So much beautiful art to look at. At this time in my life, I am not a big party person, and the crowds can get a bit tiresome....so, I avoid the festival at night, and make my rounds to the artisans during the morning and afternoon.
Started the day off with a fantastic breakfast of a lox bagel at Fefos Deli and Tapas. Unfortunately, I think Cafecultura is under new management, and the service there has absolutely gone from not so great to horrendously bad. After waiting an hour, and asking for a waiter to please take my order - not once, but twice only to be ignored, it was time to leave what use to be my favorite restaurant in Old San Juan.
The one hour wait, gave me plenty of time to get my first sketch into my journal - a lovely wire basket filled with white and purple onions. Fortunately, I did find a new place Fefo's and the service was much better and the food very good. However, I must admit, I like the "ambiance" in Cafecultura better . . . but, you can't eat ambiance.
After breakfast, it was off to check out the artisans. It was 10:30, and the booths are supposed to be open at 10:00, but one must remember here in Puerto Rico you are on island time. About 3/4th of the stalls were open - and the art was fantastic.
Because I never go to the festival at night, I usually don't get to see the dancers, who dress up in costumes (think large doll heads) and dance in the streets. Lady luck was with me this year, and the second sketch to go in the journal was one of the street entertainers.
I did buy an original painting of a catfish, that just captured my heart - it is a 2" X 3" and I snagged it for 10.00. After looking at paintings, carvings, pottery etc for three hours, it was time to get my favorite street food a Bacalaito - a fried fish fritter - along with a pina frappe (think smoothie). The air was absolutely rich with the smell of food, and the colorful fruits captured my attention and resulted in the third sketch - a pineapples sitting on top of Pineapple Juice cans.
My last quest was to search out the best coffee in Puerto Rico - Cafe de Puta Madre (not a very nice name, but fantastic coffee). They had the beans in burlap sacks and so I grabbed a cup of hot java and not only sketched my paper cup of coffee but also the sacks of coffee.
To tie it all together, I decided to also sketch in the the street signs for Calle San Sebastian.
It was a fantastic day, filled with the things I love best - Art, Good Friends, Delicious Food, and Great Coffee. Best of all I captured the day in my Artist Journal.
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