Tricia’s Travelogue

 On Friday morning we left the hotel and walked a few blocks to meet our tour group on a plaza that included this sculpture of a cat-giraffe, titled El Girafo. Our group included three Australians, two Brits, two Floridians, and two Coloradans. Once our group had gathered, we headed first to Cuatro Sombras, where we enjoyed cortados (espresso with a shot of milk) and a grilled croissant filled with Black Forest ham, Havarti cheese and guava butter. Not beautiful, but SO good!  Then we walked up to the Bastion de las Palmas for a shady plaza with a great view. Mango tree overhead  There our guides provided Sr. Paleta’s passion-fruit popsicles, which were very refreshing. That’s our main guide in the background. Then we walked to an interesting art gallery/restaurant called Café el Punto for two appetizers. The first was alcapurria, a root vegetable fritter filled with ground beef. The two men shown are from England, and they’re also going on our cruise.  We enjoyed ge...

Our first cruise of 2026 starts in San Juan, Puerto Rico — a new port for us.  Yesterday morning we left for the Houston airport at 6:30 a.m. for our 10:00 flight. (It’s a Tolbert Thing to arrive super early.) We appreciated getting to see the newly renovated Terminal E, and at that hour, it was very uncrowded.  We found good spots in the United Club and settled in.   Boarding went smoothly, and our aisle seats across from each other were fine.  My seatmates, alas, got up SEVERAL times during the four-hour flight. Charlie was able to move up one row to the bulkhead and enjoyed the legroom. He had packed lunches for us, thank goodness. I finished one book (highly recommend Lady Tan’s Circle of Women), watched three episodes of The West Wing, and started reading The Correspondent (great so far!) before we landed at 4:20.  We’re now two hours ahead of Texas Time. The car service was waiting for us after we collected our bags, and the drive to the hotel was scenic. ...