Puerto Rico - Day 2 - Old San Juan

 

San Juan is Puerto Rico’s capital, with a population of around 341,000.  I traveled to Old San Juan with its beautiful architecture, and the San Juan National Historic Site. I had to drive slowly along the uneven cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan.  The Spanish colonial influence was all around me, and I marveled at the colorful buildings with window boxes full of flowers. Finding a place to park was a challenge, especially with the very narrow streets and lots of traffic, but I finally found a parking garage.  

The San Juan National Historic Site is massive!  In the green space outside the walls, people both young and old were flying all kinds of kites.  I walked up the long walkway to Castillo San Felipe del Morro.  The views from the walls of this fort were amazing.  You could see far into the San Juan Bay. As I explored, I was impressed with how the fort has stood for so long. There were iguanas peeking out from crevices and basking in the sun.  Later, I walked up to Castillo San Cristóbal.  There was a musical group playing festive music, and I sat and listened for a while.

After I left Castillo San Cristóbal I walked into the main area of Old San Juan and looked for a place to eat, and came across a place called Puerto Criollo.  I liked it because they had outdoor seating, and I was basking in the warm winter air.  The server recommended the Mofongos Rellenos, which is steak with garlic sauce.  It was delicious.  I wish I could have eaten it all, but I couldn’t.  Sadly, I couldn’t take leftovers with me because I was not returning to the resort right away. 

Mofongos Rellenos

After lunch, I searched for Parque de las Palomas (or, Pigeon Park).  In this park, you could feed the pigeons, which many people were doing.  There were LOTS of pigeons there!  It was nice that they set aside an area to feed the birds.  The was a nice young man playing a keyboard there, and I enjoyed his music.

My last task in Old San Juan was to find a Starbucks and buy a mug for my collection.  Happy Day when I found one!

Puerto Rico – Day 1 - The Weather is Not Cooperating!

 

In January I traveled to Puerto Rico, which was my first time going there.  I was so excited!  I’ve been really lucky on previous trips, and the weather has always cooperated.  That is, until this year (insert sad face).  I had everything planned so that I would arrive at the resort before dark because I had to drive about an hour after landing to get there, and being in a new place, this helps reduce my travel stress levels!

Maybe you’ve heard the expression “It all started when…”, well, that was this trip.  I had a three-hour delay for my flight, which meant I was going to miss my connecting flight.  When I arrived at the airport to check in, I asked them to change my connecting flight since I knew I would miss it due to the delay.  After some weird interactions with the lady working the counter (she seemed reluctant to change my connecting flight though we both knew I wouldn't be able to be on it), she changed that flight to a later one.  Okay, I thought, now we’re ready to go!

Well, not so fast.  First they had to de-ice the plane - another hour's delay.  We finally took off.  This was fine because I still had plenty of time for my connection.  Finally, I arrived in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico.  But first, rental car.  Over an hour wait for my car to be available.  Maybe I was lucky to get one at all, but I finally did and started driving. I arrived at the resort with no issues, thank goodness!  By now it is 9:15 PM and I am exhausted, and starving. I had been awake since 3:30 AM.

There was not a restaurant on the property, but several within close walking distance, so I wasn’t too worried until the lady at registration told me most of them close at 10:00 PM.  Grrrrr.  By the time I’m all checked in it is past 10:00 PM.  I saw that a bar was open nearby, and figured they would have food too, so I headed over there. I asked in my broken Spanish if they served food, and they answered me in English (haha it was obvious I wasn’t a native Spanish speaker, I guess) that they had just closed the kitchen.  My face fell.  I’m so hungry and tired by now.  He had some compassion on me, and had the kitchen fix up something quick for me, which I greatly appreciated.

While I waited for my food, I went to the outdoor seating area (because, you know, it’s warm!) and saw a young lady in her late 20s or early 30s sitting by herself, and asked if she would mind if I sat with her until my food came out.  She heartily said yes.  Between my broken Spanish, her broken English, and two translator apps, we had the loveliest conversation.  She made some suggestions of places to see, and I’m happy to see they were already on my list, so it was nice to know I was on the right track. These are exactly the kinds of interactions I love to have when I travel, and it made all the stressful delays of the day worth it. I wish I had thought to take a picture with her.  Such a great memory of that trip.

Inevitably, we run into delays during travel.  It’s important to take a deep breath, calm our nerves when at all possible, and enjoy the journey, though it may not follow our original plans.