On Thursday MJ and I went to Old San Juan. I planned our route the previous day (with recommendations from vs8 on twitter, thanks again!) so as soon as the taxi dropped us off in the city we were ready to go. From the information center, where we picked up a map, we hopped on the free local “trolley” which was a small bus that stopped at various points throughout the little city. Our first stop was at Cafeteria Mallorca for a quick lunch of sandwiches and sweet breads.
From there we walked over to Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, famed for being the second oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere and the home of the tomb of Ponce de León. I love old cathedrals, and while it wasn’t like the exquisite cathedrals I saw in Dublin last year it certainly was beautiful inside. And as always when I visit these old cathedrals, I am thankful that the church members welcome outsiders into their place of worship.
We walked through the square where a Ponce de Leon statue resides and walked along part of the city walls along the coast. Then it was up to Fort San Felipe del Morro.
I love old forts so visiting El Morro was a lot of fun, even if the adventure started out with some light rain. The complex is quite large, with several floors to walk between from the top where the lighthouse is to the lowest level, and oldest portion of the original fort is on the edge of ocean.
We even saw a couple cats. On our way out we caught a glimpse of a cruise ship passing in front of the fort.
![cats](http://www.princessleia.com/images/journalpics/042011/PR_OSJ_morro_cat_2.jpg"){kind=link}
We then headed back down to Old San Juan and did more exploring through the streets and shops where I picked up some trinkets and post cards for my mother and sister. We ended up at Barrachina which claims to be the “Birthplace of the Famous Pina Colada” and enjoyed a pair of their signature drinks and had a delightful bartender
who offered to take our picture!
Now wikipedia sheds some light on this pina colada claim, saying that the real origin is the hotel we were staying at, Caribe Hilton and then gets into details about claims that it existed even prior to that. I liked the Barrachina one more than the Caribe Hilton ones though, it had more pineapple, though I’m admittedly not the biggest Pina Colada fan and I spent most of the week sipping on various kinds of Mojitos.
It was then off to dinner! We ate at Toro Salao and enjoyed a wonderful assortment of tapas, including two order
s of their green mussels.
By the time we caught a cab back to the hotel it was dark and almost 8PM.