Last Night

Our last night in Puerto Rico was quite interesting. I had packed a special dress because we had decided to go out to at least one fancy dinner. Our concierge made reservations for us at "Las Palmas" inside the ESJ (El San Juan hotel). So we decided to enjoy another day full lounging on the beach. So we made our way down to the pool area and we headed onto to the beach to build camp. We found some chairs and proceeded to bake for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. For some reason or another we called home this particular day. Juju was talking to his mom and they had a conversation about how she still had plenty of family that lived in puerto rico. My MIL then called her brother who was the last person to be in most recent contact with "tio Angi" from Puerto Rico. After a few hours of phone tag & voice messages we finally got to speak to tio Angi. Now this is was our last day there, we had already returned our rental and we planned on having dinner then possibly hang out in the casino. Tio Angi said he felt bad knowing we were there and not meeting us, so he asked if he wanted to meet him later that evening.

Tio Angi ended up picking us up around 7 ish in front of our hotel. He and his daughter were very nice, they asked questions about how we met, how the wedding was and how everyone was doing back home. He took us to see other Old San Juan "after dark". I definitely felt a lot more comfortable being there at night with them. He gave us a lot of history on the different buildings and we walked around a bit. You could feel the vibe of the night life in Old San Juan. We stopped to get a bite to eat at a restaurant called 'Raices'. When i was initially researching places to go eat in Puerto Rico, I came across this place and definitely wanted to try it.

The restaurant Raices (meaning Roots- how ironic we went to eat a place called roots with tio Angi.... get it family tree, roots... i know, i know, im a dork ) any way i digress, as i was saying the restaurant was quite charming. All the wait staff wore typical Jibaro clothing and the food was served in small pots and pans. The food was really good, i unfortunately had to leave my left overs since we were heading back home the next day.

They dropped us off back at our hotel where Juju's friend Beto ( who also lives in milwaukee, just happened to be in puerto rico the same time we were there, what a coincidence huh?) and his girlfriend joined us for a few drinks.

We decided to go to a local bar to get some drinks. The bar we were going to go to was just a few hotels over, so we walked down and out the door. Then juju said it was closer if we just 'cut' thru the beach. So we walked along the beach, and it was quite breath taking. The moon lit the water and made it glimmer in the darkness of the night. All you could hear was the waves crashing and the coquis singing. it was actually very romantic, minus the fact we were walking with another couple.

Day 5? El Morro

So I'm a lot behind on posting... but i figured better late then never, right?


One of the places i wanted to go to while in Puerto Rico was El Morro. The full name is actually Castillo de San Felipe del Morro. But its widely known as El Morro. Just a little history lesson on it-The construction of this six-level fortress was begun in 1540 and completed in 1589. Its main purpose was to serve as a fort front to invaders. Rising 140 feet above the sea, its 18-foot-thick wall proved a formidable defense.

Here we are at beginning of the path to walk down and into the castle. It was a beautiful day, but it was tremendously hot and muggy.

As you can see, its sits on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. You can hear the waves crash against the rocks as you get closer to the edges of el Morro.The views were spectacular. The height advantage let you see clear cross the ocean.I totally forgot what this small island was called, but back in the day, it served as a quarantine for all of the people who had leprecy. There was a few telescopes you could look through where it showed the actual hospital building were these people were sent away to. Now its used as a recreational site, with picnic tables and all!The Castle was massive and pretty confusing to walk around in. El Morro was built this way. It has tons of tunnels, stair ways, secret paths and there is even some paths that lead no where. It was amazing to see that most parts of the castle were still in tact.

Here my lovely husband decided that he might get a better view from higher up. So he decided to climb up one of the walls. I know it doesn't look very high in the picture but it was pretty darn high, just look at how tiny he looks up there. All i could think to myself was, oh he is so gonna fall and break something. So there he went climbing the fort walls wearing chanclas. I think he actually took them off to get back down.


Giant Q-tip


Here we are in the entrance way of the castles corner look out post.



Down below right on the water front, there is a lovely cementery. Its the San Juan Cemetery. It is located right behind 'La Perla'. Its actually quite sad, everywhere you research information about el morro or old san juan, it talks about the perla and the cemetery adjacent to it, and it specifically states it is not "recommended" to visit- It is not safe for tourists, even though the bright colors look inviting. I stop to think about the people who are actually buried there. I wonder if there is unvisited grave site due to the danger one faces going into the outskirts of town. Many times i've read online something to the effect of- "outside the city walls", "beyond the islands' limit" and "outside the morro wall". It makes it sound so scary and dangerous. Im sure people from la perla have family and friends buried there, but i wonder if there is other people buried there, like before the perla took over that part of the island. You can see the Morro's wall in the picture below. Look to the right....you see that White mausoleum looking like thing? behind it... the brown wall- That's the Morro's most outer wall.

You can actually see the perla right behind the cemetery- top to the left.


And here we are leaving, about to go eat our savvy lunch... oh you'll see.

We knew we had a long day planned ahead of us, so we decided to make us some sandwiches and bring em with. We figured we were going out to dinner later that night so might as well save some money on lunch... And yes, that is WHITE bread. We figured what they hey! We're on our honeymoon... lets go CRAZY!!