Each morning at the
Riu Palace Peninsula, I strolled over to the large breakfast buffet at Las Olas restaurant, which included an omelet station, French toast, bacon, sausage, yogurt, cereals, and fresh fruit including small sweet bananas and papayas. Food in hand, I walked over to one of the outdoor tables to enjoy breakfast with a sea breeze and a pot of strong Mexican coffee. For lunch, I would head to the Italian restaurant, Venecia, just off the lobby. They offer a salad bar, pizza, grilled fish, and pasta choices. No reservations are necessary. I also enjoyed my mid-afternoon latte at the stylish coffee bar, Capuchino.
Reserve in advance to dine at one of the four specialty restaurants. My favorite dishes included the tender Chilean sea bass at the fusion restaurant, Krystal; the large cut of rib eye at the steakhouse, Isla Mujeres; the wok pan-fried grouper with shitake mushrooms at Kabuki Japanese restaurant; and the tequila-flambéed prawns at Tamales, the Mexican restaurant.
It’s been a fun week in Cancun, but it’s back to the frigid temperatures for me, with stops in Chicago, New York, and Presque Isle, Maine. I’ll return on January 7th with my Top 5 Travel Experiences of 2012. Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!
They say the best views of Puerto Rico are from the water. Watching the palms sway, seeing horseback riders gallop along the beach, and eyeing lighthouses as they stand tall, sending their beacon of light over the ocean waters. This is especially true if you’re on a board surfing Rincon. Called the “Caribbean Pipeline,” surfers from America, Europe, and South America flock to the western tip of Puerto Rico to glide atop the consistently large swell at spots like Maria’s, a monstrous reef break. The problem with Rincon was always the crime. Come back from a morning of surfing and your room is broken into. So it’s a joy to finally find a place that’s not only safe, clean, and serves delicious local food (included in the price), but is owned by a world-class Brazilian surfer. Roger Wagner’s six villas, Surf787, are perched on a hillside with water views just west of town. Depending on your level of expertise, he’ll guide you to the best surf spots within a 40-minute drive. Or you can venture out on your own, especially in the early morning hours when the local contingent of surfers are usually sleeping in after hitting the bars. November to April is the best time to surf Rincon. Check out the surf report, grab a flight into Aguadilla, and you could be on the water today! 
Few sights I’ve seen are as majestic as Machu Picchu. After a 2-hour train ride from Ollantaytambo, you arrive at the town of Aguas Calientes and switch to a bus for a 20-minute drive on a series of switchbacks up to the base of Machu Picchu. When you arrive, you better have one of the coveted timed tickets to enter these late 15th-century Incan ruins that miraculously the Spaniards never found. Row after row of stone walls lead up the steep hillsides creating a far more vast archaeological wonder than one can imagine on that quintessential photograph from above Machu Picchu. We arrived a little after 2:30 pm, when the crowds were already thinning, to feel the smooth rocks of the temple, see the maze of aqueducts, and find the sun dial that was used to predict summer solstice. The tightly knit stone structures are impressive, but to be honest pale in comparison to the surrounding landscape, a panorama of jagged peaks that lead to the snow-capped Andes in the distance. This includes Huayna Picchu, the striking peak you see behind every photo of Machu Picchu. We had the opportunity hike this peak the next morning at 7 am, but I chose to hike part of the Inca Trail rising above Machu Picchu to the Sun Gate. Every step you took on the 3-hour round-trip trek was another mesmerizing view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding mountains. Fantastic! 
One look at that long lawn that slopes down to the sea at the