¡Puerto Rico!

San Juan was by far one of the best vacations I’ve had in a while.  In addition to the great company, the city was a jewel in itself.

DAY 1: After one early morning flight out and a pricey cab ride from the airport; we checked in at our hotel, Old San Juan Sheraton, to drop off our bags.  With no plans for the first day and nothing but a map, we set off to see San Juan!

We noticed that there were no street vendors set up, very few people out and about and everything seemed closed (towards the end of the vacation we realized that Puerto Rico doesn’t really wake up until after noon), but we wandered in the direction of some seemingly interesting places on the map.  Our first adventure was Paseo del Morro which we thought would lead us to Castillo del Morro.  However, the end of the trail is a dead end of rocks overlooking the water.  Very nice breeze off of the water; but not much more than a recreational trail, which would explain the few other people passing us in workout gear.  We made our way back up the long, winding trail and passed the time by observing local reptiles (iguanas), pointing out the abundance of cats, planking and reading the historical points of reference along the trail.  At the beginning of El Paseo del Morro, was the San Juan Gate.  Apparently, this is the turn we should’ve taken:  through the San Juan Gate and into the heart of the city.  There was a snow cone vendor conveniently located at the entrance– undoubtedly for all the unprepared tourists who mistakenly hiked the dead end trail.  We channeled our broken Spanish and conjured up “Dos, por favor” only to realize, with the next set of patrons, that the vendor spoke perfect English; but we could use the practice.

Back on track with our original plans, we headed towards Catillo San Felipe del Morro.  The fort announced it’s presence: no need for signs.  The fort, set back in a large open field overlooking the Ocean, is one of San Juan’s most popular tourist attractions.  This 16th century structure boasts six floors and so much more history. From the restored Lighthouse to barrack replicas to historical artillery, Castillo del Morro gives insight into the security defense of the day.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

After touring the fort, it was time to eat.  I was in search of home-cooked Puerto Rican food as opposed to a restaurant processed meal, but I had to settle.  To my delight, El Patio de Sam was a fantastic find! Authentic, mouth-watering cuisine (I’ve actually considered making a trip back to Puerto Rico solely for this restaurant and a few others).  The only meals I can personally recommend are the pork chops and the fried pork with platanos maduros and beans and rice as a side. PLEASE do treat yourself to the Tres Leches, you can thank me later.

El Patio de Sam

Tres Leches

After a long day, we made our way back to the hotel for a 15 minute nap that turned into a silent slumber.  However, we did wake up in time to catch some of the nightlife.  Not in the Condado neighborhood, as recommended by some friends back home, but at Señor Frogs right next to our hotel: drinks, dinner, dancing, conga line, shots… A good finish to a great day!

Señor Frogs

Day 2:  We had a detailed plan for this day.  We had arranged a tour with Sunshine Tours.  We were picked up from our hotel and the group consisted of only one other pair. After realizing that the tour guides had plans of guiding us through Castillo del Morro, we coyly suggested Castillo de San Cristóbal since we had already visited El Morro.  The guides obliged since the other guests had not seen either and didn’t seem to mind.  San Cristobal, overlooking the city, was the largest fort built by the Spaniards in the Americas; but a large portion of the fort had been torn down to build roads, highways, businesses: modernization.  We spent considerably less time at San Cristobal but from brief observations, the structure was very similar to that of El Morro.

Castillo de San Cristóbal

Next stop on the tour was the Bacardi Rum Distillery.  Alcoholics Social drinkers, rejoice because drinks were included and not the cheap stuff either. I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be one drink per person, but somehow between non-drinkers and uncollected drink tickets, we finagled our way into about 3 drinks each.  Thank goodness we had a driver!

The main purpose of the tour was to share the history of the Bacardi family and the company including interesting details like why the bat is the Bacardi mascot and the exact recipe for a perfect Cuba Libre.  We also came away with a very large, very inexpensive bottle of Dragonberry Rum that, I might add, makes excellent strawberry jello shots.  Initially, I wasn’t extremely excited about this excursion; but one interesting tour and 3 strong drinks later, I was happy I came!

We were returned to our hotel and after the inevitable narcoleptic coma; we set off in search of dinner and decided on Latin Roots, a short walk from our hotel.  The arroz con pollo was very standard: I’ve had better.  The mofongo was decent, although I’m not a fan of the taste. The PASTELON was culinary heaven.  I had heard stories about this savory dish, but finally sampling was a definite treat. This is another one of the dishes that has me occasionally plotting a return to Puerto Rico!  My best advice is don’t leave Puerto Rico without trying pastelon.

Arroz con Pollo, Mofongo, Pastelon

En la noche, we took to wandering the cobblestone streets and visiting some of the sites pointed out to us by our tour guide: Plaza San Juan Bautista (where we stumbled upon a quiet public beach with hermit crabs a plenty), Catedral San Juan Bautista, and a few local bars with grunge graffiti decor and welcoming vibes.

Plaza San Juan Bautista

Day 3: By far the highlight of the trip.  I was excited about taking an adventure trip in El Yunque, but they were all unavailable during the days we would be in Puerto Rico.  Luckily, before we left, my companion found a similar trip in Caguas with Rocaliza.  The day trip started with hotel pick-up and meet and greet with the other tourists as we made our way to our destination.  Before completely leaving modernization, we made a stop for what would be the last bathroom break for a few hours and a mini-snack run.  I ended up in Burger King for a breakfast run.  They served Tostones, which I thought was interesting since no Burger King back home sells Tostones not even the ones in Hialeah.  After everyone made it back to the van, we were off on our adventure.

We arrived in a very rural neighborhood in Caguas and were given the history of the area.  We got fitted with our hiking/climbing gear and set off on the trail.  That’s where the fun began!  Hiking, river trekking, rock climbing and that was just the beginning! We made our way to a 75ft waterfall and after a crash course in rappelling technique and safety, down we went.  I didn’t know I had a minor fear of heights until I looked down, but the experience was AMAZING! At the bottom, we snacked on bananas, quenepas and papaya before continuing our journey. Next up: Ziplining.  High-flying fun over the forest.  What a thrill!  After a full day of activities, we ended our tour at a local home, where we were served home-cooked Puerto Rican food (something not offered by the tour companies in El Yunque)… Muy delicioso!

Just Jokes 🙂

Home of our Host and Chef

One would think that after such an active day, we were ready for an afternoon nap in our typical fashion; but on our last day, we decided to make the most of what was left.  We took the bus to Escambrón Beach and spent a couple hours splashing around before the sun went down and the rain clouds started forming (it was on this adventure that my waterproof camera was water damaged, but that’s another story).  Then it was time to make our way back to the hotel…

And amongst the memories that will stick in my mind forever are walking back to the hotel in the rain after we couldn’t locate the bus stop and decided to take the not-so-short cut.  We were tired, cold and drenched; when two very polite, very pleasant, very inebriated gentlemen took us back to our hotel at no charge.  The chit-chatter of the intoxicated men was enough to lighten our moods and of course we offered them some cash for their troubles even though they insisted we didn’t need to.  In the end, they relented deciding that the money could “buy more beer!”

I spent my last evening relaxing in the hot tub before the madness that was airport travel the next morning.