Overnight in San Juan

What better to follow a cold weekend in New York than a Caribbean cruise.  Think warm!  We like the Windstar Cruises, with typically 200-250 passengers on the ship and 150 or so crew.  The feeling is intimate and we can get to know the crew (and do, indeed, remember each other as we meet in later years).

We meet the ship, Star Legend, in San Juan, flying in the night before departure and poking around San Juan for a day.  The first views are very promising!

We're not in [cold] Manhattan any more!

For dinner, Jennifer and I sit in the bar as Laura trolls the neighborhood for possibilities (if you recall, this worked really well in Livorno, Italy).  She finds La Cantina down the street from the hotel and we have a great meal to start our journey:  fish tacos, grilled octopus, and seafood paella.  And, as we get our entrees, a flamenco dancer!  What a great local experience!

 Fish tacos (mostly consumed) and grilled octopus

 Flamenco dancer

 Seafood paella

The next morning, we hang out at the hotel pool for a while, check in at the ship after lunch, and wander around Old San Juan for a few hours.

Holiday fair in Old (Viejo) San Juan

Heading away from the harbor, we come on the state capital and blocks of commemorative statues and sculptures.

 Capital, sculptures lining the street in front

We pass the fort and head into the narrow streets of Old San Juan.

Fort

  Colorful streets of Old San Juan

 And, with plenty of plazas and holiday decorations.

 Open spaces and holiday decorations

After an hour or two, we jigger-jagger back through the streets toward the harbor and our ship, passing a grand fountain, a park where everyone feeds the pigeons, and parts of the old San Juan city wall.

 Parts of the Old San Juan city wall

Pigeon-feeding park

And, outside the walls, close to the harbor, a Holiday market and great gardens.

 Holiday market

 Fantastic paths and gardens just outside the city walls

Then, a walk along the edge of the harbor to our ship, soon to depart.

Our ship awaits us.