On Wednesday, I headed to the Phoenix airport Terminal 2 as planned at 8:00 - the only problem was that the big storm in Colorado caused many flights to be cancelled or delayed - mine was included, with a delay of two and half hours. While at the airport, I watched the construction of the Sky Train as it goes from Terminal 3, over Terminal 2 and out towards the rental car facility east of the airport.
When I finally arrived in Newark, I had only 30 minutes to catch the flight to San Juan. I texted Martha, hustled from gate C112 to C81, met Martha and we boarded the flight together. We arrived about 25 minutes early in San Juan. Much to my surprise, and contrary to the "Track your luggage" on the United App, both Martha's and my suitcase arrived. Then it was a quick taxi ride to the hotel and we were both ready for bed by about 30 minutes after midnight.
On Thursday, we set out to explore. Our hotel, El Canario on the Lagoon, is one block south of the ocean in Condado and one block north of Condado Lagoon. There is a small ocean beach at La Ventana al Mar, a small park just one block north of us - on the east side of the park, there is a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Shop where Martha remembers eating lunch on her prior trip to San Juan.
We headed west on Ashford Avenue, walking past many stores, hotels and condos in Condado, and then crossed over the lagoon on a wide bridge. On the other side, we passed by an upscale shopping center, El Mercado de Paseo Caribe, hotels and condos, out to San Geronimo del Boqueron, which was built to protect the entrance to the Condado Lagoon. Unfortunately, it was not open.
We went back into the shopping center and found a place to sit in the shade, applied sun screen and drank some water, then continued west to Escambron Beach - they were setting up for the triathlon scheduled for this weekend.
We walked through the fort/battery on Punta Escambron.
The sign on the fort reflected me taking a picture of the sign.
We continued west on Avenida Luis Muñoz Rivera. Just west of the park is a beautifully decorated wall (excuse my fat finger in the photo).
When we passed by on Saturday, we could see that the decorations were both on the wall and on the sidewalk, and could see the translation of the saying on the wall: For me, life is struggle and service. If you don't struggle or serve, you deprive yourself of the greatest satisfaction that life can provide.
We came across several friends on our way, most of whom scooted away before I could take a photo.
Along the ocean side of the road, there is a very nice parallel paseo - both a protected two lane bike path and a nice wide sidewalk. There are many signs, some providing info about the historical buildings and some, like this one, with info about the local flora and fauna, all in both Spanish and English.
From the distance, we could see the most easterly edge of the ruins of the third line of defense (Ruinas de la 3ra. Linea de Defensa en Baja Mar) - because Puerto Rico was so important to Spain, they built multiple forts here, with additional walls around what is now Old San Juan (Viejo San Juan) and then multiple lines of defense to protect against attacks from both sea and land.
We passed by the Capitol Building; the plaza across the street gives a great view of the ocean.
We finally arrived at Castillo San Cristobal, on of two forts that are maintained by the National Park Service - it was built 150 years after Fort Moro and is at the northeastern end of the old walled city of San Juan.
Martha sent me some photos she took of me while we were exploring.
By 2:00, we were hot and tired, so we stopped at a local coffee shop in Old San Juan - La Madre allowed us to enjoy an Americano for Martha and a latte for me with nachos served with salsa, pico de gallo and guacamole. Once fortified, we wandered south to the port where all the cruise ships tied up, and then spent the rest of the afternoon meandering westward back through San Juan and on to our hotel in Condado. By the time we finished, our pedometers showed we had covered about ten miles. We had showers, a snack and a short rest, then headed out to meet Andrea and Linda at a nearby restaurant - Cayo Blanco Seafood Restaurant. We enjoyed drinks and tapas (Puerto Rican arepas, one with conch salad and one with crab salmoreja), then a sumptuous feast of seafood - I had . ceviche on avacado and Martha had mahi mahi with sweet plantains. Then it was back to our hotel around 10:30 for a well deserved night of rest.
Friday morning, we set out to explore around 9:30. Our first stop was Pannes, a coffee shop where Martha could get the iced coffee she likes and we briefly met with Andrea, Linda and Priscilla - Priscilla has relatives who live here, so she had a car. We arranged to meet Andrea and Linda later when we got to Old San Juan.
Martha and I set out to follow the same route as Thursday, but instead of looking at things on the ocean side, we looked at things on the town side of street. We passed by the Supreme Court, then went through the gardens and the Hall of Peace in Luis Muñoz Rivera Park. Then it was back on the decorated sidewalk (the photos above) and on to a building that from one side is labelled as the U.S. Department of Commerce Weather Bureau and on the other side as the National Guard Museum - but neither was open.
We continued on into Old San Juan. We had planned to meet Andrea and Linda at La Madre Cafe on Calle San Francisco, as online it showed an opening time of 10:00 - but it does not open until noon. So we went to a cafe diagonally across the street, El Asador. We sat at an outside table and enjoyed the breezes with cool drinks, then met up with Andrea and Linda there.
Our first stop was the Cathedral San Juan Batista.
We then headed to the Paseo del Moro where we passed by this street where the entire block was covered with pink umbrellas in honor of the Week of Women and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer organization.
We saw the governor's building; like the White House in Washington, D.C., this is both a residence and offices for the governor.
Then we stopped at the Parque de las Palomas - apparently, this is where parents bring kids so they can feed the pigeons.
Just before going down the hill to the San Juan Gate and the Paseo del Moro, we passed by some funky statuary in a small park area.
The Paseo is beautiful, with lots of sun and wind, and views across San Juan Bay.
The walls were about 40 - 50 feet tall, towering above the paseo.
The Paseo is about a mile long and leads to stairs up to and into Fort Moro, properly known as Castillo San Felipe del Moro San Juan. It is easy to see how this was used to protect the entrance to the bay and the port facilities.
We left the fort around 3:00 and went back into San Juan for an excellent lunch at El Jibarito. We then meandered back through the rest of Old San Juan and the city of San Juan, getting back to our hotel around 7:00, having covered a bit over twelve miles.
And as before, Martha sent me some of the photos she had taken.
When I finally arrived in Newark, I had only 30 minutes to catch the flight to San Juan. I texted Martha, hustled from gate C112 to C81, met Martha and we boarded the flight together. We arrived about 25 minutes early in San Juan. Much to my surprise, and contrary to the "Track your luggage" on the United App, both Martha's and my suitcase arrived. Then it was a quick taxi ride to the hotel and we were both ready for bed by about 30 minutes after midnight.
On Thursday, we set out to explore. Our hotel, El Canario on the Lagoon, is one block south of the ocean in Condado and one block north of Condado Lagoon. There is a small ocean beach at La Ventana al Mar, a small park just one block north of us - on the east side of the park, there is a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Shop where Martha remembers eating lunch on her prior trip to San Juan.
We went back into the shopping center and found a place to sit in the shade, applied sun screen and drank some water, then continued west to Escambron Beach - they were setting up for the triathlon scheduled for this weekend.
We walked through the fort/battery on Punta Escambron.
The sign on the fort reflected me taking a picture of the sign.
We continued west on Avenida Luis Muñoz Rivera. Just west of the park is a beautifully decorated wall (excuse my fat finger in the photo).
When we passed by on Saturday, we could see that the decorations were both on the wall and on the sidewalk, and could see the translation of the saying on the wall: For me, life is struggle and service. If you don't struggle or serve, you deprive yourself of the greatest satisfaction that life can provide.
Along the ocean side of the road, there is a very nice parallel paseo - both a protected two lane bike path and a nice wide sidewalk. There are many signs, some providing info about the historical buildings and some, like this one, with info about the local flora and fauna, all in both Spanish and English.
From the distance, we could see the most easterly edge of the ruins of the third line of defense (Ruinas de la 3ra. Linea de Defensa en Baja Mar) - because Puerto Rico was so important to Spain, they built multiple forts here, with additional walls around what is now Old San Juan (Viejo San Juan) and then multiple lines of defense to protect against attacks from both sea and land.
We passed by the Capitol Building; the plaza across the street gives a great view of the ocean.
We finally arrived at Castillo San Cristobal, on of two forts that are maintained by the National Park Service - it was built 150 years after Fort Moro and is at the northeastern end of the old walled city of San Juan.
 |
| Looking east back at the Capitol Building |
Martha sent me some photos she took of me while we were exploring.
By 2:00, we were hot and tired, so we stopped at a local coffee shop in Old San Juan - La Madre allowed us to enjoy an Americano for Martha and a latte for me with nachos served with salsa, pico de gallo and guacamole. Once fortified, we wandered south to the port where all the cruise ships tied up, and then spent the rest of the afternoon meandering westward back through San Juan and on to our hotel in Condado. By the time we finished, our pedometers showed we had covered about ten miles. We had showers, a snack and a short rest, then headed out to meet Andrea and Linda at a nearby restaurant - Cayo Blanco Seafood Restaurant. We enjoyed drinks and tapas (Puerto Rican arepas, one with conch salad and one with crab salmoreja), then a sumptuous feast of seafood - I had . ceviche on avacado and Martha had mahi mahi with sweet plantains. Then it was back to our hotel around 10:30 for a well deserved night of rest.
Friday morning, we set out to explore around 9:30. Our first stop was Pannes, a coffee shop where Martha could get the iced coffee she likes and we briefly met with Andrea, Linda and Priscilla - Priscilla has relatives who live here, so she had a car. We arranged to meet Andrea and Linda later when we got to Old San Juan.
Martha and I set out to follow the same route as Thursday, but instead of looking at things on the ocean side, we looked at things on the town side of street. We passed by the Supreme Court, then went through the gardens and the Hall of Peace in Luis Muñoz Rivera Park. Then it was back on the decorated sidewalk (the photos above) and on to a building that from one side is labelled as the U.S. Department of Commerce Weather Bureau and on the other side as the National Guard Museum - but neither was open.
We continued on into Old San Juan. We had planned to meet Andrea and Linda at La Madre Cafe on Calle San Francisco, as online it showed an opening time of 10:00 - but it does not open until noon. So we went to a cafe diagonally across the street, El Asador. We sat at an outside table and enjoyed the breezes with cool drinks, then met up with Andrea and Linda there.
Our first stop was the Cathedral San Juan Batista.
We then headed to the Paseo del Moro where we passed by this street where the entire block was covered with pink umbrellas in honor of the Week of Women and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer organization.
We saw the governor's building; like the White House in Washington, D.C., this is both a residence and offices for the governor.
Then we stopped at the Parque de las Palomas - apparently, this is where parents bring kids so they can feed the pigeons.
Just before going down the hill to the San Juan Gate and the Paseo del Moro, we passed by some funky statuary in a small park area.
The Paseo is beautiful, with lots of sun and wind, and views across San Juan Bay.
The walls were about 40 - 50 feet tall, towering above the paseo.
The Paseo is about a mile long and leads to stairs up to and into Fort Moro, properly known as Castillo San Felipe del Moro San Juan. It is easy to see how this was used to protect the entrance to the bay and the port facilities.
We left the fort around 3:00 and went back into San Juan for an excellent lunch at El Jibarito. We then meandered back through the rest of Old San Juan and the city of San Juan, getting back to our hotel around 7:00, having covered a bit over twelve miles.
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