Today I had great plans for visiting the rest of the sights in Old San Juan. After consulting my trusty Moon Handbook to get the hours and locations right, here’s what happened:
1. El Museo de Las Americas was mostly under renovation. The two small exhibits I found were both smaller than my apartment. Oh, and the reportedly awesome gift shop was closed.
2. El Museo de San Juan was closed. The guard outside just shrugged her shoulders when I asked her why, and when it would be open again.
3. El Museo de Nuestra Raíz Africana was closed. The guard standing inside gave me a dirty look for even approaching the door to see if/when it would be open.
4. La Casa del Libro, purported to house an impressive collection of ancient texts, was under renovation. Its temporary home (back over to El Museo de Las Americas again) had a less than impressive display of approximately 10 pages removed from ancient books. You know how I love books, and you can probably guess what I was expecting from this place. Needless to say, my expectations were not met.
5. Casa Blanca, a 500-year old mansion where Ponce de León’s posterity lived for almost 200 years, was rather difficult to find. But guess what? It was open. But guess what else? The other people in the tour only spoke Spanish. So, when I nodded to the guide that yes, I spoke Spanish, she was super excited. However, I have noticed during my time in Puerto Rico that there is a slight difference in accent (which makes perfect sense) between Borinquens and Mexicanos. This slight difference made it just difficult enough for me to understand the guide that when she said, “Ooh, now I have a test, and it’s just for you,” I got a little flustered. Sigh. And I couldn’t take pictures inside. Still, it was the best part of my day, walking alone through the house. There’s something to be said for surrounding yourself with historical artifacts that are NOT in glass cases. It’s as if you can feel the weight of time and tradition pressing upon you in an attempt to put it all into an eternal perspective.
As I missed breakfast, I decided to stop for a bite to eat at El Burén. I had lobster empanadillas, a spinach salad with fresh papaya, mango, and buffalo mozarella topped with guava dressing, and some guava crème brûlée for dessert. Amazing!
My first day in Old San Juan, I passed by a shop that sold vejigante masks and santos, both of which are excellent examples of Puerto Rican folk art. I returned to El Galpón today, and after some deliberation and consultation with the owner (and his dog), I picked up my very own vejigante mask and antique santo. Well, it wasn’t a santo per se, it was The Good Shepherd. But it looked like the other santos.
After stopping at a café on Calle del Cristo for a virgin piña colada, I headed back to the hotel to catch up on my travel blog and program everyone’s phone numbers into my new phone. I need to head to bed early tonight so I can be refreshed for tomorrow’s adventure: El Yunque rainforest and kayaking in a bioluminescent bay. Hooray! Hooray!
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