TRAVELING THE WORLD 365 days/year. You can visit us on Instagram at whereintheworldaremikeandjan. Do not hit “Reply” to message us – Use Contact Tab, above.
San Juan? Muy bien! San Juan is very familiar to us, as we have been here several times, both for stays of several days and as one-day stops on cruise ships. So we were very surprised that we have never written a blog about it. The reason would be that we haven’t been here since we started our homeless life, nor did we provide it as a retrospective during the Covid lockdown. So we went out to wander around and take some photos to give you the flavor of the city. One year, we drove around the island and visited a coffee and chocolate farm, which was most interesting, even though it was just a demonstration/education farm, rather than a profit-making enterprise. We learned during the visit that, since they have the US minimum wage and OSHA requirements, etc., they couldn’t compete on price with most of the countries involved in coffee production. That also explains why Kona coffee from Hawaii is extremely expensive (note that most “Kona” coffee you find in stores is really 10% Kona).
Ships dock in Old Town San Juan, so it is easy to walk off the ship and into what often feels like the typical 1920s Caribbean town. In 1508, Ponce de Leon explored this island “discovered” by Christopher Columbus. Columbus named the entire island San Juan Baptista, and the capital city – you guessed it – Ciudad de Puerto Rico. With time, the two names got flipped, so we visited the city of San Juan and the island of Puerto Rico. San Juan is the second oldest European settlement in the Americas, and the entire Old Town San Juan is still enclosed by the original fortress walls, dating back to Ponce de Leon.
Here, filigree cast iron balconies abound, along with cobblestone streets, lush foliage, and historic colonial architecture. Some buildings show their wear from the effects of the sea, wind, and storms, but most have been lovingly restored. Cigars are still rolled by hand here and sold in stores and kiosks. Rum is popular, along with coconut and pineapple – the perfect recipe for a Pina Colada, which was invented in the city. Their famous island dish, mofongo, consists of crushed green plantains mixed with crispy pork skins and garlic. Every other restaurant advertises mofongo as their “specialty.” San Juan has a nice mixture of English and Spanish signage, but the feeling is tropical, fun, lush, and it is oh-so-colorful. Very warm and sunny, it is the perfect escape from northern winters.
A lovely, tropical day from a viewpoint.
This was a small coffee/pastry cafe with a beautiful outdoor seating area.
Town Hall is decked out for Christmas.
We weren’t sure if this was set up as a sort of Christmas Village, or if it always decorates the front of this store. Observing the building colors – and the balconies – it is certainly a depiction of San Juan.
St. John the Baptist Cathedral. Except for some peeling paint from water leaks, the inside was beautiful. We weren’t sure from the outside it was still operating, as we approached from the rear. The exterior is in rough shape, and the entire fenced parking lot was filled with day parkers. But the front door was open and welcoming.
This is the lovely dome over the main altar, with a trompe d’oeil depiction of arches and a balcony.
You know, it’s no wonder we like horror movies – a childhood of seeing saints’ images – like this gruesome one – and of course, crucifixes showing Jesus being tortured. It all seemed commonplace back then – and looks like it still is.
Plaza de la Catedral, whichwas very pretty and very busy.
La Nave de Los Pinguinos(Jorge Zeno, 2000) – a fantasy animal sculpture in Plaza de la Catedral.
This colorful balcony had updated colors on a historic house, along with a cute and colorful artificial banana plant – no feeding or pruning necessary.
An outdoor restaurant down a narrow walkway, set back from the street.
Capella de Cristo de la Salud (Christ Chapel), at the dead end of a cobblestone street adjacent to the Pigeon Park.
Parque de las Palomas– Park of the Pigeons. There is a sign for buying pigeon food on the front of this tiny building.
…and here they are! They were all over this woman, all over the ground, all over anyone who walked into the park.
She, however, seems to be savoring her pigeon experience.
The colors! Caribbean islands sure love to dazzle.
Wellll…the Caribe Hilton is credited with inventing the Pina Colada. We thought perhaps this is the building where it was invented, but the Caribe Hilton is more than two miles from here. Maybe this is a fantasy in the same league with restaurants declaring themselves “World Famous.”
Nice ornamentation on an old building.
The hanging garlands of flowers made this bar very inviting.
Reading this inscription, we realize we had the wrong idea about this fountain. It looked like someone had been thrown overboard, who is horrified, descending into the sea.But it is, in fact, a widower’s memorial to his paralyzed wife, who swam 40 daily laps in a pool.
All decked out for the holidays, this super-pink building was full of people.
Around the pink La Casita were about two dozen mosaic plaques in the sidewalk, like this one.
This company was founded in 1902, and its famous product was a nonalcoholic drink called Kola Champagne.The original tiles are really colorful.
These four buildings, all neighbors, show that different colors can live in perfect harmony.
A “Pride” arch, welcoming us to the ocean walkway.
🔹🔹 If you enjoyed reading our post, you can subscribe to our website to automatically receive every blog we publish. Just go to our “Contact” tab. In the gray box at the very bottom, it says – SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL.Just put in your email address, and we will appear in your Inbox! Also, right above it, there is a small form to send us a message, if you wish. (But please note, you cannot hit “Reply” on the post emailed to you to send us a message. You must use the Contact tab.)
