EXPLORING THE WORLD: OLD SAN JUAN AND THE YOUNG CAT WHISPERER

Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Sky Princess
Stateroom S222/17
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sun, 83F

We love Puerto Rico!

Where did our 14,000 steps take us today? Old San Juan is within steps of the port. Our first stop was Walgreen’s for cat nibbles and hair gel. Walgreens is half a block from the ship, and the store gets very busy later in the day. Anyway, TK was on a mission to find the stray cats that we saw on our last visit. The story is that some are believed to be descendants of colonial-era cats brought to the island by Spanish ships. More recently, mid-20^th century, cats were brought to the capital in the to kill rats. Guess what, the cats multiplied.

It did not take long to see cats roaming around as we walked along the tree lined sidewalks next to the shore on this beautiful day. There were parks, gardens, sculptures, pigeons, narrow blue cobblestoned streets, bird of paradise flowers, bougainvillea, mangrove trees with exposed roots, and tourists.

Blue cobblestone street (closeup)

Bricks in Old San Juan streets are blue stone

cast from furnace slag which were brought over

on Spanish ships as ballast.

The blue color comes from age and moisture.

They are beautiful!

Looks to me like a baby being sacrificed

I could not find anything about it

TK and mangrove tree

Close up of mangrove tree

We love tree lined streets and sidewalks!

Street cats

Fountain

Most of the cats were friendly and hungry, they eagerly ate the treats TK was giving them. After a while we arrived at the “Save a Gato” cat sanctuary. A multitude of cats flocked around the “Cat Whisperer,” a sight to behold, as they seemed to treasure the treats that he was giving them. He really enjoyed the cats and probably would have taken one home if he could. He left the rest of the cat treats with the sanctuary.

And then we found the area of the cat sanctuary:

The Cat Whisperer

TK thought the car on the roof was amusing

Soon we arrived at the back a U.S. National Park, which includes the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the citadel/fortification that protected the island from attackers approaching by sea for the 250 years. Because we were coming from the back of the area, we had to climb a very steep mountain. Okay, it was really a hill, but still steep.

It is 16 feet tall, one of five, and the

last one still in existence

The mountain we climbed. It kills me

that I cannot capture perspective

El Morro still protects the island!

By this time we were very thirsty, and TK spotted a sign for a coffee shop within the old army barracks near El Morro. Coffee was probably not the best thirst quencher, but it sure was delicious at the Don Ruiz Café inside the barracks area plaza. It turned out that Don Ruiz is a 4^th generation coffee producer whose ancestors arrived in the Caribbean during the 15^th century Spanish colonization. We would totally recommend a stop for coffee here!

Don Ruiz Cafe

Very good coffee

Army barracks for the fortress

Between El Morro and the barracks is a square with a 4o foot tower known as El Totem Telurico, meant to symbolize the origin of the New World. The square itself was built in 1992 as a commemoration of Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas. I am very fond of public art and Old San Juan did not disappoint!

El Totem Telurico

We continued our journey to Restaurant Barrachina, 104 Fortaleza, in Old San Juan. We always stop here—a place that claims to be the birthplace of the pina colada. The pina colada here (without alcohol) is the very best, fresh, not watered down, delicious pineapple and coconut!

A peak into Barrachina

Entrance

The quintessential Pina Colada!

The appetizers we shared were delicious too. [Assorted fried delicacies (turnovers, corn fritters and croquettes)/ Surtidos de frituras (croquetas, sorullitos de maíz y pastelillitos de carne y pollo)]—whatever they were, they were delicious. I did not ask. Key word: fried.

Obviously we had already eaten a few of these appetizers

I might mention that it wouldn’t be Old San Juan without a policeman holding up traffic for an unknown reason—thing blaring horns, black Suburbans, angry shouts in Spanish. The streets are narrow, reminiscent of our favorite European cities.

TK bought another t-shirt at Cariloha and then he spotted a Starbucks. We have a fun collection of Starbucks coffee cups from many places we have visited. No coffee this time.