• Ready for La Noche de San Juan? Head over to: http://bit.ly/Thdnc #
• Puerto Rico’s Wilo Benet on Top Chef Masters tonite (Bravo TV, 10pm local time) - watch it from his new restaurant, Varita in Condado Plaza! #
• Giving: Incomparable Beauty / Belleza sin comparacion - This place is awesome. I am born and raised on the islan… http://gsfn.us/t/8s4v #
• @coqui2008 very much so! cant make out the horizon at ocean park… in reply to coqui2008 #
• RT @Boriken: Last Day!!! Our giveaway ends today! Are you in? If not, go here! http://TwitPWR.com/boricuas/ #
• New7Wonders: Get the New7Wonders iPhone App now! http://tr.im/pZcE (It’s free, haven’t downloaded yet, let me know if its cool!) #
• @jeremyspouken Ahhh, well… at least it was free… Thanks for letting me know (I wonder why its bigger than 10MB…?)! in reply to jeremyspouken #
• Alguien en el Festival de las Flores en Aibonito? Cómo está eso por allí? Fotos? #
• El Yunque is currently fourth in the New7Wonders.com campaign for the New7 Wonders of Nature - but we are aiming for the top spot, so vote! #
• Next Saturday July 4th - Festival de la Hamaca in San Sebastián #
• @franklogic This http://bit.ly/xSj1I if you like fútbol. Also check concert schedule here: http://www.ticketpop.com/ (Ruben Blades!) in reply to franklogic #
• @franklogic Information for smaller events will be easier to find nearer to the date. So check during July. in reply to franklogic #
• Nuestros amigos de Rent The Bicyle en San Juan http://is.gd/1h6u5 (El Nuevo Día) #

EyeTour Weekly Twitter Updates for 2009-06-22

When our friends over at KitchenCaravan.com asked us to write a City Guide to Old San Juan gastronomy for their new sister site, Kitchen Caravan Travel, we told them, “It is not only a privilege but our duty to do so.” Well, we didn’t really say it out loud like that, but we sure felt it!  Enjoy an excerpt of Kitchen Caravan Travel’s City Guide to Old San Juan below and continue reading at their site, where you’ll find other city guides, including Miami, Rome, and Mexico City.  You are now ready to BE YOUR OWN GUIDE!

Walking the streets of Old San Juan, it’s easy to get lost in the history and culture of the surroundings as you make your way from museum to plaza, from fortress to fortress, from bar to beach and back again. Factor in some shopping and you see it’s not such a stretch to end up forgetting about food. However, the Caribbean sun is known to conspire with the city’s tapestry of streets and hilly climbs to work up an appetite in you. Thankfully, Old San Juan has developed into a Caribbean Mecca for food-lovers with a wide range of offerings that aim to accommodate all palates and preferences.

Before delving into food, I’d like to (or rather, as your host, feel the obligation to) guide you through a couple of my favorite spots in Old San Juan.  La Plazuela de la Rogativa in Las Monjas St. is one of the Puerto Rico’s best-kept secrets.  The iconic statue standing in the middle of this plaza is a tribute to the women of the city, who are said to have saved the city from the British in the late 18th century by holding a religious procession with torches and bells (the British mistook them for reinforcements and opted to sail away).  The plaza holds one of the best views to the bay and is an obligatory stop for photo enthusiasts.  It also reminds me of my childhood.  My parents used to take my brothers and I to El Morro (located nearby, to the north of the Plazuela) to fly our kites and we would always stop here to rest and enjoy a ‘limber’ (an iced, fruit-flavored treat; I mostly went with lemon).  These are still sold by one of the neighbors living directly in front of the plaza to this day – just look for an open door in Las Monjas St. with decidedly homemade advertisements for bottled water and other refreshments and ask for today’s flavorsFeel free to explore the city by foot and visit its many historical sites, museums, parks, plazas, and shops – Old San Juan is small enough so that you are never more than a fifteen-minute walk away from the closest bar or restaurant for you to rest, recharge, have a meal or enjoy a couple of drinks.  Many of the city’s streets include a restaurant or two; even in the most residential areas you’ll find a cafetín (cafeteria), bistro, or pizza place lurking right around the corner.  However, there are some streets you might want to consider if you wish to explore your dining options quickly: Recinto Sur Street., Fortaleza St. (particularly its southern end, also known as SoFo), and Del Cristo Street. Each hosts a variety of restaurants and flavors.

There’s no doubt that El Morro (short for: Fuerte San Felipe del Morro) is Puerto Rico’s best-known tourist attraction.  An impressive Spanish fortress from centuries back, it is undoubtedly a site to behold.  Trust me, you really have to see it for yourself.  However, I’d like to direct your attention to the large field in front of El Morro.  This is were adults and kids come to fly their kites on Sundays, were young couples hold hands and share their first kiss, were students from the nearby art school find inspiration, and people of all ages hold picnics with their loved ones.  The trade winds cast a spell (the ‘try having a cell phone conversation now’ spell) on those who wonder into this field, beckoning all to stay and stare at the fortress as it forever separates the emerald blades of grass from the deep blue waters of the Atlantic and the azure skies above.  Staring out into the ocean, breeze blowing by – now this is how you experience history!

El Morro and La Rogativa are some of the places I hold close to my heart, serving as inspiration for EyeTour.com – Puerto Rico’s Premier Online Video Guide – a project born out of love for technology, design, and my beautiful country.  I invite you to take a look at the site if you are interested in learning more about Old San Juan and the rest of Puerto Rico’s many wonders.  Now, on to some gastronomical exploration!

Restaurants:

I. Al Estilo Criollo
Visitors might want to try the local criollo flavors first.  Puerto Rican cuisine, known locally as ‘cocina criolla’ is a unique blend of European, Amerindian Taínos, African, and North American influences that although similar to Latin American and Spanish cuisines, but has a flavor that is all its own.  Here are some of the best places to try it out in Old San Juan.

Since its humble beginnings in the municipality of Caguas, closer to the island’s central mountain range, Raíces Restaurant quickly became synonymous with ‘mofongo’.  A signature dish in Puerto Rican and Caribbean cuisine, it consists of fried green plantain (or yucca), which is then mashed, seasoned (with garlic, olive oil, and chicharrones or pork cracklings), and oftentimes stuffed with meat.  The mofongo here is one of the best I’ve tried in my youngish life and their success in opening a second restaurant in Old San Juan’s Recinto Sur St. is ours to savor.  You can’t go wrong with Raíces’s specialty, the Mofongo Relleno de Churrasco al Chimichurri (that’s a mouthful – basically a mofongo stuffed with skirt steak).  Get the Festival Boricua, an appetizer platter, to sample several of the fried treats you’d buy off vendors in popular beach areas like Piñones and the Balneario de Luquillo.  Also worth noting is the restaurant’s central motif, which embraces the Puerto Rican criollo experience, recreating a typical countryside homecirca 1940 with local crafts, authentically dressed servers, and even live Plena music.  Some locals might find the décor a bit gimmicky, and I won’t argue with that statement, but ultimately it’s a good-natured effort to revel in our Puerto Rican roots and to let visitors join in on the fun.

What to read the entire article? Continue reading over at Kitchen Caravan Travel.

The 19th annual Puerto Rican Gay Pride Parade took place this past Sunday June 7, 2009 in Condado’s Ashford Avenue (San Juan, PR).  Hundreds gathered in one of San Juan’s most heavily transited avenues to march in favor of equal rights, sexual freedom, separation of church and state, and life in general in a buoyant celebration of gay culture.  Enjoy some photo and video highlights below - or watch the full parade captured with one of Flip’s excellent pocket-sized Mino cameras by clicking on the links below.

Gay Pride Parade Uncut: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Photo Credits: Débora Reyes using iPhone camera

This past Sunday June 7, 2009 EyeTour made the cover of El Nuevo Día - Puerto Rico’s biggest newspaper and online news source.  The headline on the frontpage of the paper read: ‘Cómo convertirse en empresario: Consejos prácticos para tiempos difíciles’ which translates to ‘How To Become An Entrepreneur: Practical advice for tough times’.  The inside cover of ‘La Revista’ (a Sunday edition magazine segment) read: ‘Contrátese usted mismo: Cómo y por qué crear un negocio en tiempos de despidos y renuncias incentivadas’ or ‘Employ Yourself: How to and why start a business when people are getting fired or given incentives to quit’.  We wanted to share some of the images with all of you who don’t live in Puerto Rico or couldn’t get a hold of a copy (because they flew off the shelves, hehe! ;-P).  We’d also like to thank Eliván Martínez Mercado for taking the time to interview us and for making us a part of such a great story, and Ángel M. Rivera Fontanez for making us look pretty good on the cover!

EyeTour shares some of our user comments with you.  Thanks for all who write in and let us know what they think about the site and how to make it better!  Want to speak your mind? Send us your comments, suggestions, questions, pictures, etc. at info@eyetour.com or via Twitter account at @eyetourpr!

Theresa writes via email:

“We just got back and miss it already!  I wanted to send you this picture of our ‘El Morro - Welcome to PR’ ambassador!!! I named her Mucho Gusto. Gotta love it!  Definitely have to come back!  The scenery was beautiful but the people are more so.  Everyone was so helpful and friendly.  Thanks for your site - it made the trip for us!

Frankie via Twitter: “Great stuff, my brother is goin to Puerto Rico in August, great source for stuff to do”

Abner via Email: “I found your website after reading an article in elnuevodia.com.  This website is awesome, easy to navigate and you get a small video clip of each location and point of interest.  I am from PR, but reside in CA and have friends from all over - I introduce them to this website to brag about our beautiful island and they all ask me if this site gives tours of countries such as México, Canada or the USA.  Well I am not sure if your company plans to do something outside of Puerto Rico, but your web tour concept is one in a kind and perhaps should be extended to tour other countries.” (We sure hope so Abner! Stay tuned! - EyeFred)

We woke up today (June 4, 2009) to the magnificent news that EyeTour was featured on El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico’s best-selling newspaper.  The article celebrates EyeTour.com’s recent Best Website WebAd Award 2009 victory in the Sales and Marketing Executives Association of Puerto Rico yearly Internet Forum event.  If you have a hard copy of today’s paper on hand, turn to page 41.  If you don’t, you can read the news here (link in Spanish).  We’ve also prepared an English version of the article for non-Spanish speakers.

We want to thank once again the entire team for all their hard work and dedication to the project: Pablo, Adrián, Gabriel, Sherman, Danette, Mariano, Gerardo, Andrés, Jacob, our friends at the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Rums of Puerto Rico, Comercio y Exportación, INTENE, Grupo Guayacán, CompraoAlquila.com, ML Studio, and all the others who’ve allowed us to make our vision a reality.  It is because of them that you are able to sit back, relax, enjoy EyeTour videos and BE YOUR OWN GUIDE!

Also, we want to thank all of our Facebook fans and especially the Twittericans, who’ve shown their overwhelming support for the project since EyeTour opened its account a few months ago.  Thanks for all your kind words, motivation, and support!  We hope to celebrate and share many more victories in the near future with all of you!