or a dollar short, but certainly an hour or so arriving at San Juan. You would think we had been on the seas for months the way that most of the passengers have been acting. Whining, bitching, moaning about that hour.
everyone hanging out the balconies on the way in
There was a turbine issue last night, so one of the engines was taken off line. The end result was that the ship went a bit slower than initially planned and we didn’t make the 1600 arrival time. Big deal. Not. It is not like anyone wanted this to happen, or that people couldn’t find enough to do or find things to eat. Hello? The Independence is a huge ship (at least from my point of view) with ability to feed 1/2 a division practically at one sitting.
So anyway. Old San Juan is lovely when seen from the water with the fort holding the place of honor above the hill. Even better is old San Juan viewed from up close.
lovely area from where I watched the ship
the fort
What I did discover to my dismay is that my favorite coffee shop, complete with high speed WiFi is open only until 1800. In fact they are normally only open til 1700. In spite of the short time, I managed to upload files, download my email, pull about a third of the next round of lectures and get you cabin pictures.
palms
along the sea wall
Then, while waiting for sunset I went for a hike along the road next to the fort. It is lovely, well maintained and possessed of not a few cars doing the high speed drive to somewhere.
front of gov building
inset
After passing government buildings and monuments I decided to cut back to the other shore of this tiny outputting of land. Deciding I was safe as long as there were either women or children in the street I managed to avoid the drunk, angry and disposed. It seems that once you are out of the historic part of the city there is that area between there and the modern downtown which is probably best not walked by tourists on their own.
the other neighborhood
Looping around, I sat in a park area watching the sun go down behind trees, buildings and ship taking the occasional photo till the camera battery died before heading back to my cabin.
and the lights come on
sea horse
ok – that is my cabin
the ship as it starts to get dark
There was also a slight matter of bugs. I haven’t been here after sundown in the evening. The local population may not come out but the insects certainly do. Rather than provide a tasty tourist snack, it was time to beat a strategic retreat.
other side of the gov building. I just don’t know what all those men are doing in the windows
