tobia, eo nomine

Monday was a rather enjoyable day. We got up in the morning and had some breakfast up at the Penthouse suit because my dad is a Platinum Member with Marriott. After breakfast, we got into a cab and drove about twenty minutes to the Bacardi Factory here in San Juan. The factory here, makes 70% of the Bacardi Rum sold in the world, with the other 30% split equally between their Bahama and Mexico facilities. The tour was quite interesting, explaining the roots of the Bacardi company including the reason for their bat logo.

During the tour, one of the stops was at a replica bar of their former facility in Cuba where the bartender there taught us how three drinks were originally made with Bacardi Rum, the Cuba Libre (or Rum and Coke), the Mojito, and the Daiquiri. After the tour was over, we went to the gift shop where we could purchase different rums as well as other gifts. I picked up a bottle of Bacardi Peach Red, Bacardi Select, and a bottle of their 12 year aged rum, Bacardi Reserva Limited which can only be purchased at the Bacardi Factory in Puerto Rico.

After getting a few free drinks at the bar at the Bacardi Factory, we loaded back into our cab and came back to the hotel where we went down to the beach to lay out for the day. I layed out until about 2:40 when I went up to the bar near the beach to watch the soccer match. Italy was playing The Netherlands in Euro 2008 and I wanted to watch the match. I should have known that it was going to be a long match when they served me an Amstel Light when I had ordered a Sam Adams. Italy ended up losing 3-0 and have put themselves in a rather precarious position for the rest of the tournament.

After watching the match we got ready to go out for dinner and made our way a few blocks down the street from our hotel to a rather progressive part of town surrounding a very nice green space. It is the kind of area that I wish we could have built in Syracuse around the inner harbor with some nice upscale shops such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Dior, Louis Vouitton and Cartier.

Our dinner was quite nice as the restaurant was outside and we had some pizza which was actually quite good. I love eating in open air places and the only thing that would have been better is if they had an expansive wine list that we could have picked from. And of course if the rest of my family besides my dad and I enjoyed wine.
The sights of the park from where we were sitting were great, and there were some really cool buildings nearby, including this great mixed use building that looked like it had retail (Gucci), offices, and condo/apartments.

I had no idea that all of this was there and it makes me wish that I could so something more in Syracuse about getting something done in the inner harbor area. I know it is a little more difficult to do some of the nice outdoor eating space since the weather is awful so much of the year, but I really think that a more upscale area could thrive in that part of town. I think that if it were combined with a park like what we saw here in Puerto Rico, the area could look amazing.

After looking at the different shops that are there, I decided that we had to go back the next day, because I wanted to do a little shopping. Not that I think I will buy anything from any of the places because they are too expensive for my budget, but because it is just fun to see them and try things on.