Favourite 2013 travel photos. Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. June 2013.
Cobblestones of Old San Juan
Travel
An unexpected craft beer bar
Among the things I look for when visiting any city is a craft beer bar. When I pulled up Google for Old San Juan, I really wasn’t expecting to find much. Puerto Rico is rum country and their national beer is a pretty standard Caribbean thirst quencher with little to distinguish it. Imagine my surprise and delight to learn about La Taberna Lupulo, a craft beer bar located about three blocks from my hotel in Old San Juan.
On a lazy Saturday afternoon with the temperatures hitting about 35°C it was time for a pint or two. Pulling up a stool at the bar, my first selection was a witbier – Lost Coast Great White from California. Delicious and refreshing on such a hot day:
A day trip to El Yunque
When we picked Puerto Rico as our honeymoon destination, it was with the idea of having a lazy kind of trip. The plan: five days away, a small area in Old San Juan to explore, some good food and drink, and some general relaxation at our hotel with its rooftop pool, interesting bars and secluded spaces to sit and read. The one exception to this was a day trip we planned to El Yunque, a tropical rainforest.
Normally we’d have done this ourselves by renting a car, but as it was a lazy trip, we booked a tour to pick us up and drop us off at the hotel and take care of guiding us around. A relatively peaceful 50 minute drive outside San Juan had us in lush, tropical surroundings. After a brief stop at El Yunque’s main entrance and interpretive site, we started up the mountain. A very narrow road wound itself further and further up:
Our first stop was at Coca Falls, right beside the main road up the mountain. The falls have about a 60 foot drop (you can see some perspective with the people standing part way up on the left):
In the shade
Favourite 2013 travel photos. Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. June 2013.
Streets of Old San Juan
Immediately on entering Old San Juan it feels like you’ve been transported somewhere else. Many of your senses won’t tell you that you’re in the Caribbean or that you’re actually and (though I know it to be a fact) almost unbelievably in the United States. The narrow cobblestone streets and the colonial Spanish architecture of the seven square blocks in this area of San Juan is an oasis juxtaposed against the rest of a hectic, large city.
All of my senses were completely overwhelmed by the streetscapes in Old San Juan. From the vibrantly coloured buildings to the changing hues of the cobblestones as they became wet during a morning thundershower, then dried in the afternoon sun. There were palm trees, lazy stray cats and dogs and Latin rhythms coming from behind walls only inches off the sidewalks down narrow alleys. Strangers huddled tightly together under awnings to stay dry during the frequent quick downpours. The scents that wafted out of restaurants, full of garlic and onion, hung in the humid, almost oppressive late June air.
This part of the city was achingly beautiful in a way I haven’t seen before in my travels. Here are a few snaps from the streets of Old San Juan that for me, capture at least the pure physical beauty of this historic area.
Calle Tetuan
Calle Del Cristo
Calle de Valle
Calle Sol
Calle San Justo
Cobblestones of Old San Juan
Calle Luna
Calle de Valle
In front of El Convento
Toward Calle Luna
Stray dog wandering the cobblestones
Balconies
Chef for a day
A big part of the draw to visit Puerto Rico was its cuisine. The first time I heard about mofongo I made a mental note that I would jump at an opportunity to visit the island. Fast forward a few years and the combination of looking for a honeymoon destination and some very cheap airfares had us headed to San Juan.
For our first full day in San Juan we had booked a cooking class in Isla Verde to learn some of the secrets of Puerto Rican cuisine. That in and of itself was something to look forward to. Then we showed up to the open air kitchen where our class was to take place. This was a kitchen with a serious view of the beach and the Atlantic Ocean:
Pretty nice eh? The view the other way wasn’t too shabby either:
Vancouver from a few angles
Vancouver is a city that treats you to incredible views from just about anywhere. Do you like to look at mountains? Check. Modern architecture? Check. Water? Check. Public art sculptures? Check. Parks and green spaces? Check and check. Over eight days I got to see beautiful Vancouver from a number of different angles. Here are a few of my favourites.
From above looking toward the Lion’s Gate Bridge and North Vancouver:
Again, from above. This time out toward BC Place Stadium and Yaletown with Kitsilano off in the distance:
Capilano Suspension Bridge
Yes, it’s an overpriced admission ticket, but sometimes you just have to experience something that every other tourist wants to do. With the iconic image of the Capilano Suspension Bridge in our minds, the allure of a walk in the woods was too much to pass up for our last morning in Vancouver. An easy bus ride had us at the gates in under a half hour from downtown. Before the masses arrived, we had the bridge “relatively” to ourselves:
I don’t think the picture does it justice. It’s a lot longer than it looks – 450 ft long and 230 feet above the river below – this isn’t for the weak of heart. On the way across, we stopped in the middle to take in the view:
Lions Gate Bridge
Favourite 2013 travel photos. Vancouver, BC. June 2013
The best Vancouver lunches
Food trucks, high end cuisine and great hole in the wall places to grab a bite to eat. Vancouver had it all. Although it took me until the last two days of our trip to get to the final two places on my “must eat” list, they were well worth the wait.
Meat & Bread – As my conference wrapped up on Friday at noon, only a small detour back to the apartment got me to Meat & Bread. Each day they serve four different sandwiches, including a sandwich of the day. I really didn’t ponder the menu because there was only one sandwich I came for – the porchetta.
I saw this place on Food Network a few weeks before the trip and there was no doubt about what I would order. Here’s the porchetta being carved as I waited in line to order:
Bluenose Traveler 