Let's Travel: San Juan, Puerto Rico (2)

As promised in the first part, I will continue the series with Viejo San Juan.

We decided to spend the whole January 2nd in Old San Juan, since there are so many things to see down there. We took the B21 bus in front of Ashford Park (Bus fares are $0.75 per person (pp)).
It took like 30 minutes to reach the Capitol building and Castillo San Cristobal area.

We were so lucky to witness the day-long parade of locals. They were so happy and local bands were performing on the streets, the occasion was the inauguration of Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla. In fact, when we arrived there he was giving his speech. :) (More info can be found here)

Our first stop was Castillo San Cristobal, which is one of the two important castles in San Juan (San Juan National Historic Site). Spain built them in 16th (and then 18th because of an earthquake) century to protect the land and the wealth against the land based attacks.
Entrance fee for this castle is $3pp but if you want to visit both castles then it is $5pp.
This castle has a guardhouse, a main plaza, and troops quarters. The view is amazing up there, you will definitely enjoy. And if you're lucky, you will meet the Mr Iguana here like we did :)

I have our own photos, but this panoramic view given in Wikipedia is too beautiful not to share. :)

The most interesting part for me was the extensive underground tunnels and sentry boxes (or "garitas" in Spanish) as shown here. They were placing sentinels in these garitas to watch for enemy attacks and warn the army when it's time.




One of the underground tunnels lead us to a dungeon. It was used as a jail cell and one of the prisoners, a captain, draw these ships on the wall with whatever he could find then, simply because he missed his beloved sea and ships so much. I don't know why it makes me sad every time I remember this. :(

1-2 hours will be enough to see this castle. The next part of La Fortaleza is Castillo San Felipe del Morro.
There is a complimentary shuttle between two castles, but we wanted to walk since the road is nice and scenic. It takes about 15-20 minutes if you go directly from Cristobal to San Felipe del Morro. If you prefer to walk, you will get to see these beautiful Old San Juan houses.

But we stopped by Old San Juan streets first, took some photos, visited some shops and had lunch at Cafe del Totem.

Streets were so crowded. Most of the people dressed in red and white tones and they were singing along with a Puerto Rican all children band. We didn't understand the lyrics but we got that they were some national/folk songs as everybody knew them and they had this proud look.  :)

Cafe del Totem is a nice on street restaurant-bar. They were the only restaurant with gluten free-vegan items in their menu, so we decided to have lunch in there.
Their non-alcoholic Pina Colada was nice. Also if you go there, you can try their tostones and cheese tacos. Their langusta (lobster) creole was not very good thou, so I wouldn't recommend.

El Morro was the next stop, but what a beautiful one... There is a huge green field by the castle where people lay down, play, fly kites and enjoy the view. Even the big Spanish cemetery next door couldn't spoil the beauty of this area.

This castle had 5 levels and more area to discover. There are ramps or geometric-shaped (we saw triangular and circular) staircases to go between levels. Both staircases were hard to use for me, I can't imagine how soldiers managed to run up and down there without falling/breaking their bones. :)

All in all, La Fortaleza is a must see if you're visiting San Juan.

Now, one thing to keep in mind when in Puerto Rico is that there is no schedule in here. Buses come whenever they feel like, you can sit down in a restaurant without being served for maybe an hour. It is a tropical island and everybody is so relaxed. It maybe the US land, but has nothing to do with the mainland. The good side: Once you're done with your meal nobody will shove you off or bring the bill immediately. If you want to relax a bit and chat before leaving, then you'll have the chance to do it no matter how crowded the waiting line is.

If you want to return your hotel (from Old San Juan) by bus, which I do not recommend, the last bus runs at 9:30pm. Taxi is a more sensible option. Even for that you will have to wait for a while. From Old San Juan to Condado costs about $10 by cab.

Hope you enjoyed reading these two parts about San Juan, Puerto Rico and you found the tips helpful.
Please do share your memories from San Juan and tips in the comment field below.

Next post of the Let's Travel series will be on Parque de las Cavernas del Rio Camuy.
Cheers :)