The next day, we continued onto El Morro, where the castle/fort lies. The Fort San Felipe del Morro is a large citadel built to protect enemies coming from the sea. The walls are surprisingly tall, and there are various different construction strategies that allow it to stay protected from an attack. Such construction also gives those in El Morro a big advantage when defending themselves from attackers. For example, there were many different viewing “holes” where soldiers could shoot out at enemies from, while remaining protected. I also liked that its front side had a very large “front yard” of vast space that made any approaching enemy visible, and made it incredibly intimidating to make a charge towards the castle. They have strategic passageways and stairs, such as the triangle exit. The triangle stairs is a triangular down-spiraling staircase that was made to provide soldiers a quick way to get from the top floors to the ground level (reminds me of a fireman’s poll).
We had walked to El Morro from Hotel Casablanca to avoid the tight traffic of Old San Juan. On the way back, however, we decided to go with the tram because just walking through that “front yard” takes you at least 5 minutes and we had a plane to catch! Had lunch at a Greek/Turkish fusion restaurant that served pretty good Gyros. Took the tourist taxi to the Air Flamenco in Isla Grande and after some waiting and delays, took off in a 6-passenger plane to Culebra. Plane landings always have a lovely way of activating my motion sickness, but that was probably the toughest issue I delt with in terms of transportation.
We got picked up at the smallest airport Brian has ever seen by Palmetto Guesthouse. It’s a pretty place ran by an active couple who used to be in the Peace Corp. After we got settled in, we hunted for groceries and cooked a little something in the kitchen. Budget traveling, baby.
Fine, it wasn’t enough food and I wanted to go dancing. Brian and I venture out to find Mamacitas. In the dark, it is a scary 15 minute walk because it looks like you’re in the booneys. “There is absolutely no one on the road. We should have brought the pepper spray,” I commented. “Yeah, damn” he replies. We make our way safely to Mamacitas by 9:45pm. Unfortunately, kitchen closes at around 8pm in this island. Granted, I was warned about this but I guess my mind brushed it off as a ridiculous. As if the concept of a town closing up by 9pm was unfathomable, crazy. But then again, Irvine, CA is kind of like that, isn’t it?
I order a pina colada (of course) and Brian has his first Medalla light (the official Bud Light/Miller Light/Beer Light of Puerto Rico) at Mamacita’s. Here are some interesting facts I probed out of the servers… the “Do Not Feed the Iguanas” signs are not a joke. During the early afternoon, you can see the chef feeding cooking remains to the iguanas. The term “getting Bushwhacked” comes from the island drink “Bushwhacker”. It’s basically a mudslide cocktail with some more coffee/cream liquor ingredients. No, I did not feel tempted to try. To me, Pina Colada is the official island/beach vacation drink. And yes, we were able to find a rugged bar that served chicken nuggets on our way home.
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