After several sea days this is our last port before we get to Fort Lauderdale. The time just seemed to fly by. Kate Ross, my friend and guest lecturer, have a fascinating and fun talk on chocolate! I think everyone loved it and it seemed a perfect way to end such an interesting cruise. It was positive and humorous yet still very informative. I don’t think you can ever know enough about chocolate! I will share a few birthday parties we celebrated too and sone other fun photos. We have been to Puerto Rico many times so we didn’t want to do anything organized. We decided to get out and walk and possibly find some of the places Jeremy talked about that we hadn’t seen before.
If you have a National Park Pass you can use it here to see the only US National Rain Forest El Yunque. It is a ways to go and the roads are rough especially if it has rained but if your goal is to see all the US parks you could cross this one off your list. There is also a famous gelato place here, or at least Jeremy thinks so, and it is called Anita’s. He thought there were only three in the world but yes, we went there and there are actually quite a few: New York, one being built in Miami, one is Australia, Egypt and Los Angeles. I will say it was probably the best I have ever had and there were so many flavors. They even let you sample so put this on your list. We also had to do our immigration here which was very helpful because when we get to Fort Lauderdale it was easy to get off the ship and go. There were over 3000 pieces of luggage coming off and many are shipped back to folks who paid for this service from San Juan. Dan Juan has an d and new city and has a UNESCO world heritage site with the old fort which is massive. The streets are cobblestone. This area has had its share of hurricanes with lots of damage but things looked good and streets were clean. Jeremy told us a food to try here that they are famous for us Mofango which is fried plantain with meat.
We docked at the Pan American Pier which has a very large, clean and modern terminal. This is where our immigration took place face to face. The ship provided a shuttle service to town on their town square. From there you were close to the fort, Anita’s, the Park de las Paloma’s which is the park of the pigeons and lots of shopping. The Cathedral of San Juan founded in 1512 is one of the 2nd oldest in all the Americas. The tomb of Ponce de Leon is here. Casa Blanca is a famous old building that is now a museum with a beautiful courtyard. When you cruise into the port the captain announces that we should come out and see the fort as it is so evident and show what a fortress it was to protect the city. In 1591 Spain had a stronghold on the area and it was a strategic point to attack pirates. San Felipe Del Morro is another historic site. Fort San Cristobal was built on the opposite side to protect the island from land attacks in 1634. La Fortaleza is the official governors mansion and there are tours available during the week. The Princess Pathway Promenade was constructed in 1853 for festive displays and activities. The old gate to San Juan is red and you can still see it. It has 15 feet deep walls all along the fortress which was built in 1635. You can also visit the famous Bacardi Rum Casa and factory but you have to get there by ferry which is very inexpensive. The Jardin Botanical Gardens are another lovely area to see along with several beach areas like Condado Beach.
Part of the fort visible from the town square.
This is where they dropped us off with the shuttle.
The square was clean and decorated for the holidays
It rained a bit so we walked under overhangs but the streets are very narrow
Can you believe this sign for waffles!?!! I had to get a photo.
Here is a place for the Mofongo
Here is the map from the presentation and where we docked.
A photo of the Mofango
This cool place Umbrella Street sometimes is up but not always
A pigeon at pigeon park up in the tree avoiding the rain
These photos are all painted on the building or are stand ups. It looks so cool!
Here’s where Chuck bought us a special treat!!! Yummy
We check it all out
Maybe hot chocolate, maybe a latte?
A very cool statue and bird. At first I though he was real!
Government buildings decorated too
Little sidewalk cafes and cobblestone roads
Ah!!!! Here is the place!
Look at all that temptation and that’s only a portion of it!
Chuck looks happy and the gelato is delicious!
For sure!
I guess he wanted a bigger bowl!!
Pigeon Park!!!
Betsy and Chuck trying to fake being pigeons!
One day we had a little surprise birthday party for our new friend Maryann. Karla is hugging her. My friend Kate is there and a few other friends.
Dan made her a funny unusual gift on a hard paper plate of Africa and what we saw. There was an artist on board who did an actual drawing which was for sale for quite a bit of money but this is unique and no one but Maryann will have a copy. It was a hit!
Our friend Nomer, bar waiter , loved it!
All the waiters came to wish her happy birthday with a special crepe and her favorite rocky road ice cream!
All the pigeons were on the wall avoiding us
A walkway along the fort
See the pigeons in the holes avoiding rain?
Then on to a Fiesta Market which was so fun.
Dan and Betsy head out to the market
Betsy gets her groove on!
Great Dancers with a lady Mary in the middle from our group!
We had a great crew show too with winners!!!
Then one night there was a barn dance on the Lido!
And along the way we had a fun birthday for Betsy at the Canaletto with friends
My friend Kate on the left and a new friend Ruth Macy on the right
And then crazy Dan!
So we left Puerto Rico and had one sea day after it till we got to Ft Lauderdale which meant a day to pack and say good bye to many friends. We met Betsy and Chuck in the morning at breakfast and then they were off. We moved to a new room for our holiday cruise and then got new keys and reboarded.
We sure missed all the great folks we got to know and our besties Chuck and Betsy.
Thanks for coming along on our amazing journey of a lifetime. Wherever you go travel wisely and most of all be flexible and enjoy the journey. Nothing takes the place of wonderful memories.
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