San Juan

Our cruise docked in San Juan and as our flight was not returning until 5 pm on Sunday, we took a morning walking tour of the Old City.

Our tour guide, Marissa, was excellent and pointed out things we hadn't learned on our prior visits.

We learned that San Juan is the oldest city associated with the USA and is the second oldest in the Carribean(oldest is Santo Domingo, DR). Spanish influence is everywhere with the Spanish built forts, barracks and churches. The original cobblestone streets of the old city have a blue colour and were made from adoquine, a blue stone cast from furnace slag brought over as ballast on Spanish ships. San Juan means rich port and was the site of several battles. But until it was ceded to the US after the Spanish American war, San Juan only fell for a brief period before being regained by the Spanish. This is due to the many forts, one of which we toured, Fort San Felipe del Morro.

I've shared a few photo highlights in the slide show below.

I'll post more on our cruise over the next few days or so.