Day 1- San Juan

Ready for an onslaught of pictures?! I thought you were. Don't worry~ I won't disappoint! Since I came back with just over 600 pictures on my camera I thought it would be best if I broke up our trip into 1 hour increments!!! Then I thought that might be a little too overwhelming, so I am going to just post 1 day at a time.

Late last Friday (October 3rd) we kissed our kids goodbye and sent them off to a variety of family and friend's houses, while Korby and I along with another couple set off for San Juan, Puerto Rico! We arrived Saturday early afternoon. We dumped our luggage at the hotel room and set off to explore old town. I didn't really pay attention to the historical details of everything (that is Korby's job) I just took pictures of things I thought looked cool.

Along the edge of big chunks of the island they had built forts to protect their city. It was amazing!

This was a very run down part of town, but if you look closely you will see a Dish TV on top of almost every house! I guess there are just some things you can't live without!

It was amazing to see how the city has just built around the fort (the stone wall in the background).

At the edge of the island, where the largest part of the fort was, there was a large green park where people were picnicking, flying kites, walking dogs, running, it was beautiful.

There were look out towers all along the fort walls and sections that used to be used for cannons.

Right in the middle of the big open area was this beautiful cemetery! We couldn't get down to it on foot, but we got some beautiful views of it from the top of the wall.

I caught a bird in flight and it validated my "special" artistic rendition of a bird in flight~ by drawing the letter "V!"
This monument probably had some important information and facts on it, but oh well, my lens didn't zoom in that far! One of the look out towers. You could walk down into them. It was an amazing view.
While walking through old town I was totally drawn to the balconies. They were beautiful! So many different colors and most of them so well maintained (which was impressive for how old and run down parts of the city were).

The stained glass in this door was beautiful. I wish you could see all the vibrant colors in it better.
All of the doors and windows on ground level had bars on them. But instead of the ugly, straight black bars that you would see in the US, they were all so ornate and decorative. In this picture you can see right into the person's house.
Most of the building were attached to each other. But each one was very unique. From the architecture, the window style, the balcony, the color, just about everything was different from one building to the next. I have never seen a more colorful city!
This is just a store front. I love the contrast of colors, the sharp lines and the shadows that add to the dimension of the picture.

After we explored the city, and as the sun was setting, we went to a nice dinner. Then went and got gelato (delish!!!!) and walked on the sandy beaches of San Juan. By our hotel, which was pretty close to the beach, they were having a cultural festival with singing and dancing, along with a string of street vendors! It felt so surreal to be there, but so wonderful at the same time. All this, and we still have 7 more days to go!!! Until then....