This is the third visit to Old San Juan for my wife and I and the second with the kids, the last time being a few years ago on Disney. As such, we opted for low-key this time.
Son is walking much better after his ankle injury on the first day but we didn’t want to push it in San Juan, with the hills, uneven sidewalks, stairs, and distance. And daughter just didn’t a big walker. So wife and I set out with no real destination in mind, only a plan to walk and sightsee.
If the ship docks with the bow facing Old San Juan then, roughly speaking, there is one fort in front of you (Castillo San Cristobal) and another to the northwest (Castillo San Felipe del Morro).
We decided to do a clockwise walking loop, leading west from the cruise terminal along the water and then meeting up with a nice path that runs between the harbor and San Felipe del Morro. This path was not heavily trafficked (at least not at 9:30am), paved and well-maintained, and provided unique views of both the water and the outside of the castillo. As you continue along the path to the north side you encounter the powerful waves outside the harbor smashing against the rocks. Impressive!
Kitty.
Come for the zumba, stay for the historic Spanish fort.
For us, rain was threatening, so we hastened our walk up the stairs to the fort. The sprinkles held off until we were in the middle of the wide, wide open space between the entrance of the castillo and the rest of the town: zero protection! But, unlike earlier in the cruise, it wasn’t one of those Florida-style drenching downpours, just some light sprinkles.
We continued our walk east along the north side of the island to the Capitol Building, where work was underway setting up for the inaguration of a new governor on January 2.
We then doubled back to the ship. Our total walk was a little more than 4 1/2 miles per my watch.
We lucked out, as around 12 hours after we left the whole island of Puerto Rico would be plunged into a massive power outage.
Tomorrow: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.