Old San Juan

  San Juan, Puerto Rico
Monday, August 20, 2007

Today the weather was nice. The sun was out, and it wasn't so windy. Hurricane Dean was gone. We had breakfast at Palmeras, then spent some time staying cool in the pools. DD's new friend showed up so that was nice for her. DH and I went up to the swim up bar pool (and we could watch the kids in the pool below) for Pina Colada tasting, which was just a small cup of the base for the drink (no alcohol), but it was refreshing.

Our 4 free hours of babysitting never worked out, so DH had the concierge cancel our dinner reservation at Ajilli Mojilli. We all took a taxi to Fort San Cristobal (a World Heritage Site). It was $6.00 (the kids are free) for the 4 of us; tickets are good for 24 hours. If you want to go to both forts (San Cristobal and El Morro) the same day it is $5.00 pp for adults.

San Cristobal Beauty

The fort is quite big, bigger than you would think. It was hotter than blazes, but if we stayed in the shade or were in some of the rooms, it wasn't too bad. Up top, you have a great panoramic view of San Juan (and it used to be the tallest point in the city). We stopped at the gift shop and bought a book about the two forts (EL Morro and San Cristobal), and a pirate book. Then we headed into the town.

We were parched beyond parched, and the kids were hungry, so we decided to find the restaurant we were originally going to eat at on our first night in Old San Juan, Tio Danny's. It took us a little time, and a lot of sweat, but we finally found it on Calle Fortaleza. The restaurant has Mexican and Puerto Rican food. We ordered nachos and a mixed appetizer plate (surtido) with corn sticks, croquettes, plantain fritters, and cassava fritters. It was VERY good. The kids were still hungry, so they had refried beans and tortillas and made themselves bean burritos. Yumm! It was very relaxing.

We walked around a little after we ate, and went into a shop or two. I had wanted to find a bathing suit cover-up. DD and I had success in that endeavor. By then it was time to head back to the fort for a festival they were having (free with your entrance ticket).

Bright Energy

We got there a little early and got front row seats. They had a band/singers and dancers. They started with the Puerto Rican Salsa, then Puerto Rican folk dances, then the African dances, followed by more Puerto Rican dances. It was great. At the end, they had 2 CDs for sale ($10 ea), which we bought since we enjoyed the show so much. It was a great way to end our PR holiday.

La Perla, San Juan

We walked along the outer parts of the fort for a little bit, up towards La Perla (where it is advised you don't go into), then back into town. On our way, we found a little "mom and pop" corner store where we got some cocos frios. Then the lady asked us if we knew of quenepas (a fruit related to the lychee), and we said "yes, yes...we saw them being sold by the freeway on the way back from Ponce." Here they had little bags for sale ($1), and these were from the man's father's crops in Luquillo. We told them we had been to Luquillo also. DH, DD, and I tried the quenepas, and we liked them. You bite through the skin, and then it pops off. Then you put the seed in your mouth and suck off the sweet pulp. My first one was a "twin" and the man told me those were the best, the sweetest.

Quenepas

DS didn't want to try them, so the lady gave him a baby banana. He liked that very much. Then the man asked DH if he knew about limbers. So after a quick explanation, DH got a strawberry one for DS (who didn't like the cocos frios either). He did like the limber though, which is like a frozen icee in a cup, that you just lick with your tongue. Then finally, the grandpa came out with some hot appetizers to put in the hot counter. DH asked about them, and they were alcapurrias, which we kept hearing about, but had not tried yet. They are mashed plantains filled with meat or seafood.

The lady was very impressed by all of our knowledge of PR! DH bought an alcapurria for us to try. This one was filled with crab meat. I liked the outside part the best. DD ate most of it, which was fine. I was kind of full from my sweet, refreshing coco frio. We had fun talking to the couple in the tiny little corner store, and they seemed to enjoy introducing the foods of PR to us. From there we set off to Plaza Colon where we could get a taxi to go back to the hotel. We then showered and packed up for our trip home the next day.