November 17 San Juan

November 17

Because we didn't have flight connections to make, we elected to leave the ship on one of the later departures and just stay in bed.  That didn't work out too well, as there was a limited time for breakfast service.  However, we felt no rush and were able to quickly walk off the ship, go through immigrations and customs, and be on our way.

Our hotel had moved us to the third floor (no elevator) because there was no hot water on the second floor.  The view from our balcony is interesting, looking down on the narrow street below.  There is a wire that is attached to various buildings haphazardly, and held up in the middle by a wire across the street from one building to another.  We aren't sure what it is for, but Jim thinks it might be for cable television..

We went for a long walk on streets unknown to us in Old Town and it was very interesting, but hot!  We stopped for a cold drink in an air-conditioned restaurant, that looked like a "hole in the wall"from the outside.  The buildings and streets looked much like New Orleans' French Quarter, and like those homes, there were beautiful and green courtyards just inside the gates.

Castillo San Cristobal

The cobblestones in Old San Juan were brought over as ballast on the ships from Spain and are now being replaced by bricks.  

Plaza de Cristobal Colon

We entered the greatest shop, A Poet's Corner, were original art and poetry was displayed.  They even have poetry readings every Tuesday evening.  While in there, the beautiful sunny day turned into the fury of a rainstorm.  It was impossible to walk in it.  Birds hovered under the gazebo in the plaza or under trees.  Water poured down the sidewalks and streets towards the Bahia de San Juan.  We waited and waited, probably 15 minutes, before we could venture out again.

We walked some more and finally stopped for tapas, Empanadittos Argentina (small, meat-filled turnovers).

Returning to our room, it was siesta time untile we were ready to go out to dinner.

We walked to a restaurant we had seen before, featuring a Moroccan dancer on the steps.  This time it was Spanish Flamenco dancers and we were entertained for well over an hour.  They weren't really very good, but they certainly were enthusiastic.

I'm sorry this photo isn't very clear.  It is due to the low lighting and I didn't want to use a flash.

Back to the room for a great night of sleep.  NO! Our balcony is over the street and about 10:00, it got VERY noisy.  Probably at least 50 people were congregated in the street below our window, shouting, singing, laughing, drinking, and ALL talking at once.  Apparently, they couldn't fit any more people into the bars around.  Loud music came from the bars, and glass was occasionally broken in the street.
This went on until 4:00 a.m, although I think the music stopped about 3:30 a.m.  The glass breaking grew louder as it sounded as if people were throwing their glasses against a wall.  Finally, it seemed quieter as they all left, but by 4:30 a.m., street cleaners started cleaning up the broken glass, making a larger racket than the breaking of it in the first place.

Sunday morning....

By 7:00 a.m., we now had the church-goers shouting at each other in the street as Old Town woke up.
Who could have gone to bed at all?