My friend's daughter is graduating on Thursday with a master's degree so I think the cruise is a celebration trip. They will be going to the eastern Caribbean, starting in San Juan and going to Aruba, among other destinations. Because I'm interested in stuff like that, I had to look at the cruise company's website to find out where she was going - not that it matters, but because I like that kind of thing. There is just one port on her itinerary that I haven't been to (yet).
I told my friend that if her daughter could swing an extra night in Puerto Rico it would be worth it. MT and I stayed an extra day at the end of our cruise in San Juan. We tacked it on at the end which we now realize is a mistake. At the end of vacation, we are ready to come home. We need to get our sight-seeing done at the beginning of a trip. We had fun in San Juan, but I was really tuckered out at the end of the day so I feel like we missed out on some cool stuff. Plus it was our first trip so I wasn't as diligent about research and figuring out what to see and eat as I am now. I remember that I did have a mojito but I didn't really like it.
We spent our day in San Juan in the old part of the city, exploring the massive fortress El Morro. The thing I remember the most to this day is that there is an enormous grassy field in front of the fort and on that day there were lots of children in the field flying kites. I just found out that is a pretty common thing, but it felt special and joyful to see them out there enjoying the sun and the warm breeze off the Caribbean. I took a photo after we had gone through the fort and many of the kids had left, but in this photo there is at least one kite in the sky.
El Morro is massive. I remember that it took us quite awhile to walk through the whole thing, and it was spectacular.
When I was looking for a site for you to click on to get more info, the photo on the site reminded me that we sailed out of San Juan at night and passed El Morro. It was all lit up and looked golden and gorgeous and intimidating. No wonder it protected Puerto Rico so well back in the day! Click here to check out the site and see the photo I'm talking about.
We saw El Morro and San Cristobal, which is another fort, then we walked around through the old city and went into a couple of museums, too. The old city is picturesque, with the street cobbles made from ship's ballast and the pastel buildings.
I'd like to go back to Puerto Rico sometime and stay for awhile. Probably not in San Juan itself, but in a little beach town. A fried of mine and his wife spent a week on the coast there a few years ago, before Hurricane Maria, and they totally fell in love with the place. I want to fall in love with a place too!
It's so fun to go back through the photos and reminisce about vacations past. :)
Hey! It's the end of April! Did you have a good month? Got any big plans for May? My volunteer gigs at Red Butte Garden start in earnest in May, so I'm looking forward to that. It's also MT's birthday month. Another thing that's happening for me in May is that I joined a fitness challenge at work, so I'll be looking to get in 10,000 steps or time at the gym every day. Wish me luck! I got this!
Since May is the fifth month, an odd number, I'll be writing on odd days which means I'll be back tomorrow. See you then!
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