Cruise: Day 5 (Part 1)

Day 5, Wedesday, October 1: San Juan, Puerto Rico (Part 1)

We docked in Puerto Rico at about 7 AM, and neither Tony nor I wanted to make the effort to get up extra early just to see the ship pull in. We got the call that breakfast was on its way around 7:30, so while we waited, I peeked outside and saw this:



Yes, we were "parked" right next to a big old aircraft carrier. When I glanced to the left, I saw this:



I was a little surprised at the view, simply because it was so different than St. Maarten. It didn't look very "tropical" to me--it just looked like a regular old city. Not that I was disappointed at all, because I was still looking forward to the day--it just startled me, that's all. I looked straight down and could see people already getting off the ship. We ate our breakfast, got ready, and joined the herd around 8:30.

I remembered to get a picture of the ship before we walked away completely. I still can't get over how huge it is.



And here's us with our ship. These self-taken pictures always crack me up, because I always look like I'm straining to fit into the picture, since I'm so short. And it's pretty much true--I was always standing on my tiptoes and craning my neck. And Tony was always tilting his head down towards me, too.



We headed first for the Tourist Info Center, only to find the building shut down and looking somewhat abandoned. I thought maybe they just weren't open for the day yet, but a street vendor kindly pointed us toward the new Tourist Info Center, across the street. We got a map for a self-guided walking tour of Old San Juan. Our first order of business, however, was to find a shop called Del Sol, since I had some freebie coupons for that place (and the one in St. Maarten had been closed). It's a pretty cool store--everything in there reacts to sunlight. For example, all their T-shirts look black and white--but when you take them in the sun, they suddenly become colored. My coupons scored me a free bag (which you will see hanging off my shoulder in future pictures) and a free color-changing ring (a cheapie little plastic ring, but still cute). We also bought matching keychains (starfish that look clear, but turn blue in the sun) and a set of 6 of those plastic rings for Ari.

After we were done with that, we turned our attention to our map. Our first stop was the Governor's Mansion (AKA La Forteleza) for a tour. We found out we had about half an hour to wait before the next tour, so we wandered the streets some more to kill time. We found the Hard Rock Cafe (this one's for you, Josh)...



And we visited San Juan Cathedral...



Here, I was trying to get a good picture of the streets, but it obviously didn't come out well. Anyway, the streets are paved with blue bricks that were once used as ballast on Spanish galleons. It's very cool-looking.



We also walked past a little Persian restaurant, which I had to take a picture of.



We timed everything just right, and got back in plenty of time for our tour of La Forteleza. It turned out we were the only 2 people on the tour, which I thought would be awkward, but it wasn't. We found out that La Forteleza was originally constructed as a fort, but they quickly discovered it was too small and in the wrong location to be a fort, so it got converted into the Governor's Mansion by adding a 2nd and 3rd story. We also got to visit the dungeon, which was never used as such.



I don't know where exactly Tony took this picture from, but I thought it was cool.



Our tour guide was really nice. They were getting ready for a big event at the mansion which was to happen the next day, so there was a lot of noise, and we got the feeling that she had to skip a couple stops because of the noise and construction. She took this picture for us.



One of our tour stops was the sunken garden. The reason it's sunken is because La Forteleza used to be right on the edge of a cliff, but some governor decided he wanted more of a "backyard." So where were standing in that last picture is an area that was all filled in with dirt taken from this spot. After they got done removing all the dirt, they decided to turn the giant hole into a garden. It was beautiful.



A close-up of the fountain.



We also saw a gecko. I would have gotten a better picture, but Tony decided to get a closer look and he scared it away--which is why this picture is blurry.



Another shot of the gardens...



A statue, named "Girl Laying with Flower."



This is a mosaic of the seal of Puerto Rico. Our tour guide explained the meaning of all the symbols, but I know I can't remember them all. I do the know the "F" and the "I" in the center stand for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who financed Columbus's journey.



And so ended our tour of La Forteleza. We carried on, following the Old San Juan wall.

This is us in front of Old San Juan Gate.



And here's a shot of the wall.



Our next stop was the first of 2 forts--Castillo San Felipe del Morro.



There was a long, long pathway leading up to the fort...



And then, once inside, we walked down a long, long flight of stairs.



This is me, not wanting to pose for a picture because I am melting. (Of course, we are doing this in the heat of the day, and it is hot hot hot. It was interesting to me, though, that all the people who actually lived in San Juan seemed completely unaffected by the heat. I guess you get used to it.)



Deep inside the fort...



Another cool shot, taken by Tony.



A tunnel, and me climbing some stairs...



A cannon, and a peek through the wall out toward the front of the fort...



Another gorgeous shot taken by Tony (who was more daring than me and more willing to climb up walls to get good shots).



From there, we took a free trolley about halfway to the next fort. The reason we only took it halfway was because I got off too early and Tony jumped off with me rather than waiting for me to get back on. It was after the trolley left that we realized we were kind of in the "ghetto" of San Juan...

Did we survive, or not? Tune in next time for the stunning conclusion of our day in San Juan...