Hello all,
We’ve had a great day in San Juan in the beautiful sunshine. This morning we slept in, and then were treated to an amazing breakfast at our guesthouse. It’s such a bargain - we paid $60 Australian each per night and the food is wonderful, we did some washing last night, the bed is comfortable and the internet is fast. Olga the cook made us an omelette with Puerto Rican sausage, vegetables and salad. I also had a Puerto Rican coffee and some yoghurt and fruit. We then checked out the rooftop. The ladder was very steep, you would have hated it, Ian!! But the views were pretty good. However, our pale skin didn't allow us to stay up there too long as it was very bright and sunny. On the roof, we did realise though that we are the only room in this guesthouse with air conditioning. Now it makes more sense why Oscar made such a big deal about that yesterday!!
We’ve had a great day in San Juan in the beautiful sunshine. This morning we slept in, and then were treated to an amazing breakfast at our guesthouse. It’s such a bargain - we paid $60 Australian each per night and the food is wonderful, we did some washing last night, the bed is comfortable and the internet is fast. Olga the cook made us an omelette with Puerto Rican sausage, vegetables and salad. I also had a Puerto Rican coffee and some yoghurt and fruit. We then checked out the rooftop. The ladder was very steep, you would have hated it, Ian!! But the views were pretty good. However, our pale skin didn't allow us to stay up there too long as it was very bright and sunny. On the roof, we did realise though that we are the only room in this guesthouse with air conditioning. Now it makes more sense why Oscar made such a big deal about that yesterday!!
Once we had had breakfast, we headed out to join an 11am walking tour. Our guide's name was Lucia, and she took us around for the next 2-2.5 hours. The pace was good, a bit slower than other tours with lots of shady stops to get out of the sun. We started off in the Plaza Colon, and then saw a theatre before continuing through the streets. Lucia told us that the first major threat the Spanish experienced here was the English arriving in 1598. After a two week siege, they left. Not because of the Spanish defense, but because the mosquitoes were eating them alive. I am going to jinx myself here, but I've been in the Caribbean for nearly 30 hours now, and so far I have not been bitten. It will happen though!! I will keep slathering myself in Aerogard and hope for the best. Hopefully I have better luck than the English!
We stopped at a lookout on some of the city walls, and here Rob and I saw our first iguana. We saw a few here today and I took some great photos. This one was in a tree, we later saw some of the ground and climbing on the fortifications at the fort we visited. They are so cool, they look a bit like small dinosaurs!! Some of them seem to be very green, others more orange. I did some research and it looks like younger iguanas are green, and that males tend to turn slightly orange as breeding season approaches. Some people got really close to them but I kept my distance. I don't need to add an iguana bite to my list of ailments!
We continued on and next saw the narrowest house here. It was bright yellow and just 1.5m wide. I'm not sure how people could live like that! We also saw a small chapel on the city walls and the Governor's Palace. Then we went into a convent where we saw their nativity scene and a beautiful view down on the city. Here we saw another iguana.
Next, we had a stop inside the San Juan Bautiste (St John the Baptist) Cathedral. It had a really pretty dome and lots of nice Christmas decorations, as well as the remains of a former governor here from the 1500s. Apparently in the days when the entire city was walled, people would enter through the gate down near the water (which we saw next) and then climb up the hill to visit the church and give thanks.
Our next stop was one of my favourite types - a local recommendation. Our guide took us to a little icy pole place which was literally a hole in the wall under a staircase. For 75 cents US, we bought a frozen lemon treat each. It was delicious and reminded us of 'Sunny Boys' back home. Everything is really cheap here, especially considering we have been in some cities where everything is so expensive. It's a nice relief!!
Our tour ended up near the Cuartel de Ballaja, the last building the Spanish constructed here before the Americans took over control. It was a military base with housing for military families, and today is a museum. Then Rob and I headed across to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the other fort in the town. Our ticket from yesterday was great value, as we were allowed to use it again to visit this fort provided it was within 24 hours. We spent an hour or two exploring leisurely and just roaming around. The history of this fort is very similar to the one yesterday that I detailed, just that it was built first. It faces out to sea on the "point" of the jut out part of Puerto Rico that San Juan is based on, so had an even more important location as it faced numerous directions that ships could enter from. It was begun in 1539 and took 200 years to properly complete. Apparently there are tunnels underneath this one that run all the way to the other fort and various other locations across the town, but the public cannot access them.
We enjoyed seeing the lighthouse and sitting for a while staring out over the massive field in front of the fort. We watched people rolling down the green hills and flying their kites. They flew very well today as the sea breeze was strong! There were many levels at the fort and we explored all of them. Once we finished at the fort, we then walked over towards a cemetery facing the ocean. It was all locked up but again we sat and enjoyed the view. We had a laugh at all the chickens and their chicks in the cemetery! They were cute, but we thought it funny they were pecking around all the graves.
Afterwards, we walked to a restaurant called Barrachina. This is apparently where in 1963 Don Ramon Portas Mingot created the pina colada. We had one each, and they were absolutely delicious. We enjoyed the cool drink and sat there for a while at the bar enjoying ourselves. Then we walked around near the waterside. We got very hot at this stage, so headed back to the guesthouse for a bit of a break.
We sat on the balcony and got a few things done online. I called Pa and chatted to him in hospital, it was really nice to hear his voice. Then we chatted to our guesthouse host, Eddie, before chatting to a Canadian couple that had just arrived. Weirdly, they were a retired teacher and a retired mounted policeman. For dinner, we headed to a local sandwich shop (a bit like a Puerto Rican version of 'Subway') and enjoyed a yummy toasted sandwich each for dinner. Now we are relaxing in our room.
Tomorrow night we board our cruise. My plan is to post a blog tomorrow night before we set off using Rob's phone data. After that, I won't have internet reception for a week. I plan on typing the blogs up still and I will post once I can. As I said though, the plan is to post again tomorrow night so there should be one more up before the cruise.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
Xoxox
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