Okay, I'll go first. Leslie and I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico at the end of summer. I got pulled into summer school, so we decided to take a vacation before I had to be back at school again.
It was fun. I was kind of expecting Mexico, but it was completely different. It had more of a Spanish feel, with a teaspoon of USA thrown in. The culture there is very friendly.
Most of what we did was the beach, but we did rent a car and go the rainforest - El Yunque. Thanks to our research on the 'net, we got there very early on a weekday and missed the crowds that take away from the rainforest experience. Nothing but a slight wet feel and nature.
The rainforest is basically a drive up a big mountain with places to get out and go on hikes or look at vistas of prehistoric plants. At one point, there's a big tower. I guess the Spanish put it there so they could see ships approaching the east coast. The fact that it's in the middle of the rainforest and on top of a mountain makes me think it took a lot of effort to build.
Old San Juan was another adventure. It's the old Spanish settlement at the opening of the Bahia de San Juan. The streets are paved in stone - but not rough stone like on Laclede's Landing - and they are very narrow. The architecture is Spanish, and everything is painted brightly. It almost reminded me of New Orleans, but a little bit better well-kept. There's a lot of shopping there, everything from touristy-type stuff to handmade hats and cigars. There are even contemporary stores like Coach and Burberry, and small shops of independent clothing designers.
The Castillo de San Cristobal was a Spanish fort built on a big hill in Old San Juan. We walked around it and saw some really nice views from the top. It was a lot just walking to the top, so again, I couldn't imagine building such a huge, sprawling, stone complex.
The rest of the time, we were at the hotel. The area had more of a neighborhood feel than a tourist area. There was a mix of hotels and condos, so there wasn't a continuous stream of restaurants and bars. There were a few restaurants within walking distance, so we'd stroll down and get some food. The surprising thing was that we never really got Puerto Rican food. We ate Italian, Mexican, Argentinian, etc. I guess this was the American influence on the city. They had a lot of outdoor dining which was nice with the pleasant weather.
It was a really fun vacation, and it was nice to be on the beach again. I was happy to be there, and happy to come home like on every trip. It's nice to have memories of being away.
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