Puerto Rico Day 1 : Chi-Town to Old San Juan

Chicago, Illinois, February 10, 2010: Snow storms and 20 degree weather had been terrorizing the area I live in. On top of that, I had caught the terrible virus going around and was feeling sick–bed-ridden, miserable sneezing sick. We woke up at 6am to catch our flight, and the snow was knee-deep on the way to the car. Brrrr.

It was the worst and the best time to get out. Would our flight depart? Would I be sick during the entire trip? Yes, our flight left on time and got in early. We went from 20 to 80 degrees in 4.5 hours. And yes, in 2 days all my cold symptoms were 90% gone, thanks to the warmth and humidity.

We landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico mid-afternoon and made our way to our hotel in Old San Juan. The Casablanca hotel has incredible interior decór. You can really see the attention to detail that went into picking each item that went into that hotel. It adds to the experience of being in an old, Spanish residence. They also had these large bathtubs up on the roof that guests could use. I thought that night time would be more enjoyable for that amenity, but not being able to see what you were bathing in actually made us feel gross and the hot water ran out by the time we got there. Boo. We did get upgraded to a bigger room though! They didn’t have a lot of guests that Wednesday night, so they were able to accommodate us into a nicer room.
With enough daylight to burn, we walked around Old San Juan, which is only about a 20 minute walk from one corner to the other corner of town. The landscape and buildings of Old San Juan are very distinct, and the neighborhood is safe to walk around in, even at night. The night stroll felt like a walk around a college campus–good vibe–and ended with snacking on dried apricots while looking at the harbor where we drolled over this enormous cruise ship that had elevators and everything. There is very little visual pollution in OSJ, as all the store signs are displayed very discreetly. The streets are labeled on building walls. It’s a quaint town with a lot of spanish flavor, history, and age you can literally see. We thoroughly explored OSJ, buying necessities at its mercados and having a meal at Mama’s (?). If you’re in the mood for Mexican food, Mama’s has pretty good gourmet-like burritos. Oh yes, beware that restaurants are closed during times when no one is supposed to be eating, I.E. 5pm.