Puerto Rico 5/15/2019 - 5/19/2019 |
|
PrologueDuring Thanksgiving of the year 2000, Craig and I visited St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. While there, we met our pal Marty for the first time. We had a great time together, and we would return to St. Thomas 12 more times over Thanksgiving, bringing various friends and family members with us.Our last visit was in 2013, so we have been long overdue for a Marty visit. We decided to mix it up a bit this year, and meet Marty in Puerto Rico. Marty visited Puerto Rico with his ex-wife on their honeymoon 17 years ago, and they went skydiving in Humacao with Xtreme Divers. This is something that has been on our bucket list, and we felt that this was the perfect opportunity to try it. So we made a reservation for the three of us to do a tandem skydive with the same outfitter. They jump from Arecibo these days, so it was a new location for Marty. San Juan is a direct flight from Boston, and is only a 20 minute flight from St. Thomas. We booked a Jet Blue Vacations package including our flights and a hotel room at El Convento in Old San Juan. This historic boutique hotel had a centralized location that would put us within walking distance of the points of interest of Old San Juan. We timed the visit to coincide with Craig's birthday. Wednesday, May 15, 2019 - Arrival, Exploring Old San Juan, Reuniting with MartyCraig's brother Steve dropped us at the Logan Express bus on his way to work, and we arrived at Logan Airport at around 8 a.m. We went through security and then had a Dunkin Donuts bagel sandwich for breakfast. Our flight took off on time at around 10:20 a.m. We had plenty of legroom and we lucked out because we had an empty seat between us. It was an enjoyable flight and we arrived in Puerto Rico shortly after 2:30 p.m. We went out to the taxi stand and got a taxi to Old San Juan for a regulated price of $24 (for up to 5 people). Our taxi driver, Mark, was quite pleasant, and drove us to our hotel (around 30 minutes) while also giving us tips on things to see and do during our stay. He also gave us his card in case we need a ride back to the airport on Sunday. The city of Old San Juan is situated on an islet. It has a deep water port through which it is accessible by sea, and three bridges which connect it to mainland Puerto Rico. We drove over Puente Guillermo Estéves and along the coast via Rt 26. Soon we found ourselves in the narrow one way streets of Old San Juan lined with colorful Spanish colonial buildings. Mark pulled up in front of Hotel El Convento, and we were immediately charmed by the area. The location is in the heart of Old San Juan, just blocks from the ocean. A park with sculptures and lush tropical trees and flowers is situated between the hotel and Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Juan Bautista, the oldest cathedral in US territory. The sky was blue and the architecture was glowing in the late afternoon light. The hotel dates back to 1651, when it was a Carmelita convent commissioned by King Philip of Spain. It remained a functioning convent until 1903, and was converted into a boutique luxury hotel in 1962. The exterior of the building is painted a cheerful yellow with crisp white trim. The decor is Spanish colonial, and the guest rooms are located on the perimeter of a lovely courtyard housing a restaurant and bar. We checked in to room #414, which was a lovely room with a view of San Juan Bay. Marty wouldn't be arriving for another couple of hours, and the late afternoon sunshine and blue skies were irresistable to us, so after we got settled, we decided to explore the area a bit. We encountered hotel cat Trixie, a small calico with one good eye, who was taking a siesta on her favorite chair on the 4th floor terrace. The fourth floor also had a hidden alcove which contained a hot tub and a pool, and had a nice view of the cathedral. We exited the hotel and walked down Caleta de San Juan, a picturesque tree-lined street with striking colonial architecture. We saw a small lizard trying to blend into the bark of one of the mature trees (which provided much-needed shade), as well as a cat taking a snooze on the sidewalk. (We would see lots of street cats; they are a fixture in Old San Juan, and some may even be able to trace their lineage back to cats imported by Christopher Columbus to keep the rat population on the island under control). At the end of this street we encountered La Puerta de San Juan, the San Juan Gate. Christopher Columbus claimed the island of Puerto Rico for Spain in 1493. Ponce de Leon established an inland settlement at Caparra in 1508. However, this location proved impractical for many reasons, and the settlement was relocated to present-day Old San Juan in 1521. That makes San Juan the oldest city on U.S. soil. This island was of enormous strategic importance during the days of the conquistadors, and the Spanish needed to protect the city from other invading colonial powers. They built a 3 mile wall around the city, and the only way in was via one of three gates. The San Juan gate is the only one of these three original gates which is still standing. The location of this gate relative to the cathedral means that as people disembarked ships at the port, they could enter the city through this gate and walk straight up the street to the cathedral to give thanks to God for safe passage. The streets in this area are paved with iridescent blue cobblestones. The blue cobblestones that originally paved the streets of all of Old San Juan are now being replaced with new ones. The original cobblestones (adoquines in Spanish) were cast from iron slag, which is the waste from iron smelting. They were brought over from England and were first used as road pavers in 1784.The San Juan Gate dates back to 1635. We walked out the gate and emerged on Paseo de la Princesa, a picturesque promenade on San Juan Bay. This was a lovely place to walk, lined with wrought iron lampposts, banyan trees, palm trees, and public art. There was a nice view of the city walls and sentry boxes, which have become the symbol of the city. The sun was hot and the weather was extremely humid. As we admired the Raíces (Roots) fountain, it was tempting to think about jumping right in. The fountain was designed by Miguel Carlo to commemorate the heritage of Puerto Rico on the 500th anniversary of the "founding of the New World." It depicts the island's Taíno/Amerindian, African, and Spanish colonial heritage. We looked down at the ocean, and in one particular shallow area, we saw a school of large slender fish. We saw a bust of Queen Isabela of Spain, as well as Crecimiento, a series of pointy bronze sculptures by Carmen Ines Blondet (1996). The latter looked ominous, as if they were spikes waiting to impale invaders who tried to scale the wall. We watched as the enormous Carnival Breeze cruise ship left port and sailed out to sea. By now we were both very overheated and uncomfortable. I know that I was having a hard time, and I don't even suffer from multiple sclerosis related heat sensitivity like Craig does, so I could only imagine how he felt. We decided to walk back to the hotel in order to enjoy the pleasant air conditioning of our room. We took Calle San Francisco this time so that we could see a little more of the area. We saw another street cat, this one sleeping curled around a potted tree. As we walked along Calle del Cristo, we were reminded once again that this city is a cruise ship mecca. We passed a Coach leather store where Pac Man themed Coach bags were displayed in the window. It seemed like a weird mash-up, but nostalgia sells in any form, I guess. We returned to our hotel room and flipped through tourist maps while waiting for Marty to arrive. After an emotionally exhausting trip (thinking that he had lost his wallet on the way to the airport), he landed safely in San Juan and texted us as he got a cab. He arrived at the hotel shortly before 6 p.m. I went down to the lobby to meet him, and we requested a rollaway bed. We took the elevator up to the 4th floor, and Marty entertained the fellow guest on the ride up ( #ImNotOneOfThem). When we entered the room, they were already setting up Marty's rollaway bed. Now that's service! It was so great to see Marty again after all these years. And we picked up right where we had left off. After catching up for a while, we headed out to dinner. Craig and I hadn't eaten anything all day other than our breakfast sandwich and a Jet Blue snack, and I was starving. We didn't have a particular destination in mind, but we knew that there were many restaurants within walking distance. We decided to take a walk and we were sure that we would find a good place to eat. As we exited the hotel, we could see the almost-full moon rising over the cathedral; it was beautiful. We walked down to Calle Fortaleza, where an installation of colorful umbrellas hung over the street to promote Instagram-worthy photography of the city. After wandering around and assessing our options, we decided on Cafe El Punto, a small restaurant/bar at the rear of a handicraft shop. We were excited to try some local food, and it was quite affordable. I had sangria and Craig had a Presidente beer. Marty ordered shrimp ceviche and fried plantains. Craig and I decided to share some appetizers:
We walked back to the hotel, stopping on the third floor to get some ice cold bottles of water. The third floor lounge has cold bottled water, hot coffee, hot tea, and fruit available at all hours, which was incredibly convenient. Craig needs to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated in hot weather, so this was a godsend to us. Marty must have felt a bit gun-shy about almost having lost his wallet earlier in the day; he hooked his wallet chain to the wrought iron wall sconce for safe keeping overnight! This would become his wallet's home whenever we were in the room, to make sure he didn't lose track of it again! San Juan Gate |
 Arrival at Hotel El Convento  San Juan Gate  Walking along Paseo de la Princesa  Hotel El Convento  Marty and his brother from another mother  Dinner at Cafe El Punto See all photos from May 15 |
|
 |
|
 |
