of the original design. I can only assume that the flag at El Morro was eventually changed for this very reason, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.
Check out this video of airplanes landing at the airport in St Martin. When I was in the Navy, my buddies and I sat on this beach and watched them come in.
In the video, you can see all sorts of tourists standing around, amazed at the proximity of the incoming planes.
When we were there, it was just a bunch of guys on the beach and it went more like:
“Wow, that runway comes all the way out to the……………HOLY CRAP!!”
Tonight, the Travel Channel showed the Madrid episode of Samantha Brown’s Passport to Europe. She toured the city, as she tends to do, and hit the usual spots you see on any travel show, places like the Prado, Retiro Park, etc.
Then she went into the food, glorious food. A big deal was made about the fact that the Spanish eat dinner at 10pm or so, preceding it with tapas and drink. Jen and I salivated as Samantha sampled chorizo al vino, calamares, and croquetas, then followed that up with a huge dish of paella.
However, the bit that moved us to act was about a favorite treat of ours when we are in Spain: Churros con Chocolate!
As soon as the segment was over, Jen asked me to find a recipe online. I did as I was told and found this (reproduced below after the jump, in case the site disappears). But then I took it to the next level; I said let’s make some now! Since fried carbohydrates covered in sugar accompanied by the thickest hot chocolate you’ve ever seen makes perfect sense at 9pm, I ran out to get a couple ingredients and voila!
If you’ve never had it, the chocolate is a thick, viscous beverage. I can’t really drink the stuff. As a matter of fact, I don’t recall ever finishing a cup, and tonight was no different. I tend to use it for dunking the churros into, as this is where it shines. Mmmm. See how it coats the spoon? We’ll be making this again.
While in Spain, Bri and I had it last in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, next to the second-oldest hotel in the world (yes, we stayed there). In 2004, we enjoyed some in Barcelona on Las Ramblas. It was awesome, but we were essentially ripped off, having been charged just under $30 for two servings of churros con chocolate, two orange juices and a serving of toast (or something similar). Ah, the memories.
While in Spain last year, Jen Bri and I stumbled upon a performance of traditional Galician dance. Jen, having been part of the Portuguese Club’s Rancho Folclórico, was ecstatic at having found something so similar yet so distinct from the portuguese style of dance.
Galicia is the region of Spain directly north of Portugal (see below). As you might imagine, the language, customs and cultural identifiers are similar to that of Portugal.
But surprisingly there is a Celtic influence in Galicia. It is evident in some of the food, even in the name of the region, but most of all, in Galicia’s music. You can detect obvious similarities to Celtic music through the use of bagpipes and other instruments I can’t name, but simply sound Irish. (Admittedly, Celtic is not synonymous with Irish, I’m just making an observation here.)
Getting back to the folkloric dancing, the Celtic influence is also readily apparent in the footwork and the costumes of the dancers. The dancers lifted their feet and performed turns which distinguishes this dance easily from that of the Portuguese to their south. One set of male performers even wore wooden shoes! I’m not sure if that is a Celtic trait, but it certainly separates them from the Portuguese.
Bri and I enjoyed it as much as Jen, although I think for slightly different reasons. In any case, I’m posting the first of several videos here, after the jump. I apologize for the low quality, but I only had my digital camera with me when I decided I wanted to record the performance for posterity.
Some of you may remember when I was sent to Madrid by my old employer. I had already planned a trip to Portugal with my father-in-law and his brother when I was informed that a customer needed an engineer in Spain. The dates coincided with my time in Portugal. I not only saved the frequent-flier miles I’d planned on using, but I earned many more! I felt like I’d won the lottery.
I ran across the pic above today at notesfrommadrid.com. It shows Madrid’s skyline as viewed from El Escorial, a town northwest of the city. While I was there, I worked in the Torre Picasso for a couple days, overlooking Real Madrid’sBernabeu stadium. It was a ridiculously easy job, too. Ah, the memories!
First place is occupied by Hartford’s own La Paloma Sabanera. (here ya go, Luis, a little bit of Google juice for you). They’ve got it all: great friggin coffee, a cool atmosphere and free wifi.
Then, there’s Panera. They may not have the best coffee in the world, but this place is a traveling geek’s dream since they also offer free wifi. The agreement they flash in front of you before allowing access to the internet essentially says “Be courteous”, meaning don’t hog the big tables when we’re busy and you can stay as long as you like.
Even better, as I went up to the counter just now to order a coffee, the girl asked if I wanted it in a mug or a cup. I thought that odd since it was a couple minutes before 9pm, their closing time. When I pointed that out, she says “Oh we don’t kick anyone out…we’re here cleaning until at least 10pm anyway”. Man, that’s just awesome.
Take this as a lesson, Starbucks! You charge more for wifi as you do for your over-rated coffee and for that reason I’ve *always* headed to the nearest Panera when I’m on the road and in need of wifi. Bitches.
Here are our photos from this summer’s trip to Europe! (click on the photo below)
I do have some videos that I’ll be posting as well. Watch this space!
Entries (RSS)