When we were in San Juan, one evening a couple of us took a taxi into Old San Juan
We had a drink, then started to walk around the streets. It seemed pretty quiet. Then we heard music in the distance, and in short order, a street band appeared, followed by quite a number of people.
Naturally, we followed. The music was great. We were trying to figure out what this could be about. A spontaneous party? Someone in the crowd told us that the man leading the parade was a senator.
We finally got on a main street, and there were tables and booths lining the cobbled street. People giving food and drink samples and selling food were in the booths. The band settled into a central area and continued to play. We kept walking up the street, and there were signs saying it was the San Juan Culinary Festival (the SOFO...South of Fortaleza) Culinary Festival.
It was great. A lot of restaurants were open on the street and we decided to eat in a tapas bar. We had some of the best ahi tuna on the planet, and some ham and cheese croquetas, with churros for dessert.
To wash it down, mojitos...regular, raspberry and coconut.
What a beautiful city, what nice people, what great food.
What a great evening.
[Image via Oof Restaurants]
I found a couple of links to SOFO festivals on YouTube, here and here. The second is the culinary festival time-lapse film below. Also, I took some photos with my phone, but they didn't turn out well. Sorry.
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