Tag: puerto rico

Sanse 2021... The Fiestas That Couln't Be | Orlando Mergal

Sanse 2021 | The Fiestas That Couldn’t Be!

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Puer­to Rico has one of the longest Christ­mas sea­sons in the world. It starts on Thanks­giv­ing day and ends with “las octavi­tas”. These are the eight days that fol­low “Three Kings Day”, which takes place on Jan­u­ary 6. Anoth­er event that usu­al­ly coin­cides with “las octavi­tas” is “Las Fies­tas De La Calle San Sebas­t­ian” (The San Sebas­t­ian Street Fies­tas), which Con­tin­ue reading…

Coffe in Madrid

First Impressions Are The Only Ones That Matter

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You nev­er get a sec­ond chance to make a first impres­sion. Mar­keters have known this for years. And it goes for good and bad ones (first impres­sions, that is). So, if this is the case, and we’re all on the same page on this basic mar­ket­ing prin­ci­ple, why do we see so many poor images both in dig­i­tal and print­ed Con­tin­ue reading…

Armchair Tourists - Virtual Tourism a Pandemic Reality

Virtual Tourism, A Pandemic Reality

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Mil­lions of habit­u­al tourists have decid­ed to stay close to home or even stay put alto­geth­er. Can you blame them? It’s called vir­tu­al tourism. Accord­ing to “Rec­om­mend” mag­a­zine only 44% of Amer­i­cans are plan­ning leisure trav­el in 2020. Of those, 81% will take a day trip and 72% expect to take overnight vaca­tions. Most impor­tant­ly, the over­whelm­ing major­i­ty don’t expect Con­tin­ue reading…

This is what Fortaleza Street looked like back in June, 2015, right after it was paved with poor quality materials. Notice the oil slick in the center already rearing its ugly head.

A Ten Step Plan To Repave Old San Juan

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We need to repave Old San Juan. It’s over­due and the city is falling apart. We also need to con­vert Old San Juan into a pedes­tri­an city. So here’s a 10 step plan to do just that. My name is Orlan­do Mer­gal. Think of me as a guy with a cam­era, a com­put­er and the Inter­net. I’ve been vis­it­ing Old San Con­tin­ue reading…

Charlie Sepúlveda at Puerto Rico Heineken Jazzfest

12 Shows, 4 Days And A Whole Lotta Jazz!!!

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The 26th edi­tion of the Puer­to Rico Heineken Jaz­zFest will take place from Thurs­day, March 17 to Sun­day, March 20, at the Tito Puente Amphithe­ater in San Juan. This year, the fes­ti­val will have a var­ied musi­cal offer­ing, includ­ing the intro­duc­tion of HEINEKEN THE LAB, an exper­i­men­tal pro­pos­al that will com­bine jazz with oth­er musi­cal gen­res on the first night (Thurs­day). Con­tin­ue reading…

walking in old san juan

Old San Juan Is For Walking

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I’ll nev­er under­stand how there are peo­ple who jump in their cars and waste hours dri­ving around Old San Juan.  That’s the idiot’s way to see the Old City!  But there does­n’t seem to be a short­age of those.  Just vis­it Old San Juan any Sun­day after­noon and you’ll see the long line of cars going from Fort San Cristo­bal Con­tin­ue reading…

Balneario Pico de Piedra

“Puerto Rico For Beach Bums” hits the “virtual bookstands”

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NOTE: THE TITLE OF THIS BOOK CHANGED. IT IS NOW LISTED IN AMAZON UNDER “PUERTO RICO BEACH BY BEACH” Dur­ing the past sev­er­al months I’ve been a busy beaver.  I’ve been writ­ing my third book for the Ama­zon Kin­dle titled: “Puer­to Rico For Beach Bums”.  And, as you might imag­ine, it has to do with the fact that Puer­to Rico Con­tin­ue reading…

Museum Of The Americas, A Rare Gem In Old San Juan, PR

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Most peo­ple that vis­it Puer­to Rico come here because of a hand­ful of rea­sons. Some come because of the beach­es.  Oth­ers come because of the Span­ish forts in Old San Juan.  Still oth­ers come because of the mar­velous Puer­to Rican cui­sine and the trop­i­cal cli­mate. But very few come because of our muse­ums. Well, let me tell you.  That’s a Con­tin­ue reading…

San Juan Circo Fest 2014… A Smashing Success!

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The First Inter­na­tion­al Cir­cus and Street Per­for­mance Fes­ti­val of Puer­to Rico, bet­ter known among the locals as “Cir­co Fest de San Juan 2014” was so suc­cess­ful that it went well beyond its orga­niz­ers wildest dreams.  The event took place dur­ing Saint Valen­tine’s Day week­end on San Fran­cis­co Street in Old San Juan, Puer­to Rico. Thou­sands of vis­i­tors from Puer­to Rico and Con­tin­ue reading…

San Sebastian Street Fiestas 2014… Let The Party Begin!

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Christ­mas is almost over for many Amer­i­cans. Just yes­ter­day they were tear­ing open their presents, and in 5 more days they’ll be count­ing down the hours to 2014. Then it’ll be back to work. Not in Puer­to Rico! In Puer­to Rico the par­ty is just begin­ning. Christ­mas on the Island kicks off on Thanks­giv­ing Day and extends all the way to Con­tin­ue reading…