San Juan, Puerto Rico

You know those trips where you are absolutely POSITIVE you are going to have an amazing time?  Puerto Rico was not like that for me.  It wasn't that I didn't want to go - not at all.  I just didn't have very high expectations.  I knew we'd see some beaches and some rainforest, but I really just didn't know what the experience had in store for us.

Thankfully, I was totally and completely overwhelmed by how amazing this little country is.

We started in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.  I remember taking a cab in from the airport and thinking that the whole thing looked a bit too urban, loud, and crowded for my taste.  I should let you all know, if you don't, that I am NOT a city person.  I really prefer to be in wide, open spaces and surrounded by nature.  However, as we got into Old Town San Juan, I really started to see more character and historic charm and began to fall in love.

We stayed at the Caribe Hilton, which I would call pretty typical for a Hilton property.  The rooms and hotel itself have some room for updates, but it was still very comfortable.  They have a very nice beach area, although it was not incredibly large, and a great pool.  I will say we didn't have the best weather in San Juan, and the beach was quite windy.

Since the weather was not especially fantastic our first day, we decided to cab it into Old Town and explore.  Cabs in San Juan tend to be a little pricy, but we found they were quite accessible.

We began at Castillo San Cristobal, one of the two main forts in the area.  It was built between 1634 and 1785 and was known as the Gibraltar of the West Indies.  It guarded San Juan from land attacks to the east.  It was pretty easy to see, walking around both of these forts, how Spain held on to this island for so long!

View of Old Town

Surrounding buildings

One of my favorite shots from the trip

View of El Morro as we walked over

We then toured Castillo San Felipe del Morro (also known as El Morro), built between 1540 and 1783.  This intimidating fortress was built to protect the harbor entrance, and no one in their right mind would attack it from the land either (although people have tried…)

Imagine being asked to attack this fort from this direction...

Both of these forts had fantastic views of the city and the water and really gave you a great feel of the military and colonial history of this place.  There were lots of great exhibits and information available - allow yourself plenty of time to wander through both.  Each took us about an hour.

After exploring the forts, we wandered into the city for food and drinks.  I WISH I had kept a record of the restaurants we went to, but sadly I didn't.  I will say that San Juan restaurants and bars make a mean mojito, if you like that sort of thing, and my favorite meal in all of Puerto Rico was mofongo, a plantain based dish that is very filling and can be made with chicken, seafood, etc.  The best mofongo we had was not, however, in San Juan but at La Estacion near Fajardo (southeast of San Juan) - more on that later…  But the nightlife of Old San Juan, as we experienced, is lively and wonderful.  Stick to the main streets and busier areas and you will feel quite safe, and enjoy all this area has to offer - friendly people, cold drinks, and fantastic music.

Our second day is San Juan was spent doing exactly this.  It was a fabulous relaxing day on the beach at the Caribe Hilton.  Knowing what I now do about the beaches around Puerto Rico, I might have explored Old Town more and saved this lazy day for later in the trip - there are some very fabulous beaches around this island.  But is a beach day every a bad day?  :)