In honor of Nanni, I will dedicate one blog to our visit to San Juan.

We came into San Juan harbor under the mask of sunrise, but the sun failed (for once) to arouse us, so we awoke to find ourself tied up to the pier. Bugger. The Mrs and I have always enjoyed watching the ship come into the harbor, but I guess our excursions in St. Thomas tuckered us out.

Regardless, we docked well before the 7AM arrival time, so we got up and had breakfast, then went ashore, but not before slathering up with sunscreen. We all wore long pants to protect our legs and both the Mrs and Ms had long-sleeved coverups to protect their arms, while I wore a polo shirt. Don’t forget those big hats for shade, either.

San Juan was the first port I ever went to that has you enter and leave the dock through the duty-free shops. Glad to see that that has not changed. I must comment, however, that I think that the dock itself is one of the nicest that we visit on our various cruises – well controlled, good architecture, etc.

We began our visit to San Juan by walking Calle Marina along the waterfront, admiring the two Puerto Rican ships (navy or coast guard, I can’t say) moored that day. At first, the Mrs. wondered if perhaps they were Costa Rican, until I pointed out the PR flag. Being an old Navy guy, it’s always nice to see ships docked nearby.

We then sauntered up to what I will call commerce square near Calle Recinto. Lots of vendors, etc. We inquired about the cost of a horse-drawn carriage ride tour of old San Juan, but the quoted price was a bit more than the Mrs. was willing to pay. Although I had brought plenty of cash with me, she got us out of the situation by stating “I don’t think we brought that much money with us” to which I readily agreed.

We continued our walk, going up a few blocks, then paralleling the fort walls. There is a plaza (Plaza de la Marina?) that the Mrs & I have previously enjoyed on other cruises – in fact, I took pictures for a couple who wanted to stand on the fort wall one cruise in this plaza. Given the state of my legs, we were looking for a place to rest and, with the trees in this plaza, it seemed the perfect place to stop.

Perfect place – absolutely. After about five minutes, it began raining, then pouring – yet, under the canopy of the tree, we were remaining fairly dry. Of course, this event provided an opportunity for the Mrs to remind me that I was the one who rejected bringing the umbrella along on the cruise. Do women ever miss a chance to point out the foibles of their man?

Eventually, the rain did begin to overwhelm the canopy, so we began to plot our escape, using the wonderful maps provided by our Super Shopper, Moira. We decided to head up Calle Cruz to Calle Fortaleza, as one of the shops that had a raffle was in that area.

Keeping under cover offered by some overhangs, we made it up to our destination. I forget which jewelry shop it was, but I was able to sit and wait outside while the Mrs and Ms went inside to wander around for a little bit.

From there, I suggested that we go into the Marshall’s on Calle Fortaleza to see if they had any cheap umbrella’s – again, the Mrs used the moment to remind me of my umbrella foible and refused to go in. Had she been willing, we probably would have run into John & Diane, as they used the Marshall’s as a shelter during the storm.

Luckily, the storm began to abate and we continued our trek towards our destination – El Mooro. We continued up Calle San Jose, then cut over Calle Luna so I could fulfill my desire to light a candle in Mom’s memory at the Cathedral de San Juan. Unfortunately, when we got to the entrance, there was a huge crowd around, so I said a prayer and we moved on.

We continued up Del Cristo and discovered that Ben and Jerry’s had invaded even Old San Juan – now, to me, this site was a bit sacreligious. I mean, I have actually been to the original Ben and Jerry’s when it was housed in an old gas station in Burlington, Vermont – to find a Ben and Jerry’s in Old San Juan just seemed out of place. Imagine the Spanish Conquistadors – “hey, let’s stop by Old San Juan and get a Phish Food ice cream cone at Ben and Jerry’s”. Can’t see it happening.

We continued towards El Morro and took in the beauty that is the Plaza del Quinto Centenario. What a beautiful site and fountain. Plus, it makes another good weigh station for the weary traveler on his way to the high point of the tour.

From there, we went over to El Morro. We gave the Ms. the option of actually going into the fort, but she chose not to. Instead, we took a bunch of pictures from the outside, including some artsy pictures of the graveyard taken through the breaks in the wall.

After walking around the grounds for a while, we decided to head back. That is when we discovered the free trolley – why didn’t anyone tell me I could have ridden up to El Morro? We boarded and rode the trolley around the city – I had never seen Fuerto San Cristobal, because so much attention is paid to El Morro during the attractions talks. I will certainly have to make Fuerto San Cristobal a destination on my next cruise to San Juan (and there will be another cruise to San Juan).

We took the trolley back to the US Post Office – a building that fondly brought back not so fond memories of the last time I was in San Juan. We were hurrying to get a post card mailed to Mom and I slipped on the steps going up to the Post Office. I remember one of the nicest men we met that day (he was a guard) rushing over to my assistance and later, as we passed by again, he cheerfully greeted us and again inquired if I was OK.

One place we wanted to visit was an amber shop that we had found on our previous visits to San Juan, so we went back up to Calle Fortaleza. The Mrs headed all the way up to the beginning of the Fortaleza, then we headed down but never found the shop – for good reason. It’s on Calle San Francisco, one block up. Another bugger.

By this point, it was well past lunch, so we decided to head back to the ship. We walked down past the Casino, crossed back over Calle Marina and headed back to the cruise ship pier. Remember – photo ID and your Sign & Sail Card gets you inside the first gate, then through the terminal. Is this terminal the same terminal that they load and unload cruise ships that sail from San Juan or is there another cruiseport? It does not seem big enough to handle to massive crush of people that occurs during embarkation and debarkation.

Anyway, the air conditioning was a welcome relief, but, to the consternation of the merchants in the toll-free shops, we did not stop. We continued onto the ship, into our room and collapsed – at least the Ms & I did, while Mrs MTSFP still had enough energy to go up to the Lido deck to get us all some lunch.

Old San Juan – I have many favorite ports from my travels, but I think this port is the one I most enjoy visiting. The old Spanish influence of the architecture is phenomenal. The people always seem so friendly and it is so easy to get around – especially that I have now discovered the existence of the trolley.

Our tour of San Juan ended during the departure from the port. Having the large balcony, I sat outside as we left port and got many fine pictures of the outside of the fortress of San Juan. Then, it was onto the evening’s festivities, which were not much different than previously nights. Dinner, then dancing.

Así pues, para ahora, le hice una oferta adiós. Hasta man¢ana, soy

JustJon