Day 6 At Sea / San Juan , Puerto Rico.

Last evening we attended the Theatre. The show was excellent. Dancers and acrobats entertained us with their take of world cities. I’ll leave you, dear reader, to guess what cities are referred to: 

We then adjourned for dinner. 

I wager you never attended a silent disco. For me it was a first. It’s silent as each attendee gets headphones with a choice of three types of music - Caribbean, Pop and Modern. 

 

The colour reveals your choice of music - mine was red - the Caribbean, apparently not very popular with the dancers!! 

The clocks were going forward by one hour as we sail east so we retired early.....

Having breakfasted in the Grand Cuvee, we went to the bookings office and booked a cruise in the Antarctic for February 2019!! 

Almost there !!! This afternoon, we arrive at our first port of call - San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital city, first conquered by Juan Ponce in 1508

Spanish influence is evident in its fortifications, museums and cathedrals. It is a city of cobble stone streets lined with 16th and 17th century colonial buildings among the most notable are Fort Felipe del Moro and Fort San Cristobal and Ka Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas. 

We disembarked at 15.30 hours and must return to the ship by 22.00 hrs. 

Leaving the ship with the ocean on our left, we first went to the Tourist Office to obtain a map. Having acquired same, we continued to Paseo de la Princesa - a beautiful tree lined pedestrian walkway. 

We continued through the only extant city gate , 

entered the old walled town and continued to Castillo San Felipe del Moro. The fortress overlooks the entrance to San Juan Bay - one of the largest fortifications built by the Spanish in the Caribbean. 

It was unsuccessfully attacked by the Spanish and the Dutch in the16th and 17th century respectively. 

We returned to the town to visit Cathedral de San Juan, which was in need of repair probably as a consequence of the recent hurricanes which hit the area. 

We continued to the other side of the island in temperatures that must have been in the 30s. We stopped for a drink at a picturesque local pub. 

Pouring over my map, I was approached by a friendly policeman to enquire if he could help. He directed us on our way, advising us to hurry as Castillo San Cristobal would close at 1800 hrs. 

We arrived with 15 minutes to spare having passed the impressive theatre as we walked. The Castillo site guards the eastern gate to the walled city. Covering 27 acres, it is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. 

We returned to the shopping area, lined with impressive colonial buidings 

One sported the following: 

and visited a few shops but didn’t purchase. Shopping is supposed to be better in St. Thomas, tomorrow’s destination. 

It was now dark as we returned to the ship

 

San Juan was a pleasant surprise. It was a more beautiful city than I had anticipated, the locals were very friendly and there was little evidence of the effects of the hurricanes that swept the island  late last year. 

We dined, attended a comedy show and retired   A long day awaits tomorrow in St Thomas. 

READ ST THOMAS before reading ST KITTS