We land in San Juan, Christmas Day, 2005.
The view from our room at the Marriott in the Isla Verde area of San Juan. Gorgeous Beaches here.
Later that night in Old San Juan (OSJ). La Fortaleza, the governor's residence.
It's the oldest governor's residence in the western hemisphere still used today. The Spanish began building it in 1533 as a fort to protect OSJ.
Hey Ilona...It's the Colonel down in San Juan!
Walking down the narrow cobble stone streets of OSJ.
Me posing on a narrow street. You can see the San Juan Bay in the background
El Jibarito the cafeteria in OSJ where we ate a delicious lunch of cocina criolla or traditional Puerto Rican cuisine
View of the Atlantic Ocean as we walk along Calle Norzagaray.
Approaching the Fuerte San Cristobal.
Another view of the fort. The imaginative design of the fort came from famous Irish mercenary Alejandro O'Reilly and his compatriot Thomas O'Daly.
Construction on the fort began in 1634 to protect OSJ from land attacks from the east. The fort was used by US during WWII as an observation post.
Me in front of the fort.
Wix in front of the fort.
Looking back down over the rooftops toward the San Juan Bay.
A view of the Atlantic Ocean.
View of the colorful buildings of OSJ through an arched window as we enter into the Fuerte San Cristobal.
Canons inside the fort.
Preserved drawings on the dungeon walls of the fort.
A view of San Juan from the the fort.
Me inside one of the many rooms. In it's prime the fort covered 27 acres with maze of six interconnected forts.
Walls on the top of the fort. In it's hayday the fort had 150-ft walls and was filled with boobytraps and tunnels.
One of the many lookout towers in the fort.
Another look out.
And another.
The fort had one of the best views of the OSJ.
A view of the cruise ships in the SJ Bay.
Can you guess how many cannonballs are in this picture?
One of these is not like the others.
Looking back up at the fort as we walk down into the main streets of OSJ.
Plaza de Colon (Columbus Plaza). A huge pillar with a statue of the "Disoverer" commemorates the dicovery of America.
Another narrow street in OSJ. Sometimes you wonder how cars could even fit down these narrow streets.
Me looking incredibly happy on the ferry ride over to Cantano where the Bacardi Distillery lives.
The gates to Bacardi.
Tower of Bacardi.
A view across the SJ Bay at OSJ. You can see El Morro another old Spanish Fort.
A view of the bat cave. This is the outdoor bar area where we got our complimentary Bacardi drinks.
Another view of the Bacardi Tower.
A view of El Morro from Bacardi at sunset. Beautiful!
Me with El Morro in the background.
Christmas decorations in the Plaza de Armas in OSJ.
Me posing in front of some of the lights in the plaza.
A night view of part of El Morro the fort in OSJ.
Me with a clouds swirling around a full moon in the background. Kinda eerie looking, huh?
El Morro illuminated at night.
A night time view of Cemeterio de San Juan, which lies between El Morro and the Atlantic Ocean.
We head about to El Yunque (pronounced El Joon-keh), the rainforest.
One of the first tropical views as we drive into the park. By the way it's a US National Park (The Caribbean National Forest).
Views of the rainforest from the visitor's center.
Another view. You can see the beautiful beach in Luquillo.
Luquillo, calls itself the "Puerto Rican Rivera"
A little road side stand in the park. They had coco frios, iced coconuts that you stick a straw in. Mmmmm.
You can see one of the many lookout towers sticking out of the rainforest.
Me with our rental car.
A view of the hills of El Yunque. It's actually a mountain that stands 3,543 ft. tall.
A little stream running through the rainforest. So plush and green.
We see this mini-waterfall and decide to hike in a bit and see what else is in store.
Two more waterfalls!
Whoah, two more even bigger ones.
A full view of the the two waterfalls again.
Huge spider in his web center in this picture.
As we hike in, we discover an entire series of waterfalls that become bigger and more beautiful than the next.
Wix under the water fall.
Me under the waterfall.
Putting palm leaves around my feet so I can walk into the stream. There were so many sharp rocks that I needed an extra layer of protection.
Me again in front of the huge waterfall. It was so peacefull here. We were the only ones on the trail here.
One more picture in front of the waterfall before heading back to the car.
Glancing back down the hill towards the waterfall we just came from.
Cool! A snail on the side of tree.
Self timer + tripod = Picture of Wix and Jen alone in the rainforest.
We head down another trail toward some more waterfalls.
La Mina Falls! A tourist trap. We don't spend too much time here.
A view of El Yunque as we drive to the next trailhead.
We start up the trail (paved for the first mile or so) to head to the top of the mountain. It's about a 2.5 mile trek up.
Some cool tropical plant along the way.
Me in the tower at the tippy top. The hike started out sunny and turned to fog soup at the top as the clouds rolled in.
Wix and I on top of the tower.
A little plaque in the floor of the tower's roof that reads the elevation.
Our beautiful view!
They say on a clear day you can see the US Virgin Islands, which are 12 miles of the east coast of PR.
More clouds and rainforest. I guess they go together don't they.
And more.
We stay for a while hoping the clouds will lift and we'll get one quick view.
Waiting.
You can see the path of a mudslide, which are really common in the rainforest. They have lots of signs warning hikers to stay aware.
A tiny break in the clouds that gives us hope. But to no avail. We head back down.
View from the top of the Mt. Britton Tower a little below the summit. The clouds are starting to lift up.
Another view. You can see the Atlantic Ocean and Luquillo beach again.
Wix and I at the top of the tower.
Me in the tower. Clouds, clouds go away and come back again some other day.
Wix smiles.
Another view. I can only imagine how beautiful the view is without the clouds.
Looking up the tower at Wix.
Closer up.
As we walk down throught the rainforest, there are tons of impatients everywhere.
I can't resist putting one behind my ear in a fashionable tropical style.
Cool plant.
More views of El Yunque.
A view of the lookout tower we just come from.
Looking back up the mountain where we came from.
Back down into the dark, lush greeness of the forest. We heard some sort of crazy monkeys.
Wix in front of the Yokahu Tower as we head out of the park.
A nice view from the tower area as the sun begins to set.
And another.
And another.
We stop for some ice cold drinks. Check out the dog on the roof.
After El Yunque, we stay in Fajardo to check out the irredescent lagoon (it glows at night) then we drive through the mountains to Ponce.
A view of the green hills as we drive through the mountains. Filled with hairpin turns and colorful houses teetering precariously on cliff edges.
We stop in Aibonito to eat lunch at the most famous mountain restaurant in all of PR. Latin American stars get choppered in to eat here all the time.
View of Aibonito from La Piedra. Appropriately named Ay bonito means "Wow, how beautiful" in Spanish.
Another view along the route.
The thin crevasse in the center is the Canon de San Cristobal, a volcanic fissure that cuts more than 500 ft. down into the mountains.
Ay bonito.
Everywhere you look a beautiful panorama is waiting. The Ruta Panoramica was probably the best part of the entire trip.
We arrive in Ponce. Our room in the Hotel Beligica, right off the main Plaza Las Delicias (Plaza of Delights).
A view from our balcony looking down the street.
Ponce architecture is much diffrent from San Juan's. It's more like New Orleans.
The fountain in Plaza Las Delicias at night.
The lights continously change colors. It was quite beautiful.
Casa Alcaldia (City Hall). Built in 1490, is currently under renovation.
TONS of pigeons in Plaza Las Delicias.
Once a residence built in 1899, Casa Armstrong-Poventud, now houses the Institute of PR Culture.
Built in 1931, Catedral Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is one of the newer buildings in the Plaza.
Parque de Bombas--the most photographed building in all of PR.
Now a museum, it was built in 1882 as part of an agricultural exhibit which then became the city volunteer fire dept. until 1990.
Cheesy tourist gift I saw in the window of shop. Meow.
See that red truck? It has a HUGE speaker on the back. Trucks like this drive around playing loud music and announcing things.
Museo de la Historia de Ponce. Lots of info. on how PR culture evolved from times of the Tainos.
From Ponce we drive west to Bosque Estatal de Guanica (State Forest of Guanica)
Out of the car window--sculpture of coffee plant in the town of Yauco.
Another view out the window as we drive to Guanica.
Guanica is a rare subtropical dry forest. Only 1% of the world's dry forest remains.
It is filled filled with cactuses and twisted trees--a desert perched on the edge of the gorgeous blue Caribbean.
We hiked the Ballena Trail, which was a little over a mile each way.
Bosque Siempre Verde (Evergreen Forest)
Cool twisted roots growing out of a limestone cliff.
Most of the forest ground is lined with limestone and filled with sinkholes and caves. It looks like Swiss cheese.
Big cactus.
Wix with big cactus.
My turn with big cactus.
Wix takes a seat.
Some of the vegitation.
My guide book says that the big cactus is called a "Spanish Dildo Cactus"
Hmmm...I wonder what kind of cactus this is.
The path down to see the 700-year old guayacan tree.
Wow, kind of a cool looking tree. It's girth is 6 ft. Oh My!
Wix in front of the old tree.
Me in front of the old tree.
Back view of the old guayacan tree.
We head down toward the inviting looking Caribbean.
Bees!!! Lots of them!
We head down the trail hoping we end up on the beach eventually.
It's really sunny and HOT. The a swim in the Caribbean would be perfect!
Wix takes a picture of me as I walk down toward the water.
Uh-Oh there's a fence.
Another HUGE cactus tree.
Closer.
The fun stops here with a NO trespassing sign. We head back to the car.
Random dogs as we drive though the town of Guanica.
Lots of pictures out of the car window as we drive back to San Juan.
Rainbow!
Pineapple truck! Mmmm...I could go for a pina colada.
Back in Cantano we hit up Bacardi for a second time.We skip the tour and head for the complimentary beverages.
Wix in front of Casa Bacardi (it's really just the gift shop)
Sculpture at Bacardi.
Back in San Juan. We change our reservation from the resort in Isla Verde to the Sheraton in Old San Juan.
Vejigante (Masquerader) papier-mache mask and costume propped in doorway. This one is painted in the town colors of Ponce (red/black/yellow).
View of the SJ Bay from the Parque de las Palomas (Pigeon Park).
Capilla del Cristo (Christ's Chapel), a little sancutary next to the Plaza. Debate is whether it was built to keep people from falling over the wall
or to commemorate a miracle. Another view of the Plaza. Note the high number of pigeons.
View of back of Plaza. Guide book says if you feed the pigeons you'll feel like you're in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". No thanks.
Looking down Calle Fortaleza at the La Fortaleza (the Governor's residence).
Maria's Bar, where we had a drink or two or three.
OSJ is filled with lots of expensive shops to trap the tourists money.
Hotel El Convento--a luxury hotel in OSJ. Was orginially a convent built in 1651.
Wandering down the cobblestone streets toward the San Juan Gate.
The City Gate from inside OSJ.
One of the six entrances to the city that were constructed in 1635.
Outside the gate.
A view of "La Muralla", the original wall fortifying the city.
Wix and a view of the wall.
Looking back at the city gate from outside.
The wall took almost 150 years for the Spanish to complete.
A really nice peaceful place to walk.
Some statue along the walk.
Can't remember what it was called. Sorry.
Trees growing out of the wall.
A view of "El Morro" (Fuerte San Felipe Del Morro). Spanish fort that dates back to 1539. Supposedly oldest Spanish fort in the New World.
Wix in front of El Morro.
Canon ball pyramid.
Dramatic views of the Atlantic Ocean from El Morro.
Another.
The Spanish built this fort to prevent ships from entering the SJ Bay.
The US also used El Morro as a lookout post during WWII to protect the island.
Look out tower over the Atlantic.
It's me!
Looking east, a view of colorful San Juan it's Atlantic coastline.
Wix in El Morro.
This lighthouse was added by the Spanish in the 1780's.
Three flags fly at El Morro--the Puerto Rican, The US and the old Spanish military flag.
A view through the forts walls back east toward San Juan.
Narrow passage to a lookout tower.
Entering the forth level of the fort, the Plaza Principal.
The Plaza Prinicpal contained the prison, the chapel and several canon rooms.
Instructions on how to fire a canon.
Poles that were used to stuff the canon balls into the canons.
Looking down onto one of the levels of the fort. The fort is 6 levels.
Canon aiming out toward the west and the Atlantic Ocean.
The fort's walls are 140-ft and up to 15-ft thick.
Lots of canons to fire.
A canon aiming out into the SJ Bay toward the Bacardi Distillery.
Wix and I
Est. in 1523, Iglesia de San Jose--2nd oldest church in the Americas. Ponce de Leon's resting place for 350 yrs, until moved to other Cathedral in SJ.
Across the street from the church, Nono's, a bar we frequented during our time in OSJ.
Bull hanging on the wall inside Nono's.
Catedral de San Juan dates back to 1521. Current resting place of Ponce de Leon.
A very elaborate vejigante mask hanging up on a restarant wall in OSJ.
PR's history is filled with lots of Pirate history and tales.
Some of the colorful architecture in OSJ.
The Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship docked in SJ Bay. Big cruise ships pull in for a few hours or more dumping lots of tourists in OSJ.
La Barrachina....
...home of the Pina Colada. Our last stop heading to the airport.
.JPG "The view from our room at the Marriott in the Isla Verde area of San Juan. Gorgeous Beaches here.")
.JPG "Later that night in Old San Juan (OSJ). La Fortaleza, the governor's residence.")
.JPG "It's the oldest governor's residence in the western hemisphere still used today. The Spanish began building it in 1533 as a fort to protect OSJ.")
.JPG "Hey Ilona...It's the Colonel down in San Juan!")
.jpg "Walking down the narrow cobble stone streets of OSJ.")
.jpg "Me posing on a narrow street. You can see the San Juan Bay in the background")
.jpg "El Jibarito the cafeteria in OSJ where we ate a delicious lunch of cocina criolla or traditional Puerto Rican cuisine")
.jpg "View of the Atlantic Ocean as we walk along Calle Norzagaray.")
.jpg "Approaching the Fuerte San Cristobal.")
.jpg "Another view of the fort. The imaginative design of the fort came from famous Irish mercenary Alejandro O'Reilly and his compatriot Thomas O'Daly.")
.jpg "Construction on the fort began in 1634 to protect OSJ from land attacks from the east. The fort was used by US during WWII as an observation post.")
.jpg "Me in front of the fort.")
.jpg "Wix in front of the fort.")
.jpg "Looking back down over the rooftops toward the San Juan Bay.")
.jpg "A view of the Atlantic Ocean.")
.jpg "View of the colorful buildings of OSJ through an arched window as we enter into the Fuerte San Cristobal.")
.jpg "Canons inside the fort.")
.jpg "Preserved drawings on the dungeon walls of the fort.")
.jpg "A view of San Juan from the the fort.")
.jpg "Me inside one of the many rooms. In it's prime the fort covered 27 acres with maze of six interconnected forts.")
.jpg "Walls on the top of the fort. In it's hayday the fort had 150-ft walls and was filled with boobytraps and tunnels.")
.jpg "One of the many lookout towers in the fort.")
.jpg "Another look out.")
.jpg "And another.")
.jpg "The fort had one of the best views of the OSJ.")
.jpg "A view of the cruise ships in the SJ Bay.")
.jpg "Can you guess how many cannonballs are in this picture?")
.jpg "One of these is not like the others.")
.jpg "Looking back up at the fort as we walk down into the main streets of OSJ.")
.jpg "Plaza de Colon (Columbus Plaza). A huge pillar with a statue of the \"Disoverer\" commemorates the dicovery of America.")
.jpg "Another narrow street in OSJ. Sometimes you wonder how cars could even fit down these narrow streets.")
.jpg "Me looking incredibly happy on the ferry ride over to Cantano where the Bacardi Distillery lives.")
.jpg "The gates to Bacardi.")
.jpg "Tower of Bacardi.")
.jpg "A view across the SJ Bay at OSJ. You can see El Morro another old Spanish Fort.")
.jpg "A view of the bat cave. This is the outdoor bar area where we got our complimentary Bacardi drinks.")
.jpg "Another view of the Bacardi Tower.")
.jpg "A view of El Morro from Bacardi at sunset. Beautiful!")
.jpg "Me with El Morro in the background.")
.jpg "Christmas decorations in the Plaza de Armas in OSJ.")
.jpg "Me posing in front of some of the lights in the plaza.")
.jpg "A night view of part of El Morro the fort in OSJ.")
.jpg "Me with a clouds swirling around a full moon in the background. Kinda eerie looking, huh?")
.jpg "El Morro illuminated at night.")
.jpg "A night time view of Cemeterio de San Juan, which lies between El Morro and the Atlantic Ocean.")
.jpg "One of the first tropical views as we drive into the park. By the way it's a US National Park (The Caribbean National Forest).")
.jpg "Views of the rainforest from the visitor's center.")
.jpg "Another view. You can see the beautiful beach in Luquillo.")
.jpg "Luquillo, calls itself the \"Puerto Rican Rivera\"")
.jpg "A little road side stand in the park. They had coco frios, iced coconuts that you stick a straw in. Mmmmm.")
.jpg "You can see one of the many lookout towers sticking out of the rainforest.")
.jpg "Me with our rental car.")
.jpg "A view of the hills of El Yunque. It's actually a mountain that stands 3,543 ft. tall.")
.jpg "A little stream running through the rainforest. So plush and green.")
.jpg "We see this mini-waterfall and decide to hike in a bit and see what else is in store.")
.jpg "Two more waterfalls!")
.jpg "Whoah, two more even bigger ones.")
.jpg "A full view of the the two waterfalls again.")
.jpg "Huge spider in his web center in this picture.")
.jpg "As we hike in, we discover an entire series of waterfalls that become bigger and more beautiful than the next.")
.jpg "Wix under the water fall.")
.jpg "Me under the waterfall.")
.jpg "Putting palm leaves around my feet so I can walk into the stream. There were so many sharp rocks that I needed an extra layer of protection.")
.jpg "Me again in front of the huge waterfall. It was so peacefull here. We were the only ones on the trail here.")
.jpg "One more picture in front of the waterfall before heading back to the car.")
.jpg "Glancing back down the hill towards the waterfall we just came from.")
.jpg "Cool! A snail on the side of tree.")
.jpg "Self timer + tripod = Picture of Wix and Jen alone in the rainforest.")
.jpg "We head down another trail toward some more waterfalls.")
.jpg "La Mina Falls! A tourist trap. We don't spend too much time here.")
.jpg "A view of El Yunque as we drive to the next trailhead.")
.jpg "We start up the trail (paved for the first mile or so) to head to the top of the mountain. It's about a 2.5 mile trek up.")
.jpg "Some cool tropical plant along the way.")
.jpg "Me in the tower at the tippy top. The hike started out sunny and turned to fog soup at the top as the clouds rolled in.")
.jpg "Wix and I on top of the tower.")
.jpg "A little plaque in the floor of the tower's roof that reads the elevation.")
.jpg "Our beautiful view!")
.jpg "They say on a clear day you can see the US Virgin Islands, which are 12 miles of the east coast of PR.")
.jpg "More clouds and rainforest. I guess they go together don't they.")
.jpg "And more.")
.jpg "We stay for a while hoping the clouds will lift and we'll get one quick view.")
.jpg "Waiting.")
.jpg "You can see the path of a mudslide, which are really common in the rainforest. They have lots of signs warning hikers to stay aware.")
.jpg "A tiny break in the clouds that gives us hope. But to no avail. We head back down.")
.jpg "View from the top of the Mt. Britton Tower a little below the summit. The clouds are starting to lift up.")
.jpg "Another view. You can see the Atlantic Ocean and Luquillo beach again.")
.jpg "Wix and I at the top of the tower.")
.jpg "Me in the tower. Clouds, clouds go away and come back again some other day.")
.jpg "Wix smiles.")
.jpg "Another view. I can only imagine how beautiful the view is without the clouds.")
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg "Looking up the tower at Wix.")
.jpg "Closer up.")
.jpg "As we walk down throught the rainforest, there are tons of impatients everywhere.")
.jpg "I can't resist putting one behind my ear in a fashionable tropical style.")
.jpg "Cool plant.")
.jpg "More views of El Yunque.")
.jpg "A view of the lookout tower we just come from.")
.jpg "Looking back up the mountain where we came from.")
.jpg "Back down into the dark, lush greeness of the forest. We heard some sort of crazy monkeys.")
.jpg "Wix in front of the Yokahu Tower as we head out of the park.")
.jpg "A nice view from the tower area as the sun begins to set.")
.jpg "And another.")
.jpg "And another.")
.jpg "We stop for some ice cold drinks. Check out the dog on the roof.")
.jpg "A view of the green hills as we drive through the mountains. Filled with hairpin turns and colorful houses teetering precariously on cliff edges.")
.jpg "We stop in Aibonito to eat lunch at the most famous mountain restaurant in all of PR. Latin American stars get choppered in to eat here all the time.")
.jpg "View of Aibonito from La Piedra. Appropriately named Ay bonito means \"Wow, how beautiful\" in Spanish.")
.jpg "Another view along the route.")
.jpg "The thin crevasse in the center is the Canon de San Cristobal, a volcanic fissure that cuts more than 500 ft. down into the mountains.")
.jpg "Ay bonito.")
.jpg "Everywhere you look a beautiful panorama is waiting. The Ruta Panoramica was probably the best part of the entire trip.")
.jpg "We arrive in Ponce. Our room in the Hotel Beligica, right off the main Plaza Las Delicias (Plaza of Delights).")
.jpg "A view from our balcony looking down the street.")
.jpg "Ponce architecture is much diffrent from San Juan's. It's more like New Orleans.")
.JPG "The fountain in Plaza Las Delicias at night.")
.JPG "The lights continously change colors. It was quite beautiful.")
.jpg "Casa Alcaldia (City Hall). Built in 1490, is currently under renovation.")
.jpg "TONS of pigeons in Plaza Las Delicias.")
.jpg "Once a residence built in 1899, Casa Armstrong-Poventud, now houses the Institute of PR Culture.")
.jpg "Built in 1931, Catedral Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is one of the newer buildings in the Plaza.")
.jpg "Parque de Bombas--the most photographed building in all of PR.")
.jpg "Now a museum, it was built in 1882 as part of an agricultural exhibit which then became the city volunteer fire dept. until 1990.")
.jpg "Cheesy tourist gift I saw in the window of shop. Meow.")
.jpg "See that red truck? It has a HUGE speaker on the back. Trucks like this drive around playing loud music and announcing things.")
.jpg "Museo de la Historia de Ponce. Lots of info. on how PR culture evolved from times of the Tainos.")
.jpg "Out of the car window--sculpture of coffee plant in the town of Yauco.")
.jpg "Another view out the window as we drive to Guanica.")
.jpg "Guanica is a rare subtropical dry forest. Only 1% of the world's dry forest remains.")
.jpg "It is filled filled with cactuses and twisted trees--a desert perched on the edge of the gorgeous blue Caribbean.")
.jpg "We hiked the Ballena Trail, which was a little over a mile each way.")
.jpg "Bosque Siempre Verde (Evergreen Forest)")
.jpg "Cool twisted roots growing out of a limestone cliff.")
.jpg "Most of the forest ground is lined with limestone and filled with sinkholes and caves. It looks like Swiss cheese.")
.jpg "Big cactus.")
.jpg "Wix with big cactus.")
.jpg "My turn with big cactus.")
.jpg "Wix takes a seat.")
.jpg "Some of the vegitation.")
.jpg "My guide book says that the big cactus is called a \"Spanish Dildo Cactus\"")
.jpg "Hmmm...I wonder what kind of cactus this is.")
.jpg "The path down to see the 700-year old guayacan tree.")
.jpg "Wow, kind of a cool looking tree. It's girth is 6 ft. Oh My!")
.jpg "Wix in front of the old tree.")
.jpg "Me in front of the old tree.")
.jpg "Back view of the old guayacan tree.")
.jpg "We head down toward the inviting looking Caribbean.")
.jpg "Bees!!! Lots of them!")
.jpg "We head down the trail hoping we end up on the beach eventually.")
.jpg)
.jpg "It's really sunny and HOT. The a swim in the Caribbean would be perfect!")
.jpg "Wix takes a picture of me as I walk down toward the water.")
.jpg "Uh-Oh there's a fence.")
.jpg "Another HUGE cactus tree.")
.jpg "Closer.")
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg "The fun stops here with a NO trespassing sign. We head back to the car.")
.jpg "Random dogs as we drive though the town of Guanica.")
.jpg "Lots of pictures out of the car window as we drive back to San Juan.")
.jpg)
.jpg "Rainbow!")
.jpg "Pineapple truck! Mmmm...I could go for a pina colada.")
.jpg "Back in Cantano we hit up Bacardi for a second time.We skip the tour and head for the complimentary beverages.")
.jpg "Wix in front of Casa Bacardi (it's really just the gift shop)")
.jpg "Sculpture at Bacardi.")
.jpg "Vejigante (Masquerader) papier-mache mask and costume propped in doorway. This one is painted in the town colors of Ponce (red/black/yellow).")
.jpg "View of the SJ Bay from the Parque de las Palomas (Pigeon Park).")
.jpg "Capilla del Cristo (Christ's Chapel), a little sancutary next to the Plaza. Debate is whether it was built to keep people from falling over the wall")
.jpg "or to commemorate a miracle. Another view of the Plaza. Note the high number of pigeons.")
.jpg "View of back of Plaza. Guide book says if you feed the pigeons you'll feel like you're in Alfred Hitchcock's \"The Birds\". No thanks.")
.jpg "Looking down Calle Fortaleza at the La Fortaleza (the Governor's residence).")
.jpg "Maria's Bar, where we had a drink or two or three.")
.jpg "OSJ is filled with lots of expensive shops to trap the tourists money.")
.jpg "Hotel El Convento--a luxury hotel in OSJ. Was orginially a convent built in 1651.")
.jpg "Wandering down the cobblestone streets toward the San Juan Gate.")
.jpg "The City Gate from inside OSJ.")
.jpg "One of the six entrances to the city that were constructed in 1635.")
.jpg "Outside the gate.")
.jpg "A view of \"La Muralla\", the original wall fortifying the city.")
.jpg "Wix and a view of the wall.")
.jpg "Looking back at the city gate from outside.")
.jpg "The wall took almost 150 years for the Spanish to complete.")
.jpg "A really nice peaceful place to walk.")
.jpg "Some statue along the walk.")
.jpg "Can't remember what it was called. Sorry.")
.jpg "Trees growing out of the wall.")
.jpg "A view of \"El Morro\" (Fuerte San Felipe Del Morro). Spanish fort that dates back to 1539. Supposedly oldest Spanish fort in the New World.")
.jpg "Wix in front of El Morro.")
.jpg "Canon ball pyramid.")
.jpg "Dramatic views of the Atlantic Ocean from El Morro.")
.jpg "Another.")
.jpg "The Spanish built this fort to prevent ships from entering the SJ Bay.")
.jpg "The US also used El Morro as a lookout post during WWII to protect the island.")
.jpg)
.jpg "Look out tower over the Atlantic.")
.jpg "It's me!")
.jpg "Looking east, a view of colorful San Juan it's Atlantic coastline.")
.jpg "Wix in El Morro.")
.jpg "This lighthouse was added by the Spanish in the 1780's.")
.jpg "Three flags fly at El Morro--the Puerto Rican, The US and the old Spanish military flag.")
.jpg "A view through the forts walls back east toward San Juan.")
.jpg "Narrow passage to a lookout tower.")
.jpg "Entering the forth level of the fort, the Plaza Principal.")
.jpg "The Plaza Prinicpal contained the prison, the chapel and several canon rooms.")
.jpg "Instructions on how to fire a canon.")
.jpg "Poles that were used to stuff the canon balls into the canons.")
.jpg "Looking down onto one of the levels of the fort. The fort is 6 levels.")
.jpg "Canon aiming out toward the west and the Atlantic Ocean.")
.jpg "The fort's walls are 140-ft and up to 15-ft thick.")
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.jpg "Lots of canons to fire.")
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.jpg "A canon aiming out into the SJ Bay toward the Bacardi Distillery.")
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.jpg "Wix and I")
.jpg "Est. in 1523, Iglesia de San Jose--2nd oldest church in the Americas. Ponce de Leon's resting place for 350 yrs, until moved to other Cathedral in SJ.")
.jpg "Across the street from the church, Nono's, a bar we frequented during our time in OSJ.")
.jpg "Bull hanging on the wall inside Nono's.")
.jpg "Catedral de San Juan dates back to 1521. Current resting place of Ponce de Leon.")
.jpg "A very elaborate vejigante mask hanging up on a restarant wall in OSJ.")
.jpg "PR's history is filled with lots of Pirate history and tales.")
.jpg "Some of the colorful architecture in OSJ.")
.jpg "The Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship docked in SJ Bay. Big cruise ships pull in for a few hours or more dumping lots of tourists in OSJ.")
.jpg "La Barrachina....")
.jpg "...home of the Pina Colada. Our last stop heading to the airport.")
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We land in San Juan, Christmas Day, 2005.