Pam and Ed Bliss are also joining us on this adventure but are wisely on a later flight and will join us at our San Juan Hotel, el Convento. \240We are all excited to explore this old island with a rich history. I’ve never been before so always excited to visit a new place.

We had a smooth \2402 hour flight with a short 20 minute drive to our hotel, The El Convento. \240Right in the heart of old town SanJuan. \240Weather is spectacular, 75 degrees, low humidity.

Well, I don’t think Cynthia and I can travel without a few starting mishaps. \240We checked into the hotel and they had given me a larger room with two king beds,nice but too much for little ole me on my own. \240I came down to the front desk and said I would take the smaller queen bed room and give the larger room to Pam and Ed….. you all know how BIG they are…haha😁

so Pam and Ed arrived a couple hours after us. \240We went to the desk for their keys and the gal says “oh no, they already arrived and were given their keys”. WTF, I say I’m standing right here next to them and they need that room! Unbelievably they gave that room to a complete stranger who told them he was with the Cocker party and that double bed room was for him! (At least that is the story the poor young girl at the desk told us) I think she just screwed up royally. \240After a couple hours and a few Karen episodes by me we finally got a king bed room for Pam and Ed. Always something but alls well that ends well, I guess. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. It’s absolutely charming and perfectly located but has lots of problems. \240Super noisy and bad staffing!

Anyway, we had a good dinner, a few drinks and all is good. I nearly froze to death last night and have a bad cold, compliments of Cynthia, but will not let it spoil my trip.

Old San Juan is probably the most colorful place I have ever been. The old walled city is only 8 blocks long by 6 blocks wide. \240We booked a great walking tour for this morning. \240After a hearty breakfast at another hotel just down the street (where I think we should have stayed) we meet up with our tour guide Frankie for a 3 hour tour. We meet a sweet couple from New York who are on our tour.

Waiting for our guide at the BancoPublico.

Everything is incredibly neat, clean and fantastic color combinations on everything. Almost as if Bryan Pulte had been here choosing the right colors for each and every building!

I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of the thousands of cats that wander the town as if they own it! They are protected and fed and managed by the city as pest control platoons.

The whole of old town is blue cobblestone bricks, hundreds of years old , brought here from london. Did I mention that San Juan was founded in the late 1400’s by Christopher Columbus and shortly after by Ponce de Leon! \240The geographical location of PR made it the 1st stop on Atlantic crossings to get supplies and labor. \240I really need to investigate the indigenous people who lived here at the beginning, all from surrounding Caribbean countries.

The old medieval walls are massive and provided protection for centuries and throughout many wars.

On this map you can see how very compact the old city is. The old fort Moro is next on our tour

The views of the ocean and coast were breathtaking..

Of course any day walking around would be lost without a few hundred accidental photos of my feet..

End of a lovely day, our first in San Juan. \240On Wednesday we move on to The Bahia resort at the St. Regis. \240Planning a day hike in the rain forest and a boat trip to some of the dozens of small islands off the coast!

Can you tell how windy it is at the fortress. \240Man these soldiers had some great views but very tough living conditions.

Unlike the soldiers we have pretty great living conditions and a fantastic plate of empanadas.

Fun day in Puerto Rico !

Discovered many wonderful small craft shops along the colorful avenues.

You can see the old thick city walls behind me. \240Looking all over for cats to photograph but only saw this one strolling through our hotel lobby. \240We were told (not confirmed) that the US government has mandated that all the stray cats must be put down! \240Lots of protests about that as you can imagine!

I declined a visit to the local cathedral with Pam and Cynthia to nurse my bad cold with a margarita at our hotel bar. \240It is truly adorable as this video shows!

This evening we dined a \240wonderful fine dining restaurant called Marmalade. \2405 courses - each superb. A couple bottles of a wonderful Sancerre and a lovely walk back to our hotel. \240Tomorrow we head to the ocean resort of Bahia at the St. Regis. \240I think we saw every square inch and enjoyed this lovely little town!

Beautiful entry, wonderful tropical feel. \240A large property and pretty spread out so I think we will get lots of exercise.

I loved the view of the ocean from the entry door.

We all head to the pool and wait for our rooms. Having a Cold, I was not in the best mood so sat alone at the bar being grumpy. Everyone else remained chill.

Could be in Hawaii…. Or Miami Beach for that matter.

Finally got our rooms which are gorgeous and met for a stew game and a meal at the St. Regis Bar.

Thursday was difficult for me. Pinnacle of my illness and misery and feeling sorry for myself. How disgusting. This is my death bed where I stayed all day. \240Kinda great 😊

Finally came out of my cave to join everyone for dinner.

We had a nice dinner at the Beach Club. \240It was quite a walk to the restaurant and half way we flagged down a golf cart that we thought was hotel staff. \240He was very obliging and said sure hop in, even though he was going the opposite direction. \240Turns out he was just a golfer who lived in the residences and was on his way home! Embarrassing 😳

Cynthia took this beautiful full moon shot.

C

Friday was a tremendous day on the beach for us gals. \240Still hacking, coughing and blowing my nose every two minutes, but I can’t resist a beach day.

My lush of a friend Cynthia on her third frozen margarita (haha only kidding). \240She looked pretty good sunbathing in the nude for an 81 year old😆!

Glamorous Pam B returning from a lengthy beach walk. Gosh, I wish I still had a waist!

We dined back in The St. Regis bar Friday night, more stew and fun.

Looks like I’m winning, doesn’t it?

Pam is always a bad loser ☺️

Saturday, our final day in Puerto Rico, we are going on an excursion to the El Yunque rainforest. \240The Bahia Resort sits at the base of the rainforest where it meets the ocean. We are traveling up to the mountainous terrain where they get over 200 inches of rain a year! \240 I was amazed to learn that Puerto Rico’s only wild mammals are bats and mongoose! A few snakes, lots of birds and that is about it!

We first took a short hike near the visitor center where our knowledgeable guide, Frankie, described all the flora and fauna and other interesting facts!

We later took a much longer beautiful hike down to the gorgeous pools. \240A lovely adventure.

I still can’t breath but the exercise is helping!

Very cute picture of our little CynJoy!

We were very lucky to have only a few short downpours on our whole rainforest trip. \240It was great fun and the whole adventure was a fabulous experience for us all.

We are eating in the “fancy” hotel restaurant early tonight. \240Pam and Ed have to leave the hotel at 4am 😩 for their 7am flight tomorrow. Cynthia and I have a more civilized departure at 11am.

Another grand trip for this adventurous bunch. Until next time.

Signing out

❌⭕️❌⭕️