San Juan Puerto Rico

Last week we spent four warm and sunny days in Puerto Rico!

It was while planning this trip that I realized how large Puerto Rico really was, we only explored a teeny tiny portion. We are already talking about making a second trip.

On our first day we arrived in the early afternoon and were happy to hear that our room was already ready. 

We changed and headed down for lunch at the hotel restaurant. 

When visiting somewhere new I like to try the local cuisine. It was hard in PR. We do not eat pork and not a fan of seafood so it limited our choices a bit.

What we did eat

alcapurrias - green plantain dough stuffed with meat

tostones - deep fried plantains

We spent the rest of the day lounging by the beach and pool. We had dinner at a local Mexican place, Lupis. They had the most melt in your mouth steak. 

The next morning we headed out to explore historic San Juan. San Juan was founded in 1521 by the Spanish, is one of the oldest cities in the New World and a major historical and strategic port. It became a key military outpost for Spain, defending against attacks from pirates and rivals like the English and Dutch.

We started the morning with breakfast at Mercado La Carreta.

and then we headed to our first stop San Cristobal Castle which is a fort and not a castle. Thanks to the Puerto Rican government and the Puerto Rico Tourism company, the fort and all other sites under the US Government Park Service were kept open with their own private funds and free to all visitors. 

For those not in the know.. Puerto Rico is a US Territory. I was surprised or maybe not - to learn how many Americans were ignorant of this fact. 

Castillo San Cristóbal is considered the largest fortress built in the Americas, built between 1634 and 1765 to defend the city from land attacks

Beneath the fort is an extensive tunnel system with dungeons.

From here you can see the walls of San Juan as well as El Morro Fortress in the distance. 

The Castillo San Felipe del Morro is the iconic fortification built by the Spanish in the Americas, covering a 140 foot-high promontory at the entrance to the Bay of San Juan. This fortress consists of 6 levels facing the Atlantic Ocean, all of which were designed to create a devastating artillery fire over enemy ships. By the time of its completion around 1790, it had the reputation of being unconquerable and was the most feared of all the Spanish colonial fortifications.

A heavy downpour started before we left the fort and lasted maybe 20 minutes before it was clear skies again.

The fortification was impressive. Spain ruled the Americas especially from 1492 to 1898 especially part of the Caribbean and Central America. They, like all colonist wiped out the indigenous natives and their existing societies, brought disease and enslavement. Did you know about 17% of the Puerto Rican population identifies as black? When the forced labor of native population didn't suffice the Spanish brought in African slaves.

By the mid-1820s, Spain had lost its colonies in Mexico, Central America, and most of South America, establishing a wave of new, independent nations.

Now that we are done with all the depressing talk.. let's hit the colorful streets of San Juan.

The skinniest door.

We had lunch at El Jibarito

We had baked chicken with rice and beans. The sweetest plantains I have ever had, a very tender meat stew and mofongo paired with baked meat. Mofongo is mashed plantains. I think I like mashed potatoes more. 

We tried CoCo Rico a carbonated coconut drink which I liked. 

We also tried Limbers - a kind of shaved ice. There was a window with a bell. You rung the bell and a lady came to the window. She listed off the flavors she had and so the process went. 

They weren't the most flavorful but refreshing on a hot day and the process was kinda neat.

 

We headed back to Isla Verde, where we were staying. After a jump in the pool and some jacuzzi time we showered and headed out for dinner at Metropol restaurant. This was probably our least favorite meal. Everything was very salty. 

Next we head to the rainforest!        

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