11/21 –Last day in San Juan

We wake up early – who’s surprised about that? – and have to really cool our heels before breakfast.  We manage to patiently (sort of) wait until 7 (when breakfast starts) to go downstairs, and the dining room is not really open.  No water on the table, no coffee or tea out yet.  Oops.  When we checked in, they gave us little order forms (they called them papers) that we were supposed to give to the “girls” in the dining room.  They had check boxes for what you wanted (boiled eggs, toast, etc.) and an anticipated time when we’d be there.  The first day we just handed the girl the paper, but we never handed in the 2nd day, just assuming we’d give it to them when we arrived.  Apparently that isn’t how it works!  We did find one of the guys in the reception area, and he turned on the lights, A/C and plugged in the coffee.  Hmmmm… The girl came out, and we managed to order in Spanish (with the paper) and ask for hot water (so we could have our instant coffee!).  That at least worked, and while we probably put them out, they did manage to get our breakfast together quickly – except the coffee which once again had its own difficulties.

After breakfast we decided to take a walk down along the water on the Paseo del Morro trail.  We had overheard one of the guests saying it was a lovely walk, so we thought we’d try it since we had tons of time.  Looking at the map, it appeared we could access the walk via the Paseo de la Princesa, so we headed in that direction, being sure to take photos of the Pigeon park entrance, which looks wholly different in the early morning with no pigeons and no bamboo umbrellas and tables at the Chapel bar.

We also got to actually visit inside the Parque de las Palomas – without the pigeons, which was a very nice and peaceful lookout over the harbor and the islands across from the city.  We continued down through the sleeping town to the Paseo de la Princesa and then to the end of the promenade and the lovely fountain - The Raíces Fountain - which was created to celebrate the New World’s 500th anniversary. The fountain contains statues that honor Puerto Rico’s mixed African, Spanish and Taino/Amerindian heritage and is also said to be a very romantic place in the evenings as the sun sets.  Unfortunately we are here as the sun rises, but it is a beautiful setting, nonetheless.

Moving past the fountain, we find ourselves at the beginning of the Paseo del Morro, which is a broad walkway all along the waterfront, following the lines of the fortress walls to the old city of San Juan.  It’s a lovely walk, dappled in bright sunlight and shade.  There are stunning views of the garitas and old fortress walls as we circumnavigate the old city.

Oh, and the cats. Have we mentioned the cats?  They are everywhere – freaking everywhere!  More cats here than on Hydra, which is cat central for Grecian felines.  We only have one picture of this precocious little thing sitting in the middle of the walkway – but trust us when we tell you there were hundreds of cats down here – and lots of little tupperware feeding stations too.  So, whether they are feral or not, they are being taken care of – fed and watered – here along the Paseo del Morro – and we are assuming elsewhere in the city since they are so plentiful.

Besides the cats, we spend a delightful hour or so wandering along the paved walkway along the bay.  It is just heating up as we return, and we realize that there is an entrance to the path right outside the road that leads to our hotel.  No way! It turns out to be the main gate into San Juan!  La Puerta de San Juan, also known as the Red Gate, was the original entryway into the old city of San Juan.  Geez!  It is totally not clear on our map, so we walked far, far out of our way to get here – we loved the exercise, but still….sigh.  So, we took the short way back to the hotel, past the Governor’s guards and past this great graffiti of the PR flag on downed tree roots.

Back in the room, we do our final organizing for the flights home, then go downstairs taking one last photo of the cool courtyard,

then bid Ricardo a fond farewell when our cab arrives to take us to the airport.  Thirty minutes later, we are checked in and safely ensconced in the Priority Club lounger, hanging out until our 3 pm flight back to the mainland. The flights are all on time – early even into Atlanta – and we traverse the two terminals with enough time for some food and beverages before the flight to Asheville.  You know I never ever talk about airport food – always overpriced and of nominal value – but this time, I just have to post the picture of the Southern Starter at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint.  OMG.  I ordered it because it had fried green tomatoes and fried okra – figuring it’s an airport restaurant, how much – and how good – could it be?  Holy cow.  It was crazy – crazy huge and crazy good!  There was no way I was finishing this – I couldn’t even finish the tomatoes – which for you all know means there was way too much food on this plate!

Ed got the wings, and even those were almost too much to finish.  Wow, that was quite the dinner!

Totally sated, we rolled ourselves onto our little plane and flew happily back to Asheville and our Lyft ride home.  A very successful end to an incredibly great trip.

11/20–San Juan afternoon and evening

So, almost 4 hours later – we are finished with our tour of the Castille San Cristobal.  And what a tour it was!  Great way to spend our morning and celebrate with the NPS on re-opening their Historic Site.  On the way out, we find Milagros, give her our address and ask her advice for lunch.  She gives us a couple of options, one a few blocks up the street called El Jibarito – The Hillbillies.  But sadly, once we get there, they are closed for some reason.  The signs on the door indicate they are open every day, but in this environment – who knows?  Could be anything from power to deliveries to whatever.  So, now we are on a mission to find lunch.  We change courses and head down toward the water and the main streets of the city. We see the two guys from the Castille that were dressed in historical garb and sort of follow them to see if they are going for lunch.  They actually end up in a pizza joint, and while we are sure it was great (follow the locals!), we are not eating pizza in Puerto Rico.  We continue on through streets, searching through closed restaurants and shops for someplace with food.  We hit the end of the city – only the massive city parking deck and water remain in front of us, and just happen to turn left and find Restaurant Raices  - real Puerto Rican food.  We are their first customers, and are happy to be seated in the air conditioned dining room.  Decorated with original wall murals depicting Puerto Rican scenes, it is a small, but cozy little space with interesting local beers.

The menu looks great – we start with local fried cheese, which is delicious, then order the fried “mero",” which we think might be grouper – but aren’t really sure.  Whatever it is, it is fantastic – and they actually have Mofungo – so we finally get to try that PR delicacy of smashed plantains.  Not as yummy as we might have hoped, but you have to have it at least once while you are here.

Walking back to the hotel, past gorgeous buildings and this amazing bank lobby (it was closed for Founders day, so we could only take pictures through the door windows – but it was absolutely spectacular inside)…

…we decide it is too early to go back to the room, so we stop at the little bar we walked past yesterday, The Chapel (so named because it is right outside the entrance to the convent – and the Pigeon Park).  We hang out here for at least 2 drinks, watching the military on the corner protecting the governor as well as the pedestrian traffic making their way to the Paseo de la Princesa.  Not a bad way to spend an hour or so!

Finally, we return to the room – passing through the little park that we have now named Kitty Kat park due to the wild statue and proliferation of wild cats that seem to populate the place.

After the afternoon rain storm that has become like clockwork these 2 days in Puerto Rico, we meander out into the streets, getting a beautiful shot of the interior of the church at the head of Kitty Kat park….

…then heading toward the supermarket to shore up our stock of evening beverages, then onto Cafe Punto for dinner.  On the way to the restaurant, we pass through one of the many blocks of old San Juan without power. This is our first evening encounter of blackout since we only crossed the street last night and it is really sort of frightening.  It is pitch black, hard to navigate and really hard to tell where you are going.  What an awful way to live – especially since it’s been almost 70 days now since the hurricane.  True to our luck today, the restaurant is closed. But, fortunately, right across the street is Barrachina, another restaurant we had thought about earlier.  We kept walking by this place, but it looked closed.  We finally figured out that it was because we were walking by the back door!  Jeez.  They hawkers at the door greeted us with enthusiasm and led us into the incredible interior – complete with outside terrace seating as well as the indoor (air-conditioned) dining area (where of course we chose to eat).

It is fairly deserted when we arrive, but are lucky to place our orders quickly because the place fills us fast.  We start with the Puerto Rican Delight – a selection of fried plantains, empanadas and croquettes.

Oh my! that’s a meal all on its own!

Sadly, we have also both ordered mains – Grouper Islano (Grouper with shrimp and creole sauce) for Ed and Beef Steak Fortaleza (Skirt steak stuffed with ham, swiss cheese, onions and peppers, covered with mushroom sauce) for me – both served with this huge bowl of beans.  Argh.

The food is fabulous, but way, way too much for us.  We are glad we tried all the different, local preparations, but boy are we stuffed to the gills!  We try to eat slowly, listening to all the conversations around us – the emergency workers who eat quickly then leave, the Coastie and her husband  (who saw President Clinton today as he was visiting and volunteering – I’m so jealous) and are chatting with the Hospital folks who are here taking stock of the situation and what needs to be done.  Just as we are finishing, a group of folks we had lunch with on the cruise come in – but they don’t see us and we're just as happy to remain anonymous in our little people watching/listening space.

Finally the night is over and make our way through the darkened streets back to our lovely little rooms atop the Villa Herrencia.  Tomorrow – the end of our latest adventure.

11/20–San Juan Castille San Cristobal continued

Next we managed to find the barracks halls (we wandered down some spiral staircase that dumped us out into these rooms we had seen from above on the battery).  There are a number of rooms, and a wonderful exhibit displaying how the troops lived.

Next we went into the dungeons.  Oohhh….creepy…and actually, they sort of were scary.  Big tunnels, so it wasn’t very claustrophobic, but they were very hot and humid, and just not a pleasant place to be.  Entering into one of the dungeons, there are drawings of ships on the wall – drawn by one of the Spanish captains held there before his execution.  Creepy.

We’ve covered so much ground, but we are still not done!  As we are making our way back down to the courtyard, Milagros comes running after us – asking for our home address.  Her supervisor wants to send us a gift for being the first people to visit the Castille.  How sweet! Back through the battery, we end up at a stair case that goes into the basement – which turns out to be the main entry to the fortress – we entered through the Historical Entry.  Down here is one of the gift shops, a model of the fort and supposedly a movie that gives us an overview of history of the castle.  We hang out in the theater for a while, waiting for the film, but it never starts.  After visiting the facilities, we ask the ranger on duty about the film, but he says it is not working right now. OK. Well, nice little rest for us anyway.  The ranger is totally customer focused.  He shows us the map of the property and then asks if we want to see the outside park area –which was the first line of defense against a land invasion. We said sure – and he virtually ran up the stairs and out into the yard to point us to the little fortification at the end of the property and explain a little bit about the fortress and its grounds.  He was so excited to have someone to show around.  Sweet.

So, outside we go, and around to the large grassy which contained multiple lines of defense and a small fortress. And also Helen.  Another Park Ranger who is so nice, and helpful, and talkative.  She is an architect who volunteered for years, then finally got a permanent position with the NPS.  She is also happy to be back at work and talks to us at length about the last 2 months, and the fact that she still doesn’t have power at her house either – but at least has a gas stove.  The NPS has been kind enough to let the rangers use their facilities though, so she’s been able to do her laundry and at least be in air conditioning for parts of the day.  We chit chat for a long while, but then decide to get moving because the sun is searing us along with the heat. Walking through the battlements, the sky is gorgeous and photos are spectacular, first looking out over the devil’s sentry box (because it is said to be haunted)…

Then looking toward the Condado area, through the original gates to the fortress…

…and finally with a long shot of the Castille.  Gorgeous!

11/20–San Juan Day 2 Castille San Cristobal

Day two dawns bright and beautiful.  Not a cloud in the sky when we awake. But we know better than to trust the skies, the forecast is calling for storms on and off all day, so we know to be prepared.  We’re up too early – as usual – and have to cool our heels before we can go down to breakfast at 7.  We’ve got a microwave in the room, and instant coffee, but sadly no mugs – so we are trying to patiently wait for breakfast to get our caffeine fix.

Finally downstairs, we hand in our breakfast order (boiled eggs and wheat toast) and fill up our mugs with….clear water and a few coffee grounds? Houston, we have a problem.  After successfully pointing and using my pathetic Spanish with the breakfast lady, she figures out there is an issue and takes the coffee urn away.  We still have a carafe of hot water though, so I run up and get the instant coffee.  Success. We share our spoils with another guest, who actually was on the Jewel with us as well, and the three of us sip our java in companionable silence.

Since we don’t know El Morro will be open today, we have opted to visit the other huge fortification, Castillo San Cristobal, at the edge of Old San Juan.  It’s an easy walk of maybe 20 minutes, through the quiet old city streets.  Relatively quiet that is – with all the sounds of construction around us. But that is the sound of progress, and any progress made here is a reason to celebrate and ignore the noise.

Arriving in the courtyard of the Castille, the view couldn’t be lovelier. The crystal blue waters, the old Garita jutting out over the coastline and the weather beaten outer walls of the fortress.

You really have to keep reminding yourself this fortress was built to protect El Morro and the city from land attack – which sounds strange since we are surrounded by water – but troops could come in from the east and attack the city. 

After reading the incredibly informative signage, we walk up the long sloped entryway to the Castille. As we approach the top, we hear lots of hollering and laughing, and just general whooping it up.  Sounds like a fun bunch!  Turns out, this is the first day the Castille has opened since the hurricane.  And we are the very first visitors! How exciting!  We meet Milagros, the National Park Ranger at the front gate, who gives us a run down of all the activities planned for the day.  She’s so excited to be back working and open today – it’s totally infectious.  We met the social media manager, Pamela, who takes our picture and tells us she’s going to post it on their Facebook page (PS, she hasn’t yet!).  We chat with her for a long time, talking about the hurricane, its aftermath and the preparations to reopen the historic site, what they all have been doing for the last 2 months (lots of training and cross training).  Finally parting ways, we start to explore the Castille, which we have all to ourselves.

We start in the courtyard area, which contains the chapel where they held religious services, and then move up to the main firing battery area.  This place is huge. And we end up wandering up top to all the view points and artillery lookouts for at least an hour.  We’ll let the pictures do the talking here…