October 30 Old San Juan

October 30, 2012

We were fascinated with the statues on the streets, like this bronze man 

and pigeon sitting on a park bench. 

Today started slowly as we finally had the opportunity to make up for our lack of sleep.  

We packed our luggage and walked the block or two to the Hotel Casablanca.  What a fascinating place, very Moroccan...pillows and cushions everywhere.  The lobby was elegant and the rooms all had canopies made from mosquito netting.  

Sadly, the room we reserved was having hot water problems and we were offered an upgrade.  We weren't pleased with the upgrade as the room didn't have windows and the room we reserved actually had a balcony.  Still, we wanted hot water for showers in the morning, so they offered us the two rooms...one for us to sleep, and one for us to shower.

We then walked many of the streets in Viejo San Juan, occasionally going into the shops and browsing. I was very interested in all the Middle Eastern clothing and objects for sale.  I guess it isn't so surprising when I think of Spain's long involvement with many of those countries, especially prior to the 1500s when Puerto Rico developed.

We stopped for lunch in a typical Puerto Rican restaurant.  Not knowing many of the menu items, we took a chance and order their lunch special, mofonjo.  It was smashed plaintains with garlic and spices, and it came with your choice of meat as a side dish.  Neither of us were impressed with the lunch.  Plaintains, fixed this way, tasted much like potatoes.  

We returned to our room and spent awhile trying to get the blog and the photos to work properly.  We think we now have it mainly fixed.

We walked to dinner at a delightful tapas restaurant, and then back to the room to watch the devastation in the East on CNN.  It is incredible!  I am glued to the tv whenever we are in the room.  I am missing my daily Rachel Maddow fix on MSNBC as our only national station is CNN.