San Juan

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Today we had the best of both worlds...a leisurely sea day in the morning and a port day in the afternoon and evening. The Veendam wasn't scheduled to arrive in San Juan until 1:00 pm so we had made arrangements to meet Jon and Michelle at the dining room for breakfast. I always plan on eating breakfast in the dining room on sea days but then never do. This time we did! It was a nice and peaceful way to begin the day!

Last night, Jon had insisted that Michelle remove the braids in his hair. He may have supported the local economy by getting the braids, but he paid for the experience with not only money, but pain. And last night he discovered that getting rid of the braids was even more painful than having them put in. When Michelle was done, it left a strip of hair down the middle of his head which was sticking straight up (and he didn't bother to fix). Our dinner waiter, Oka, walked by while we were eating breakfast and did a double take when he saw Jon. With a little snicker, he said "something happened?" and just continued on his way.

The guys had made arrangements to play pickleball at 9:30 and Michelle and I went out on the walking deck to sit in the lounge chairs visiting as I updated my blog notes. A while later, she left to go get something to drink and missed seeing a pod of dolphins jumping alongside the ship.

When Michelle didn't return, I checked and she had left a message on the Navigator app saying she was at the pickleball court. I went up there and she and Jon were playing a game against Charley (that we had met at breakfast yesterday) and another guy who was new to the sport. Right away I noticed that Charley had a bloody forehead with a giant bump. Bob (in paramedic mode) came walking up to the court holding a plastic bag full of ice. Turns out Charley had whacked himself in the head with his own paddle!

Michelle & Jon (with his NEW athletic shoes!) playing pickleball

I sat and watched until they finished the game and then Michelle and I went to the Crow's Nest. Bob and Jon showered and met us there in time to hear Cisco (the EXC guide) give a commentary as we sailed in to the port of San Juan. The Crow's Nest was a great place to view the fort and Old San Juan...but not the greatest place to get photos through the windows.

Waiting for the commentary to begin as we sail into San Juan.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

Colorful buildings of old San Juan

Sailing past the fort.

The four of us went to lunch at the buffet and then got off the ship around 1:30. Bob and I had been to San Juan a couple of times and from our last visit in 2015 I knew it was an uphill walk to get to our destination of the fort, El Morro. Lyft was not available in San Juan, but I was able to call an Uber which took us directly to the entrance of the fort. The ride was quite a bargain at $4.14 for all four of us and was a great way to avoid the long uphill trek.

We drove by the capital building on our Uber drive to the fort.

Bob was able to use his "America the Beautiful" pass to cover the entrance fees for all of us at El Morro so it was turning out to be a very inexpensive port day. The temps were in the upper 80's and I was getting hot by the time we walked up the long walkway to the door of the fort.

There are two forts in Old San Juan...San Cristobal and the one we were visiting, El Morro. The two are similar, but El Morro has the spectacular views when looking down on the waves crashing below.

This photo was taken through the window of the women's restroom!

The guys did a more thorough job of exploring the fort while Michelle and I took the relaxed approach!

Trying to get the perfect shot!

This lighthouse was added to the fort in the early 1900's.
We sought refuge from a rain storm the last time we visited, but it was not open this time.

An iguana with a great view.

From the fort we walked about 10 minutes to the Catedral de San Juan Bautista (Cathedral of St. John the Baptist). The cathedral, built in the mid-1500's, is the 2nd oldest in the Americas and contains the remains of explorer, Ponce de Leon. By the time we got there, the heat was really bothering me and the warm, un-airconditioned church just made me more miserable. 

This totem pole was erected in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the New World.

Catedral de San Juan Bautista

Tomb of Ponce de Leon

Before the cruise, I had watched multiple San Juan travel videos online and had a list of several places I thought would be fun to visit as we walked back towards the ship. After we walked down the hill from the church and through the city gate I used Google Maps to find a good route to get to the next places I wanted to stop...Pigeon Park and Senor Paletas (an ice cream shop.) It appeared they were close to each other and not too far from where we were on the Paseo de la Princesa.

Spanish settlers introduced cats into San Juan to help control the rat population and many stray cats still roam the streets today. Neighbors in this area provide food and water and a group called Save a Gato provides neutering and vaccinations.

Walking through the Old San Juan city gate.

 In colonial times, sailors would enter through this gate and walk up the hill to the cathedral to give thanks to God for their safe passage.

Jon, Michelle and I posed for a photo just outside the massive doors to the gate.

The Paseo de la Princesa walkway leads from the city gate, around the city walls to the Raices Fountain.

When we got to the Raices Fountain, the Google directions were showing we were very close to our destination. A large poinsettia festival was being held by the fountain which had attracted large crowds. A band was playing loudly and there were many booths selling crafts and potted poinsettias.

Raices Fountain. The water in the fountain turned off just as we arrived!

One of the many stands at the festival selling poinsettias. 

The three wise men strolled by. On such a hot day, it was hard for me to remember that
 Christmas was really not that far away!

We got to a spot that Google said was only 50 feet away from the Pigeon Park, but there was no sign of it. I stopped and asked a local man if he could help. He grabbed another guy who spoke some English and he started explaining we had to go up a long staircase and then walk a little more. Then it made sense! The park was literally above where we were standing...at the top of the old city wall!

I was not interested in climbing stairs in the hot sun so we found a girl sitting at a tourist information booth and asked about directions to the other spot...Senor Paletas. From her broken English we concluded that the shop was also located up the long staircase. But then she remembered that Senor Paletas had a booth at the festival! She personally walked with us to the booth. The stand was selling popscicles made from fruit and they were a perfect treat in the hot sun (although you had to eat fast!)

I think Jon would have liked to find a restaurant in town, but all I wanted to do was escape the heat and return to the coolness of the ship. We started back towards the dock, stopping briefly to look at the many craft booths. Michelle collects nativity sets and was able to find a unique handmade one. Our last stop was at the CVS store across from the cruise terminal for Jon to pick up some soda.

As we walked on to the ship, a crew member said there was a "special" Caribbean dinner at the Lido buffet. We had missed our regular dining time so went there instead. The food was OK...the best part being the fresh, sweet mango.

The pork tasted better than it looked. 😮

We were all wiped out from walking in the heat so decided to forego our nightly card game. Attending the Scattergories game in the Mix Bar at 8:30 pm was considered but we gave it a pass as well. The Main Stage entertainment was the BBC Earth presentation that we had viewed the previous week. 

Bob and I went up to the front of the ship above the bridge to look out over the city of San Juan. It was beautiful at night, but after a few photos, we were back in our cabin for the night. 

San Juan is a very interesting and colorful city, but is so much more enjoyable on a cooler day. It occurred to me that we had water activities planned for every port EXCEPT San Juan which in retrospect was a wise decision! 

Tomorrow will be another one of the "water days". Our beach bag is packed and Jon and Bob will have another go at diving after having their first attempt was cancelled in Grand Turk. Jon had gone through the extensive (and expensive) scuba certification specifically to be able to dive on this cruise.