El Morro (Castillo de San Felipe del Morro) San Juan

Visited the old fort and walked Old San Juan …

The El Morro Fort is officially Castillo de Sand Felipe del Morro and stands guard at the entrance to San Juan Harbor. The beautiful 6-level fort is named in honor of Spain's King Philip ll. The fort has gone trough many enlargements and modifications. I took the free open-air trolley that is front of the piers and headed out towards the Fort …

We made port at 3PM local time after switching to Atlantic (aka whatever in the Caribbean) time zone. Teresa's suitcase showed up before we disembarked! A beautiful afternoon we struck out on foot into Old San Juan. The old city is a delightful blend of old Spanish influence architecture and new city shops and commerce. We walked through the …

This day was spent doing a lot of walking and taking pictures. We visited the old forts of El Morro and San Cristobal, both of which are just about the most beautiful old buildings in the world (probably not true--but we haven't seen all of the old buildings in the world, now, have we?!). We saw a short video recapitulation of about four centuries …

So glad we had time to take the sights in at the historic district. It is absolutely amazing! The fort dates back to the 16th century and the colorful houses that line the streets are colonial caribbean at it's best! There are lots of street vendors selling just about everything you can imagine. The replica colonial ship, I forget it's name, was …

For some reason Puerto Rico had never really been high on my travel list of places I wanted to see but boy was I wrong!! With my love for salsa music, dancing and Latin food how could I go wrong here?



Our flight was delayed in Orlando which made our arrival time into San Juan just past midnight. We collected our bags, hopped in …

San Juan Old Town is a gem. Unlike some other places this colonial town has the money it needed to put it back together and has lots of hidden character to find and grand buildings to awe at.

Arriving late afternoon didn't give me much time to anything but go for an orientation walk. Wandering the streets was easy enough and before I knew …

No words - Just photos... Enjoy!
- JJ …

I was pretty tired from the long flight so I woke up late. I walked to El Morro which was only one mile away. It was free admittance so that was convenient. I listened to a park ranger and watched a quick video about the history of the fort. I found out that the fort had come under attack several times since its creation and that it has only been …

Our stop at Old San Juan, Puerto Rico had a couple of hiccups at the start; getting off the ship and cash. First of all, San Juan is the main start/finish point for the Caribbean Cruise we chose. That means they disembark about 3,500 people. All of those people have to go through U. S. immigration and customs. In ports of call we normally got off …

... Perth -  3 long flights plus airport time. For now we just want to stay immersed in the beauty that is Old San Juan.   Footnote: La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico are UNESCO World Heritage Listed. ...

... together.  Heading east we wandered along nearly desserted beaches (yes we were still right in the middle of San Juan - nice!).  Had a great adventure crossing a tide filled lagoon and scrabbling over rocks in our determination not to walk ...

... section of the city. Old San Juan is a triangular peninsula with a long straight northern coast guarded by El Morro and Fuerte San Cristobal, which were erected to protect against other European powers and marauding pirates who were after gold. The ...

... , a fort that was built in the mid 16th Century. It took 200 years to build, and is a very prominent part of Puerto Rico. It was attacked a number of times and was controlled by the Spanish and British at different times in history. There were steps ...

... . I learned a lot about Puertorican history and got a refresher course in the Spanish-American War and those countries' influences on Puerto Rico. The Fort is beautiful and mysterious. I am amazed that they could build such a fortress. All of that ...

... I did the short phrases, and the comments here and there, but Allison did the longer stuff. So onto what I did while in Puerto Rico. It isn't what a lot of people came on thinking; an extension of the U.S., and not a suitable replacement for Venezuela. ...

... (El Morro) screamed with delight as stiff ocean breezes kept their airborne creations aloft in the heavens. Old San Juan is described by Frommers "Puerto Rico Day by Day" as one of the best neighborhoods in the Carribean and we certainly agree with ...

... , that only applies for connecting International flights, we flew from San Diego, to New York, to Ft Lauderdale, to a lil´ island called Puerto Rico in what felt like a days for zero miles...guess we´ll have to sign up for TrueBlue -taking the bus into ...

... together made attacks on San Juan a dificult task.  Well it is off to the airport for our long flight home.  Puerto Rico is an intresting place.  It is perfect for the travelers that are not sure about visiting another country because it ...

... hey, it had free internet!  :) I had planned ahead of time my itinerary for day 2 being:  a visit to Old San Juan, the El Morro Fort and the cemetary.  Not being walking distance to those sites, we jumped into a taxi from the hotel.  ...