San Juan Puerto Rico

After two days of sailing and lectures on the history of Cuba, the CIA's involvement in South and Central America, and one on whales, dolphins and sea birds, we quietly slipped into San Juan's spacious harbor, joining several other cruise ships at the docks. We meant to run up on deck to watch, but by the time we got dressed the Sun had already moored.

Three Kings

That was our bad luck. The good luck was that it was again Christmas! Puerto Rico celebrates on the day the three Kings came to see the baby Jesus, and we were here!

Our guide said Puerto Ricans still give the presents on December 25th, so the kids have time to play with them before they go back to school, but January 6th is their special special Christmas Day.

An inexperienced new driver, a concerned passenger
and an even more concerned Mom

Handle barred skateboards, some motorized, bicycles, tricycles...all new,  were out in full force.
Traffic was bumper to bumper and at a standstill on the one lane streets of San Juan, but no one seemed frustrated, no horns honking or jockeying for position. Everyone was just out relaxing and enjoying the special day.



The day actually started rather quietly, when we hit the streets for our 9:30 AM walk to the fort, Castillo San Cristobal. Other than our group, the town was rather sleepy.

Long lines waiting for Amusement Park to Open

But soon families were out in full force to celebrate the kings. Some started lining up for the downtown NAVITOWN amusement park on the water's edge.

Families in San Juan With Viking ship in Background

There was another main park right next to the docks where many vendors had booths, perhaps usually for tourists, but today it was the San Juan families who were there, taking advantage of the holiday on a beautiful day.




Our tour group met at the end of the pier and slowly walked up the streets to the fort, Castillo San Cristibal, right at the middle of the city, overlooking the blue Caribbean. Our group could be described as motley...If you remember the average age on board was 75-80, and unlike the next door Carnival ship where tourists bounded off to see the sites, our group shuffled over the streets some falling behind as they could not figure out how to plug in the ear phones. Others used a cane or a somewhat healthier significant other, but still  had trouble making it up the sloping streets to the fort. Even the tour guide had to slow the pace for his own breathing and apologized for not being able to talk while he walked.

But it was a determined lot and we made it through the gate of the 20 foot thick walls, where after catching his breath, the guide was actually exceptional in bringing the history of the fort and the numerous attacks by the Dutch and English to life, why they were attempted and why they failed.

The Views from on top of Castillo San Cristabol

San Juan was the first safe harbor for European ships on their way across the Atlantic to pillage the silver and gold of Mexico. Even though discovered and claimed by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493, after a two day stay, he put Ponce de Leon in charge and took off.  The forts were 150 years in the making, and following each unsuccessful attack, concerned commanders made it bigger and better, until the main walls were 80 feet high, 20 feet thick.  Two lesser walls surrounded these.  A formidable fortress.The first  fort was actually built by Ponce de Leon a mile or so away from this one, but after his countrymen kept complaining of these new to them things called mosquitoes, they moved the fort to its present position on higher ground where it was able to take advantage of the moderate and relentless trade winds that blew these pests away.

Ponce de Leon's House in the background

Ponce de Leon had a special house built just for him, right on the water, but before it was even done, he got the urge to head to Florida to go search for the Fountain of Youth and never made it back, the youth giving fountain ironically doing him in.

The first major attack was in 1595,  carried out by the famous pirate on England's payroll, Sir Francis Drake. His forces never made it past the first wall, and had to retreat after Drake lost his second in command. Drake left for Florida where he probably died of war wounds, but to allow the English to save face, his death was officially credited to dyssentery.

The British in a second attack in 1598, actually conquered the fort, but they made a crucial mistake in using horses instead of manpower to re-enforce the grounds, because of the intense heat and humidity. This sounded like a good idea until one realized that the work was done mainly in the muster area inside the fort, and below this were the cisterns that held all the rainwater for drinking.  All the manure quickly soaked through the ground, contaminating the water, leading to the deaths of 400 of the 1200 English occupants within six weeks, and the English abandoned the fort back to the Spanish without a shot.

The small jut of land off the north edge of Puerto Rico, that guarded the bay inlet actually had several other forts, the largest one being Castille San Felipe del Morro, otherwise known as El Morro.  Here can be seen the high walls along the coast that protected the gated city of San Juan from siege.

 













       
El Morro...

On the grounds of El Morro was a huge green space, where
hundreds of families were taking advantage of the holiday.
If you look closely, you can see most of them are flying kites purchased from nearby vendors. Thanks to the trade winds, kite flying is always exceptional.                                                                                                 

Kite Flying at El Morro

Man's Best Friend forever

On one of the tombs in the adjacent cemetery, possibly waiting for his master to return, lay the
only dog we saw roaming the town.

Gate of the Walled City

 Travelers would breathe a sigh of relief as they entered this well protected city. At one time the whole city had been surrounded by this wall, but later two sides were taken down to allow the city to increase in size.

The gated city of San Juan is where the wealthy had lived, and still do, being safe behind the walls. Whatever damage Hurricane Maria had done here, it has pretty well recovered.



This is not the case in other areas. Just to the north of the city wall, going down the slopes to the water was La Perla home of the working people where the slaughterhouses and other dirty businesses had flourished.According to a book written in 2018, this can be a dangerous neighborhood at night.  where drugs are king, fortunes are made quickly, but people die young.  Houses here have not recovered from the hurricane's fury.

LaPerla

 

La Perla below San Cristabol's walls

Blue brick streets of San Juan

 Along the narrow one-way streets were Spanish style houses with ornate balconies, some of iron, others of intricate wood. Festive garlands and signs, statues and drapes depicting the Three Kings were everywhere. The streets were made of bricks that had been used as ballast on the journey here, the ships hold later filled with the kegs of rum going back to Europe. They had a blue look to them which we were told was from the oxygenation of the high iron content. Over the years the brick streets had become bumpy and a short attempt was made to replace them with asphalt, but this was quickly stopped, and rightly so.

 Bike Group with Castille de Cristobol
in the Background

  

San Juan's Downtown
                                         

         

Celebrating Three Kings Day Mass

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

The state house has a statue of liberty and a quotation by Abraham Lincoln on the building. Below the statue is a wall inscribed with all the Puerto Ricans that fought in the Vietnam War. Yes...Puerto Rico is part of the USA despite what some politicians believe.

Grade School with a statue of Abraham Lincoln 

Christopher Columbus...Hero or Villian?

The indigenous Tiano people had graciously welcomed Columbus and the Spanish to Cuba. In return, the Spanish invited 80 of their leaders to a meal, and set the house on fire, killing all of them. The Tiano queen was offered either to become a concubine or to be hanged, and she chose the latter.  Later the Spanish used the people for work, and with time they people became slaves, later many dying of smallpox, and the remaining two-thirds died of measles. Only a handful are left, and little is known about their ancestors since they had no written language and left few artifacts.