We were told that if you can't see any other place in Puerto Rico, you need to visit Old San Juan. So Kent, Jerry and I walked about three miles from our marina to Old San Juan, a seven square block area designated as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.
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| Map of Old San Juan |
The walk itself was interesting because we passed through a couple of neighborhoods on our way to Old San Juan that we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Some of the street art we saw...
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| Look carefully to see all the graffitti/art |
On to Old San Juan...
Old San Juan, located on Isla San Juan, is over 500 years old, much of which has been lovingly restored. The town is surrounded by a six-mile stone wall, 20 feet thick and 50 feet high. We visited the old Gate to Old San Juan, which faces the harbor entry. Here are picture of the Gate and the surrounding area, which includes a harborside walkway, a park with sculpture, and a fabulous tree!
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"La Rogativa" - a bronze sculpture (1971) outside the Gate to
Old San Juan on the edge of the city wall. It depicts the 1797 procession
of the Bishop and religious women which was said to have scared off
the invading British fleet. |
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| Art tiles inset in stone over the Gate to Old San Juan |
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| The official Gate to Old San Juan |
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| Queen Isabel |
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| Kent and Jerry under that massive tree! |
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| Cats everywhere! |
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| Queen Isabel |
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| Through the gate. See the thick walls! |
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| Unbelievable tree roots |
The streets are paved with blue-ish glazed cobblestones originally brought over as ships' ballast. By the way, Old San Juan is a cat-lovers' paradise. You find them crossing your path all over the neighborhoods!
The streets are lined with multi-color pastel buildings with lots of wrought iron balconies, painted shutters, exquisite doorways, and interesting architectural details.
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A statue of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) in Plaza Colon,
erected in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of his arrival in
Puerto Rico (1493) |
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A statue of Eugenio Maria de Hostos, commemorates the famous
Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, lawyer, sociologist, intellectual
and advocate for independence. |
There are two forts in Old San Juan. Castillo de San Felipe del Morrow started construction in 1540 and was ultimately completed in 1783. Fuerte San Cristobal finished construction in 1678. We spent a couple of hours exploring the Fuerte San Cristobal, impressive in size and condition, and reading about its history. Here are several pictures of the fort...
La Fortaleza was built between 1533 and 1540 and is now the Governor's residence, although several times updated. It is believed to be the oldest residence in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere. This historic building sits in full view of the harbor entry and we could see it, Castillo de Felipe del Morrow, and the massive city wall as we sailed into the bay. We also saw this building on our self-guided tour of Old San Juan, but did not go inside.
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| La Fortaleza |
There are at least five major museums, which I think is a lot for a relatively small area, but unfortunately, we could not fit a visit in the two half-days we spent in Old San Juan.
Our taxi driver dropped us off in front of the 16th-century Iglesia de San Jose, the church of the Ponce de Leon family. Juan Ponce de Leon was the city's founding father and a statue of him sits prominently in the Plaza de San Jose in front of the church. Because it is under massive renovation, we were unable to go inside the church.
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This bronze statue of Juan Ponce de Leon is made from melted-down
British cannons captured during the attack in 1797. |
However, we did have a chance to spend some time walking through the Catedral de San Juan Bautista, a huge Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico. It is one of the oldest buildings in San Juan, originally constructed from wood in 1521, and is the second oldest cathedral in the Americas. (The Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, is the oldest.) Destroyed by hurricane, it was rebuilt in 1540 and it has three cupolas, beautiful stained glass windows and sculpture, and stunning architecture. Juan Ponce de Leon's tomb is inside the cathedral. The following pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the church interior.
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| Catedral de San Juan Bautista |
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| Remains of ? - I'm researching |
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| Remains of ? - I'm researching! |
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The wax-covered mummy of Saint Padre Pio (eeeeewwww!),
a Roman martyr killed for his faith |
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| Juan Ponce de Leon's tomb |
The first day, we had lunch at The Parrot Club, a place we picked randomly as we walked down the street. We had authentic Puerto Rican dishes and enjoyed the locally made beer.
The second day, we stopped and offered to take a couple's picture, and they reciprocated. Afterwards, we asked them for a restaurant recommendation, and they sent us to La Rosa Triana, what turned out to be a delicious Spanish tapas place. The building was constructed in 1523 and one of the oldest buildings in Old San Juan (see one of the pics below for some interesting history).
As we strolled through the streets after lunch, we noticed a small rum tasting place called Casa Melaza Rum Boutique, and ducked in. After a couple of tasting shots (ok, more than a couple), we walked next door and bought bottles of two favorites, both made in Puerto Rico.
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| A little rum tasting |
Our last night in the marina, we ate grilled pork tenderloin, plantains, and salad. Jerry and Kent reminisced about their childhood and shared stories. We also sampled a little of the rum we bought that day, and toasted to Kent's and my 32nd wedding anniversary!
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| Kent, our chef |
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| Mmmmm...rum infused with pineapple |
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| Jerry and Kent |
Next destination: Arecibo on the south side of Puerto Rico as we sail east
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