San Juan, Puerto Rico - January 9

We had a late arrival in our first port, San Juan, Puerto Rico, arriving around 3:30 in the afternoon with a scheduled departure at 11:30 that evening.  

I was up on Deck 15 to take photos as we sailed into the port.  Though I caught several photos of the birds, I wasn't quick enough to catch a shot of the porpoises who swam aside the ship.  Another passenger told me this is sign of good luck.

As the ship approached to entrance to the port, the Fortress El Morro (Castillo San Felipe del Morro) came into view.

The fortress was constructed in 1539, and as one would expect, it was built to protect San Juan from invaders.  For many years, the Spaniards maintained their occupation, but in 1898 the United States Army bombarded the fortress during the Spanish-American war.  

As we came around the point, it became evident we weren't the only ship in harbour.  In fact, there were five others.  Pictured here are a Viking ship (the first and smallest), a Holland American (two stacks) and two Carnival ships (fish tails).  Across the way was another Royal Caribbean ship.  Accordingly the docks and the nearby restaurants and stores were busy!

I had booked a walking tour of Old San Juan through the ship, and I was not disappointed.  First, however, we met our guide, Steve at the dock, and were transferred by bus to the grounds of El Morro.  Is there not something ironic in that?

 Outside the gates, was this monument to the Dutch invasion of 1625.  While the fortress was not damaged the city of San Juan was destroyed.

We were fortunate, as the fortress was open despite the U.S. government shut down.  The workers there were friendly and helpful throughout our visit.

After entering the gates to the fortress, we climbed up to the upper level.  

The garitas, or sentry boxes are located on the outer walls of the fortress.  We either didn't have the time, or our guide didn't have the inclination to allow us time to visit one or more of these.

According to Steve, the fortress took more than an century to complete, and was originally built from salvage materials...or as he called it, garbage.



El Morro's outer walls, which were originally constructed 6 feet (1.8 m) thick, had been augmented to 18 feet (5.5 m) thickness by the end of the 18th century. - Wikipedia

The original walls were built of limestone by young men who were brought in to complete the work.  Generally these were prisoners of war, or convicts.
They were forced to live there for 20 years, before they might gain their freedom.

The view from the upper level were spectacular.  In the foreground is the cemetery, and beyond that is a shantytown, and beyond that (not in the photo) is the modern city with its high-rise buildings.  I should note, that much of the repairs from Hurricane Maria have been made, however there were many buildings in the shantytown that were still in disrepair.  

 After our history lesson, we left the fortress and walked up and out of the park area to the old city.  The narrow cobblestone streets are built with blue brick.  To achieve the colour, the bricks are covered in slag (ash) and re-fired.  Steve took us down two of the remaining streets that have stairs.  

It was here that we saw numerous cats.  The old city area residents offer a TNR program, but unfortunately as residents of the rest of the city heard about it, they've dropped unwanted cats.  I would have brought them all home with me if I could.

These buildings faced the harbour.  I can only imagine the view they would have from the balconies.  As we turned the corner, we came upon the San Juan Batista Cathedral.

Steve advised us that groups were not welcome (true or not I don't know) but we could climb the stairs to photograph the interior.

Towards the end of our tour, we came to an old chapel. The story Steve told us was that horse racing took place on this street, with the horse and rider racing up the street from the harbour towards the fortress.  However, one young man decided to race the other direction, with disastrous results.  As they reached this point, the horse and rider plunged over the hill; the horse died of his injuries, while the young man survived.  To celebrate the miracle of his survival his parents had the chapel built.  Sadly it has fallen into disrepair.

And so ended the tour.  Most of the group headed off to shop or to visit the restaurants and bars.  I did not, as it was beginning to get dark, and as solo traveller I didn't feel comfortable wandering on my own.  Steve graciously offered to walk me back to the ship.

On board, I had my dinner at the WJ on the aft deck.  Why anyone would want to sit indoors to eat, is beyond me.  Then it was off to my balcony to watch the water traffic.  The well-lit building is the ferry dock, and below, is the Viking ship leaving port.  I was asleep by 10 p.m. - didn't even notice when we sailed out!

Next post - St. Maarten