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Country Guide > Caribbean > Puerto Rico | |
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Social Profile Food & Drink Puerto Rico (and especially San Juan) abounds with good restaurants, catering for all tastes from Spanish to Chinese, French, Greek and Italian. The island cuisine is Spanish-based, with rice and beans as the staple diet. Paella, chicken dishes, black bean soup, sancocho (beef stew), jueyes (land crabs) and pan de agua (native bread) are all excellent, as is the delicately seasoned langosta. Island rums such as Barrilito and Don Q are not to be missed. Nightlife Puerto Rico’s nightlife is abundant and varied. The streets are lively in the evening. Many shops are open late, and the visitor can sit in the squares of old San Juan and indulge in people-watching. A recommended walk is down La Princesa Promenade, lined with antique street lamps. Meeting places include a Bogart-style cigar bar and cocktail bars. Hotels provide some of the entertainment, but there are also different types of clubs, both modern and more mainstream. Many Puerto Ricans favour traditional Latin dance clubs with large dance floors, which often have live bands playing salsa and merengue music. Puerto Ricans are passionate about their nightlife, and often dress up. Casinos are intimate and friendly, generally opening at noon and closing at around 0400 daily. Hotel casinos are open to guests and non-guests alike. Shopping Special purchases are cigars, coffee, hammocks, straw weavings, sculpture, santos (carved religious figures), festival masks and stringed musical instruments. Shopping hours: Mon-Wed and Sat 0900-1900, Thurs-Fri 0900-2100, Sun 1100-1700 (shopping malls). Some shops open on Sunday if cruise liners are in port. Special Events ‘Fiestas Patronales’ celebrations are held in each town’s plaza to honour the area’s patron saint. These fiestas can last up to 10 days and include religious processions, games, local food and dance. For further details, contact the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (see Contact Addresses section). The following is a selection of special events occurring in Puerto Rico in 2005: Jan San Sebastián Street Festival. Feb San Blás Marathon; Coamo; Carnival; La Virgen de la Candelaria, Mayagúez; Ponce Carnival. May Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Festival, San Juan. Jun Casals Festival (classical music festival), San Juan; Aibonito Flower Festival; San Juan Bautista Day (begins a week of festivities celebrating San Juan’s patron saint). Jul St James Festival, Loíza. Aug San Juan International Billfish Tournament. Sep Convention and Hospitality Expo del Caribe, San Juan. Oct San Juan Cinema Festival. Dec Bacardi Artisans’ Fair; Hatillo Mask Fair. Dec-Jan 2006 Navidades (island-wide Christmas festivities). Dec 28 Festival of Innocents, Hatillo. Social Conventions Handshaking is the customary form of greeting. Casual dress is acceptable, but shorts should not be worn in hotel dining rooms or casinos, where formal dress is required after 2000. Spanish and American manners and conventions exist side by side on the island. Some hotels require formal dress. Tipping: Generally 15 to 20 per cent if not included on the bill. |