Yesterday we spent the day touring San Juan.  Old San Juan is filled with beautiful old buildings, cobblestone streets, and people everywhere.  With all the cruise ships coming in, there are many more tourists than in Ponce, but it doesn’t feel like the city has sold its sole to the cruise ships.  We focused mainly on the forts, starting first with Castillo de San Cristobal.  The fort was built by the Spanish in the 1700’s to protect the city of San Juan.  It used to cover almost 27 acres and was effectively a wall around the city.  It stood strong through several invasions, finally succumbing to the United States in the Spanish American War, in 1898.  It is now a United Nations National Historic Site.          

After we finished with San Cristobal, we walked down to San Felipe Del Morro, another impressive fort.                                                    

Outside the fort was an enormous grass field, where people were sitting reading books, flying kites, or just sitting and talking.  Our kids couldn’t pass up the chance to roll down the hill.  It looked like a great place to pass the day.   Just outside the fort, hidden away on a small piece of ocean front land was the Cementerio Santa Maria Magdalena De Pazzis.  It was absolutely breathtaking!                                                                    The sorrow expressed by some of the statues was so apparent, and so moving.  Many of the graves were very old.  I am not sure it is used much anymore, but a plaque on the outside said that many of Puerto Rico’s most influential men are buried there.  It is a must see if you ever go to Old San Juan. 

After that, we walked around the city and back down by the cruiseship docks where we were parked (after a quick stop at Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream).  We were exhausted by the time we got there, and the kids conked out on the way home. 

Today we took it easy, trying to get the boat back together.  The cabin lights we ordered came in and Dan tried one of them out.  Hopefully they will make the place brighter at night.  We have a few more places we want to visit, and a few boat chores we want to get done before we get out of here sometime next week.  Our next big outing is the Three Kings Festival we are looking forward to on January 6th!