Sunday, Feb 1, 2015
Well looky here ... there's the Valor waiting for us in the early morning light. This cruise is really happening!
Our proposed breakfast joint hasn't opened yet, but who has time to sit around and wait? We'll visit the cemetery first and eat later.
We walk down an almost deserted Calle del Sol. Here and there we run into locals going about their business; getting ready for work, sweeping the sidewalk, ducking in and out of parked cars tailed by a string of stray kitties as they fill up strategically hidden food bowls. A different world from the hustle and bustle brought on by the tourists later in the day.
The road drops you off right in front of the gate.
The first grave you will find if you walk straight in
Unfortunately, the sun is playing hide and seek with us -- not great for photographing grave sites. Luckily, this little guy was ready for some loving after he finished eating the fish the groundskeeper brought for him.
A rare sunny moment: the older section of the cemetery with its trademark chapel.
Established in 1863, the oceanfront Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis cemetery is the final resting place for several of Puerto Rico's most famous residents, such as politicians like Samuel R. Quiñiones, founder of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.
As well as many artists, including this highly original headstone by painter Rafael Tufiño.
A lone male angel ... or maybe there were others and I missed them.
Not an angel, but she definitely caught my eye
That puts me near the edge of La Perla, one San Juan's few remaining slums. Infamous for its thriving heroin trade, you'll do best to stay away from there.
Interestingly, on the other side of the street someone had painted a string of positive messages and hearts on the guardrail:
♥ paz ♥ amor ♥ felicidad ♥ buena vibra ♥ ... (peace, love, happiness, good vibes ...)
The best (safest) view of La Perla though is from inside the cemetery near the ocean at the eastern edge.
Just as we are about to head out, the sun peeks out from behind the clouds and I sprint back to capture my favorite angel basking in the sun.
Wanting to see as much of Old San Juan as possible, we start heading back one block over along Calle de San Sebastian.
With a short detour up Calle del Mercado for this artfully boarded up building.
All the colors of the rainbow brighten up the northern end of Calle de San Justo.
It's not just cats that roam the streets of San Juan.
Caficultura, the corner coffee shop, is hopping when we get back to Plaza Colón.
It looks like we'll have a bit of wait ahead of us, but after about five minutes they decide to open up extra seating near the kitchen. Our eyes devour the mouthwatering dishes being prepared next to us while we wait for our food to come out. By the looks of things you can't really go wrong here.
Sandy has ordered the same with bacon, but our shy hippy server brings out a ham sandwich instead, which she promptly dug into and liked.
Doesn't that look good?! They use some kind of special coating on their potatoes to make them extra yummy. Hard to decide what was better ... the sandwich or the potatoes? I may have to go back for a taste before making my final decision.
In all fairness, I chose this place for it's coffee. They make the cutest drawings in the froth! Having recently gotten turned onto cappuccino this seemed like a fine place to have a fresh cup, but it was much too strong for my used-to-artificial-junk-from-the-gas-station taste buds.
We've timed it perfectly! Just enough time to check-out without incurring any penalties, but late enough that hopefully we can head straight to the pier.
A last look at our cozy little room ...
And this is what it looks like from the outside. It's the tall building in the middle with all the balconies.
Another picture with the statue of Christopher Columbus. The square was originally called something other than Plaza Colón, but renamed in 1893 to mark the 400th anniversary of his discovery of Puerto Rico.
Off to the side, a gaggle of tourists are crowding around a man with an iguana wearing a Puerto Rican cape.
For a small "donation" you too can spend time with Luiz, the iguana.
Having already stopped by the Walgreens a couple of times without finding small packs of bottled soda we decide to look for the CVS instead. That turned out to be great decision; it is much larger than the Walgreens and the isles are so wide that we were able to bring in our luggage, instead of one of us having to wait outside with the bags while the other shops. It is located right on the waterfront near pier #2 on Paseo de Concepción de Gracia.
We're not in any kind of hurry so we spend some time browsing through the sunglasses. I always seem to misplace mine, or sit on them, so having an extra pair will come in handy!
We also buy a super cute Puerto Rico tote bag that you'll see in many pictures later on. You see, we specifically brought a small sports bag to take with us on excursions, but for some reason it smells horrific ... like a cat peed on it, or maybe from stashing wet clothes in it at some point ... whatever it was; it's gotta go!
Luiz and I say, "Adios, San Juan!"
~ ~ Join us aboard the Carnival Valor in part II ~ ~
Hello,
ReplyDeleteWhat a big ship.
Oh, I like the cat picture. The way his tail curls back to his ears. The summit of elegance.
I love cemeteries, I'm a statue lover too. The statues are beautiful. All the draps and folds betray an enormous craftmanship. The Italian are renowed for this. The Campo Santo in Genua has lotts of statues dressed in lace, made of marble. To go there is on my bucketlist! Your favorite has the nicest wings. Maybe you're a wing lover?
Nice picture of the chapel with the red dome, the long shadows and the strange light ( I always betray myself as a Hopper fan)
What a giant catterpillar. But even more interresting are the bricks underneath! I think they are called Scoria ( or Skoria) bricks. They're English and their sole purpose was ballast in the big ships if the cargo wasn't heavy enough.
Oh yes, that's my daugther, wearing a red pirate shirt and cradling an iguana. I wonder what tomorrow will bring!!!
Lotts of love,
Joeve
That's cool about the bricks! I had no idea ... Puerto Rico was a busy trade port though, so it makes sense.
DeleteI love angels, the bigger wings the better!