On our first full day in Puerto Rico, we headed into San Juan to check out Old San Juan. I’d been there before on work, but it was just a drive through at night. We arrived early & easily found a parking space, then started our leisurely stroll around the quaint old neighborhood. San Juan is several hundred years old & the first bit of charm is the fabulous cobblestone streets and tons of beautiful trees.
We wandered down streets, through empty parks, cool old buildings, past gorgeous fountains until we hit the waterfront.
Since this whole area was once a fort, there is an enormous wall surrounding the entire old city. I love the architecture of this area & how the clean lines contrasted with the crumbling old wall below.
Below & outside the wall, there is a walkway along the perimeter between the wall and the bay which provided some stunning views.
This gate was about 5 time taller than I am & was one of the last remaining gates into the city that had been used for over 400 years- some pretty cool people have walked through way.
In addition to some really cool architecture, there are some beautifully decorated and brilliantly colored buildings down many of the streets in Old San Juan.
Everywhere we turned, more cool buildings & colorful places, but we did have difficult finding a good spot for lunch.
Coming across another fountain, there were several little boys & a little girl running around playing in the water. We ended up finding a little jazz restaurant where we could sit outside in the shade to enjoy the incredibly beautiful weather while grabbing a bite to eat.
I almost wish we’d taken a real, guided tour to get a better appreciation for Old San Juan, but we didn’t do a very good job of planning on this trip. We mostly wanted to check it out, say we’d seen it & then head to the beach for the afternoon.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Mia’s mass on her leg came back with good results- I’ll have a full post on her surgery soon.
