We arrived at the harbor in San Juan, Puerto Rico early in the morning. I awoke around sunrise and saw that we were already tied up at the quay. Preparations for disembarking were well under way and we had to pack our stuff to leave the ship in a few hours.
Our
plan was to rent a car at the airport and then do an ad hoc road
trip around Puerto Rico. As it turned out our first stop
would be in Old San Juan itself.
The photos below are what we saw.
From our
stateroom we could see the new airport terminal building.
The only problem was that this was the wrong airport (at least
for jet travel). This airport was great for small planes
but anything that required a longer runway could not land
here. So, a new facility was constructed to the east about
10 miles. The existing facility was retained for small
aircraft.
Given
that our 6th deck stateroom was well above ground level, it put
us nearly on eye level for the small planes that were departing
from the airport.
The
entrance to the harbor was to the west of our position.
Portions
of Old San Juan were visible across the harbor channel.
Note the nice cathedral.
In the
distance the fort at "El Morro" was visible.
We
suffered through the agonizingly slow departure process, cleared
customs, got a taxi and went to the rental car facility.
Once we got our car, Jessica served as our tour guide and led us
to Old San Juan. The plan was to get lunch at a nice
restaurant, but to perform that simple task required finding a
place to park. And parking in Old San Juan is anything but
simple. After several slow circles through the narrow
brick streets we passed the pay parking lot for "El Convento"
hotel. El Convento is a Carmelite convent that has been
converted to a small up-scale hotel. The parking lot was
right were we wanted to be and Jessic had time constraints so we
payed and hit the bricks looking for a place to eat.
Most of
the streets in Old San Juan are brick and some of the streets
are quite steep. The sidewalks are narrow and the streets
are even narrower.
The
church that was associated with El Convento when it was active
is still in use and there were several weddings in progress.
There
was a small plaza across the street from El Convento. Note
the bright colors of the structures.
The
narrow streets were interesting and reminded me of the French Quarter
in New Orleans.
The
colors of the buildings were pleasant and nearly all of the
buildings were in good repair.
The
street names were on hand painted tile that was recessed into
the building facades. Because of the narrow streets nearly
ever street was one way which generated some interesting, of not
annoying, traffic patterns.
This
street was blocked off and led to the Govenor's Palace (La Fortaleza)
next to the water.
Based on
a reccommendation from the parking attendant we went to a small
restaurant called Barrachina on Calle Fortuleza to the south of
El Convento. The restaurant had a nice interior courtyard
and the food was great compared to the bland food on the ship.
When we
finished lunch, we had several problems to address. First
was getting Jessica to the airport to meet her 1600 departure
time and the second was deciding on where we would spend the
night. Old San Juan seemed very appealing and there was
much to see and do so it seemed that staying there would be a
good call. And since our car was already parked in a hotel
parking lot it seemed logical to see if El Convento could take
us. They did have a room available, so we took it and
found a taxi for Jessica and sent her off to her flight.
With a clean plate of issues-to-address, we headed back out on
the streets to see the sights. Above is a walkway to an
apartment building.
The
narrow streets were scenic but a nightmare for drivers.
Parking required parallel parking on the opposite side from
normal.
Just north of El Convento, the Plaza del Quinto Centenario
had a nice view of the ocean and a portion of El Morro, the
Spanish fort built to guard the entrance to San Juan harbor.
The Castillo San Felipe Del Morro grounds were huge
in scale and attested to the importance that Spain put on Puerto
Rico and it's security. The outside perimeter of Old San
Juan is walled.
On the northern boundary of the fort was a cemetary.
There were some very ornate monuments on the grounds
of the cemetary.
The upper bastions of El Morro are visible in the
distance.
As I was taking photos, by chance my lens pointed in
the direction of these young girls sitting on one of the
ramparts of El Morro and they posed for me.
Note the color scheme on this building on the El
Morro grounds.
El Morro is an impressive piece of military
engineering.
To provide the required security for the harbor, El Morro had a sister facility across the mouth of San Juan harbor. One facility could protect the other and provide the attackers a gauntlet of crossfire from the castle's cannons to welcome them to San Juan harbor.
The walls of El Morro were over 18 feet thick and we tall enough to repel frontal attacks. Like all proper castles, El Morro had (dry) moats to trap the attackers.
There were many levels on the seaward side of the walls and each level had a warren tunnels to allow the defenders to move from place to place rapidly to repel the attackers.
The construction was started in 1539 and was essentiall complete by 1750. But WWII saw renewed efforts with the addition of new concrete watch towers at the uppermost points on the castle. The new towers were used to watch for German submarines and ships on their way into the Caribbean.
The seaward side of El Morro presented a daunting obstacle of natural cliffs and man-made walls to any potential enemy attackers.
Building these walls took tremendous effort on the part of the soldiers stationed here. The people below give a sense of scale. Each level of the castle presented yet-another obstacle to the attackers.
When we finished at El Morro we headed back to our hotel. From the high ground of El Morro we saw this car carrier on its way out of San Juan harbor.
The rooms at El Convento were quait but nicely appointed.
The high arched
passage ways were part of the original convent structure.
Tomorrow, we break camp
and head west on the north side of the island.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.