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Published: July 29th 2015
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Water fountains
Depicting the graciousness and color of Old San Juan June 5th
INTRODUCING:
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
We took a taxi from the airport to Historic Old San Juan, yet another capital city. We booked our first two nights into the S. J. Suites Hotel. There were ups and downs to the hotel. The price was right and the location was wonderful. The air conditioner, however, was controlled by the manager which meant it was very cold at night. Michael finally fixed that. We were the only people on the fourth floor so he went into the hall and turned the AC off. What a relief. Since we didn’t want to spend our dwindling remaining time together on the computer, we stayed at S. J. Suites till Michael left for the airport.
Once again I enjoyed sightseeing in the city with Michael. We stepped out the door of our hotel and right into the center of the colorful, quiet, historic, old town and walked around. And I mean “walked around.” We walked for hours. We wanted to get on the local shuttle, but we were never at a stop when the shuttle was there. We went to the old
Typical Street Scene
Colorful, gracious, architectural detail - houses of Old San Juan forts, the government house, many plazas, and passed by many small shops that certainly called MY name. But I would have unlimited time to check them out after Michael’s departure. For the time being I wanted to be with Michael.
Unfortunately the second day in San Juan I became ill and finally went back to the hotel and stayed in bed, watched a little TV, and waited for my nausea to pass. Michael was very dear and supportive. He went out for an hour or two to see more of San Juan, and when he returned he had a sandwich for me from Subway, which I enjoyed much later when I was feeling better. I think I had a little food poisoning from our last breakfast in Santiago the day before.
Michael and I had a slim hope of diving in Puerto Rico before he had to catch his return flight to Portland, Oregon. We went to the Tourist Information Center on the waterfront and asked about scuba diving. It does not seem to be a big tourist attraction here, and time was running out. Michael will have to return to Puerto Rico to
The Fort
Great weather for sightseeing. dive another time. We both liked Puerto Rico and plan to return. It is easy to get around, the prices are OK, the money is the American dollar and most people speak English. In a pinch, we ate at Subway, which was familiar and good. Finding good local food was a challenge. The kiosk in Columbus plaza had great mofongos. My favorite was the chicken trifongo (yellow and green plantains, and yucca); it tastes kind of like shepherds pie.
Michael was kind enough to help me find a hostel to stay in after he left for home. We had a romantic dinner at a very nice restaurant, next to the hostel, right behind the Plaza Colon (Columbus) with its enigmatic statue of Columbus pointing to…what? New lands, perhaps?
The last day we both left the hotel at the same time. I took the first taxi to my hostel, and he took the second taxi to the airport. It would have been fun to continue traveling together, but Michael’s passport was expiring and he had to go back to Portland to renew it. So…
I was on my own again.
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