Puerto Rico 2019: Day 5

DAY 5: Thursday, January 31, 2019

On Day 5, the four of us took an Uber to Old San Juan to spent part of the day. We split up, and Paul and I headed to walk along the perimeter of Old San Juan, along the wall.

First, we snapped a photo at this fountain. This is an area near where the cruise ships dock.

It was a lovely morning for a walk!

This is Puerta de San Juan, or, The Red Gate. This is the only surviving gates into the city. Each gate had a certain purpose. This one was a formal entrance, which Spanish dignitaries used.

From this view, you can see just how thick the city walls are. They were designed to protect the city against attack both by land and by sea.

Cats like to hang out along this area!

The San Juan Bay is behind us.

We kept going, walking around the point where El Morro — the fort — lies.

And we saw quite a few of these big iguanas along the way.

A beautiful view facing to the east.

We ended up at the Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery, which dates back to 1863.

From there, we wandered the streets of Old San Juan.

I love the colorful buildings.

We met up with Brian and Dottie at La Bombonera for lunch. This was the place that Lucia, the piano teacher we met the day before, had recommended for getting the best mallorcas. If you remember from Day 2 during the food tour, we learned that mallorca bread is a Puerto Rican sweet bread roll. It is spiral shaped, as pictured below, either with or without powdered sugar.

Lucia was right: this was an incredible mallorca. We ordered a mallorca prepared as a lunch sandwich, with ham and swiss cheese.

The tour guide from Monday’s food tour had recommended Princesa Gastrobar as a place that had great piña coladas, so we headed there next. We stopped in a few shops along the way.

This is what happens when Paul confiscates use of my camera while I’m in the bathroom. haha!

After having our fill of the wonderful Old San Juan, we took an Uber back to the apartment.

Dinner that evening was at Areyto Puerto Rican Fusion & Sushi Bar, a short walk away on Luisa Street. Brian and Dottie tried out their piña colada, which was more coconut-y here.

My dinner was these amazing fish tacos.

Paul ordered fried pork with tostones — twice-fried plantain slices.

Back home, we topped off the evening with a few rounds of Euchre and Uno.

Stay tuned for Day 6!

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