On Friday morning, we had to do a bit of practice for the ceremony but afterwards, we were free until the rehearsal dinner. We hopped in the car and headed to San Juan. Being cheapskates, we endured the grueling free road instead of using the toll road. The traffic in and out of San Juan can be heavy and the roads definitely could use more lanes but I don't know how they'd squeeze in another lane of traffic. We parked downtown in a parking garage because it seemed to be the cheapest option we could find. We didn't know much about San Juan except that somewhere there we would find the place that invented the piña colada drink and we would also see a neighborhood called La Perla that we should stay away from because of its connections with the drug trade. I'd read some reviews about San Juan from people who obviously weren't adept at traveling nor open to other cultures. A lot of the stories I read seemed like they were trying to frighten people away from places instead of encouraging an open mind and adventurous spirit. Oh well. We parked near the San Cristóbal Fort and just started walking.
In 1521, Spanish colonists established San Juan and named it for John the Baptist. San Juan and Puerto Rico were being used interchangeably for the city and the island. This confused many and in the middle of the 17th century, San Juan became established as the name of the city and Puerto Rico for the rest of the island. Puerto Rico was used as a stopover place for people moving between the New World and the Old World. Fortresses were built to guard the gold and silver being mined and carried back to Spain. Naturally, the English and Dutch tried to seize the island from the Spanish throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1898, the US laid claim to the island after some skirmishes with Spanish troops as part of the Spanish-American conflict. We didn't visit the San Cristóbal Fortress but did walk towards the other one, Fort San Felipe del Morro. It had a beautiful open meadow that bordered the fortress, the Santa Maria de Pazzi Cemetery, and La Perla. We looked down into La Perla and it seemed run down but for a poor neighborhood, they had an amazing beach front section of town. There were tons of kids flying kites, playing soccer, and picnicking with their parents in the large open field.
It only cost $3 a piece to enter the fort and for an additional $2, we could have gotten a pass to the San Cristóbal Fort also. We declined. The fort of San Felipe del Morro sat at the top of the small island of San Juan. It was given the green light back in 1539 to act as a protectorate of the bay of San Juan. The lovely engineers decided to limit the steps and instead, built large ramps to go from the ground level up to the roof. It has been attacked by famous historical figures like Sir Francis Drake and George Clifford. The last active battle was in 1898 when the U.S. attacked the Spanish forces. The U.S. used it for six decades as a military post and even fired the U.S's first shots of World War I there. Today, it's preserved as a national park. There was a trolley that brought visitors all the way down the walkway and dropped them off near the gate. We had walked to it across the large meadow but decided that with the 90+ heat(32+C) and high humidity, we'd catch the trolley back to the city center.
We ate lunch at a Spanish tapas restaurant. The food was good but not as good as real Spanish food. Afterwards, we walked through the streets of San Juan, stopping at various shops to look at local crafts or because Izzy thought she saw something she needed but really didn't. The houses and buildings were all painted bright colors that seemed to be fitting for the tropical climate. The streets were cobbled, small and only allowed traffic to flow in one direction. This caused a congestion nightmare when a delivery truck stopped for work. We walked from one end to the other and back again to take it all in. After several bottles of water, we decided to stop when we found the sign we'd been looking for in front of a nondescript doorway of a place called Barrachina. The sign stated that the first piña colada's had been invented there many years ago. We headed in and tried one and they were amazing. I'm sure the heat and our strong thirst made them taste even better.
Around 4:00, we headed back to the car, paid about $7.00 for parking for the day, and went to the airport. It took us a good hour to go the 15 miles or so to the airport from San Juan as the traffic was atrocious. We picked up someone else coming in for the wedding and headed back to the resort. Instead of enduring the free highway 3, we decided to take the toll road back. We had a great dinner at the resort's steak restaurant.
Saturday, we spent the morning out on Palomino Island, the resort's private beach. We'd been so busy exploring that we didn't take any chances to go out to the beach. The ferry took about half an hour. We were some of the first people out there. The view was lovely and the water was incredible. There were a couple of small places to get food and drinks and the hotel offered lots of activities to do like jet skis, snorkeling, swimming, and sports. We grabbed a chair, relaxed, and did a bit of swimming before the afternoon ceremony. Sunday was a travel day back to Jacksonville and a return to the working week. Enjoy the pictures of the beach, it was as good as it looks.
