Puerto Rico - Old San Juan

Pretty much last minute, Mike and I planned, and I use this word loosely, a trip to Puerto Rico. Other than setting aside Presidents Day week for a vacation, we had nothing booked until last week. For the last several weeks, we've been debating where to go. The whole pregnancy thing put forth a lot of limitations, yet we wanted one last childless travel to enjoy together. So, we finally landed on the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico. The flight was not too long, the medical care available great, warm climate, and, most importantly, neither one of us had been there before. And, after doing some searching, we decided the week before Presidents Day would be MUCH more affordable, so here we are!

So, we left bright and early Sunday morning and still had a good bit of the day left to play in San Juan. Our hotel, located just outside of Old San Juan, wouldn't have a room ready for us until 3 so we wandered out on foot to explore and, more importantly, find food. Our first stop, just behind the hotel was the beach where we picked up some fried pastry thing (we didn't understand the name) to snack on. Then, we walked around the beach for a while and finally found a familiar face - Subway! Yay, lunch!

Mike & His "Chimichanga" on the Beach


A View of Old San Juan from the Beach


Self Portrait on Beach

After having lunch and checking into our hotel room, we decided to do a little bit of sightseeing. We did experience a few showers, but armed with rain jackets, it didn't slow us down a bit. We first drove down to Old San Juan, found a parking spot and went to Castillo San Cristobal, the largest Spanish fortification in the new World, parts of which were built as early as 1539. It was built to protect the city from land attacks. We had a fun time exploring the fort and taking pictures of the scenic views from it.

View of part of San Cristobal and the Ocean


Troops Quarters....Looks Very Comfy!


Self Portrait at the Fort


Cool Turret


So cool, in fact, that they stuck it on their license plate!

After exploring the fort, we set out to check out the streets of Old San Juan. There were lots of cool old buildings, but for some reason, my favorite picture of the day is this ruin of a building near where we had parked our car.


After all that walking, we were hungry, so we ducked into El Asador for some food. We decided to try out a local favorite, Mofongo, which is mashed up fried plantains, and a side of mashed yucca and sweet potato.....YUM!


Since we were up at 5am for our flight, it had been a VERY long day (especially for a tired pregnant lady). So, we headed back to the hotel and called it an early night.

For more pictures of the day, see our album.