Loving the pace of this cruise, perfect for someone recovering. We cruised into San Juan at about noon today with the Neptunes playing in the Crow's nest, Steel drums playing in the Lido, mid ship and Eddie the guitarist playing in the aft pool area - something for everyone. For me I was in my usual spot at the front of the ship, one deck below the navigation deck with the camera at the ready as we sailed passed the El Morrow fortification, funny though, I was on my own with this perfect viewing deck for the most part, yes an interesting crowd.
San Juan was founded in 1521 by Ponce de Leon and is the oldest city in the U.S. Territory. Surrounding the entrance to San Juan harbour sits the "Old City" the historic core of this multifaceted city. This city was once walled completely by multiple forts to protect access to the Spanish Main. As a military foothold the city endured many attacks from the Dutch and the British, some of which were partially successful in that in 1596 the British took over Puerto Rico for 65 days.The population of San Juan continued to grow within the city walls until the late 19th century when the island of Puerto Rico was ceded to the U.S. at the conclusion of the Spanish-American war. Although Puerto Rico is part of the U.S., its music, culture and cuisine are a unique fusion of indigenous Taino culture with European and African influences.
Our first time here and since we are docked right in the heart of the old town we just walked off and explored the old city and two of the fortifications both of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites, Fort San Cristobal and El Morro. Fort San Cristobal was first, as it was the closest at about 10 minute walk away from the ship followed by El Morro. For your $5.00 US you get to walk about these very well maintained Forts with great signage and displays but you also can use the free shuttle service in San Juan Old City which not connects the two but also includes something like 25 other stops throughout the city. Great bang for your buck as the Starbucks we stopped at charged us more for two Caps and a cookie. We did a little retail therapy until Jan called it at about 5:30 when we returned to the ship. She is still getting better every day with gaining more energy but we must watch our pace. Tomorrow we have a late tour to a beach for a few hours, yes keeping it real simple.
By the way I did wonder what was with the Fortifications and the importance of this part of the World. Well as it turns out, San Juan, Puerto Rico, is right in line with the Trade Winds. In the day of the mighty sailing ships coming from Europe and Africa, these winds were the quickest and most natural route to take to the new world. Just so happens the Puerto Rico was the first major island with plenty of fresh water and a huge natural protected harbour for ships to restock. If you owned Puerto Rico, you basically owned the new world. It took over 250 years to build these fortification but for this wealth beyond belief in gold, silver, gems, spices and furs from Mexico and Central and South America, it needed to be protected. Spain did control this gateway from 1508 to 1898 during what I would call the right time in history before motorized engines once again changed to playing field on the shipping of goods.
The night ended with a Lido Pool Party… Fun!
A few pictures of our day here in San Juan, hope you enjoy.
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