SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

We left Key West, Florida at 6 PM on Monday, and after traveling 959.8 miles we docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Wednesday, February 15 at 10 AM. Because of Hurricane Maria, we weren't sure what to expect. We had enough to see in town and didn't see any damage. I am sure if we had gone ventured out, we would have seen a different story. I found several recent articles about Puerto Rico after the hurricane. Here is one from the Puerto Rico Tourism that is just two weeks old. It doesn't show pictures of the areas back in the mountains that are still devastated by Maria, but you can search Puerto Rico after the hurricane and you will find articles that do show pictures of the areas still needing help.  

On our way to the forts, we walked past the Statue of Christopher Columbus ...

Here we are with the Castillo San Cristobal in the background...

The two forts are National Historic Sites so if you have a Senior Pass for National Parks, you can get in free. Paid admission does get you into both parks, but you need to save your receipt to show at the second fort.

A view of the fort without us...

Here are some pictures I took of the view from the fort...

On the way to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, we walked first past the Cementerio San Maria de Pazzis...

Our next stop was Iglesia de San Jose (San Jose Church) built in the 1530s but it was under restoration and we couldn't go in...

By El Totem, a granite-clay totem pole that honors all of the peoples of the Americas and their origins to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's landing in the Americas...

looking down a street...

and the Catedral of San Juan Bautista...

It is the oldest church under the U.S. flag and the second oldest church in the Americas dating back to 1521. It is currently under a restoration program that is almost finished.

La Muralla, the nearly 400 year old city call...

The blue building you can see above the wall is the governor's mansion, the oldest governor's mansion still in use in the Western Hemisphere.

 San Juan Gate...

A statue on the way back to the ship...

and a well-deserved rest. As in Key West, we had spent a day doing a lot of walking but seeing so much beauty. Our ship stayed in port until 11 PM, but I was sound asleep by that time.