¡Viva España!
Here we are in the Luís Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan. This week has been really fast and really slow all at the same time. We are trying to figure out the magic of our trip that it feels almost like our time in the rain forest was a different vacation entirely. If we can figure that out, maybe we can make sure to recreate it every year.
Our last full day in San Juan (yesterday) was probably our best day of the entire trip, which was a nice way to end it. We started early, seeing El Fuerte de San Cristóbal. It is the second fort of San Juan, though it is the largest Spanish fort in the Americas. It was built to protect San Juan from land attacks while El Morro protected her from the sea. Just like with El Morro, the US Navy added some observation decks during World War II. It was interesting to see these modern-day sentry posts sitting just yards from the Spanish variety circa 1500.
After a few hours at the fort, we wandered around the city and visited a few museums. We got what amounted to a private tour of a museum of everyday life in the 16th Century (everyday wealthy life at any rate). No one else was there, and it was clearly geared toward puertorriqueños since it was completely in Spanish – not even an English brochure. The guard walked us around and Emily did a pretty good job of translating the signs. It was interesting to compare this house and its layout and furnishings with the houses (museums) we visited in England and Scotland that represented contemporary houses in those environments.
We also visited El Museo de las Américas which turned out to be a really fascinating combination of historical exhibits about the native peoples of both North and South America, the African heritage of Puerto Rico, the evolution of modern day Puerto Rican culture, and modern art exhibits with works by the students of a nearby art school. It was by far the best museum we visited in San Juan. Our favorite exhibit was a 100-year-old diorama about everyday country life in Puerto Rico. It was given to FDR when he was President and was returned to Puerto Rico by his estate. There was also a very elaborate dollhouse made by one of Puerto Rico’s first interior designers over the course of three years. The level of detail on such a small scale was really amazing.
The best part of the day, though, was our dinner. By sheer luck, we happened to pick up a card for the restaurant La Rosa de Triana in our hotel lobby. We had walked past it several times, but kept thinking it was too expensive. It turns out, however, that they have live Flamenco shows on Friday nights, so we decided it was worth it (Emily had been wanting to go there all week since it was clearly a Spanish restaurant – as opposed to Puerto Rican, Mexican, etc.). Apparently, the owner, Rosa, is from the neighborhood in Seville where Flamenco was born (at least officially) – the neighborhood of Triana. We both had a blast, and Emily smiled all night because she felt like she was back in Spain. We had Tinto de Verano (red wine mixed with Sprite), which she drank all over Spain, but hadn’t had since. We also had tapas and Emily ended up joining in the Flamenco show – dancing the Sevillana. The show was fantastic. It was really nice that it was a small stage and audience, so you didn’t feel like you were just part of a huge crowd. I enjoyed it much more than the salsa club on Thursday night.
So, there you have it…nuestra semana en Puerto Rico. It was a great week, with two distinct trips included. It was an almost perfect mix of going & doing and sitting & resting. We feel like we saw a lot, but we aren’t coming home tired and in need of a vacation from our vacation. So, hats off to Emily, our planner for a great trip for 2009. Next year.....?
Comments
Hannah