Magnificent Old San Juan
31 March 2012
karen
Saturday, Mar 31st
Today we decided to drive the hour over and explore Old San Juan. As with yesterday, the rain started at the same spot in the mountains and while the day remained overcast, the rain stopped before we got to San Juan and remained dry the rest of the day. After navigating our way in and finding a street parking spot - that we didn't trust...then a parking lot spot that we did and we are off and running.
What a magnificent city!
We wandered around the wonder small cobblestone alleys and streets, found the Starbucks for a great coffee, explored a few small shops, and jumped on the Free Trolley car that takes people around town. We hoped off at San Cristobel Fort to explore a portion of this old battlement. Spectacular views and amazing feats of architecture that were started in the 16th century and finished 300 years later. San Juan is a walled city and the walls and sentry ports are magnificent to see.
We stopped at a place and enjoyed a traditional Paella for lunch, which was a sight to look at and was even more delicious to eat.
After Lunch we headed to El Morro, the fort that protects the harbor entrance. This is even larger than San Cristobel, having 6 levels and we wandered thru the entire fort marveling at the size and function of the structure. Both these forts are a National park trust, and so John's membership card entitled all 4 of us to enter for free. They were more than worth paying to see, but enjoying them for free was another bonus for us.
We loved, loved, Old San Juan and are already planning to return and see a few more things we missed along the way.