Blogs from Old San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Central America Caribbean

Like everyone else, I imagined PR to be just like the US (whatever that means). I’ve been told by folks who have been to PR that PR is very modern and at the same time underdeveloped.Well this is my opinion of San Juan, PR. To a certain extent, it can be compared to Miami. However, to me it is very comparable to any Caribbean country or the Caribbean coast of any Latin American country. Comparable in terms of the developed infrastructure in place for tourists, the vibe, the old town/colonial zone and so on. I stayed in the Old San Juan and I loved it. I am easily charmed by Old towns/Colonial zones. The architecture is amazing, people watching, shopping, good food, insightful museums and local attractions were all worthwhile. The architecture of the walls-castle-morro surrounding ... read more

Awoke in San Juan and realized the ride thru paradise was over. Today (in the heat) we will endure the long lines in the cruise terminal, the long walks thru 3 airports, the comical banter with the customs guards to make it home. Our trip covered 2500 nautical miles, lots of great meals, buckets of Bombay Sapphire and hours at a slot mahcine. Every island had something different to offer and we didn't have enough time to see it all. I would think that a littler later in the season would be better to get slightly better weather. I am going to include my favourite pictures in this blog and look forward to the next trip.... read more

Started at 3:30 am. Fairly smooth flights into Miami and then onto San Juan. HOT - 88 degrees and humid... really humid. add a couple of rain storms... did I say humid?? Found hotel after short diversion by cabbie.. (drive like in Santo Domingo) While i was writing under the pretext of getting info, Elke went to the bar and the casino and brought back some blood orange and basil mohitos. Very helpfull staff at Sheraton have directed us to 2 restaurants... 1st - Raices authentic Puerto Rican food - an appetizer featuring plaintains. 2nd - Barrachina, again with local food and flamenco dancers - the home of the pina colada. They claim they invented it - yes i did try one and it was ok - more pineapple than coconut. Main course was a mofongo ... read more

Arrived in San Juan in the early afternoon, a quick car ride from the airport. Got checked into the fabulous Hotel El Convento in the heart of the old city. Then, got out on foot to explore the old city squares, the cathedral, and the old Spanish forts guarding for ships from the Atlantic.... read more

Today was a day of exploration of Old San Juan and the human geography aspects. San Juan is considered a primate city, meaning there is more living within the city itself than the island. In the walking tour of San Juan, there are over 46 destinations, all similar and unique in their own ways. We managed to see a few key sites, such as Fort El Morro, Fort San Cristobal, and many Plazas as well as a church and the cemetery of San Juan. The Plaza’s are numerous throughout San Juan, mainly because of their communal feeling. People of San Juan are largely community based. Evidence of that could be the multiple individual festivals I’ve encountered on my trip here in each city. Each individual plaza holds its own historical value, such as the Plaza de ... read more

After our long day of traveling, we finally made it to San Juan, Puerto Rico about 9pm local time. While waiting for our luggage, we asked one of the airport staff members where we needed to go to get to our hotel. The lady told us to take a taxi to the Pan America Port. In trying to explain to her that we were not going there yet we just needed to get to our hotel, we quickly realized she had no idea what we were saying. So, we gather our luggage, make our way to the taxi stand and jump in. The cabby asked which hotel we needed to go to and again there was the language barrier. Thankfully Mike had printed out the information and grabbed it from his bag. So the cabby looks ... read more

We planned this Puerto Rico vacation about 8 months ago. We went all out since we wanted to do everthing to be first class. Once again we flew DELTA first class, it was Summer's first time flying first class, and she was very excited about this. we left LA at 5am, and got to San Juan at 10pm local time. The first 3 nights we stayed at the Marriott in Condado, Condado is actually the best beach in all of puerto rico, condado is next to Isla Verde, and Old San Juan. Condado was not what we were expecting, we felt lie we were back home, and we were not able to find real Puerto Rican here, then we found House of Orozco na dhtye did have rear puerto rican food. Condado is just like Vegas ... read more