Puerto Rico Day 4: Bacardi Tour

Wednesday was our last day in Puerto Rico. We had a mid-afternoon flight, so we had time for one quick trip before we left. Puerto Rico is home to Casa Bacardi and they have free tours. We thought it'd be something fun (and cheap!) to do on our last day. So we took a taxi to Old San Juan and took the ferry across the bay to Cataño where the Bacardi distillery is located.

Although we're not really Bacardi drinkers, it was fun to go check out the distillery.

Waiting for the tour to start...

Aqua colored tour bus

There were bats all over the place...The bat symbolizes good health, family unity and fortune.

I made Gil take a picture of the palm tree on the left...squiggly trunk.

On the tour bus (the tour bus ride lasted approx. 2 minutes haha)

El Morro across the bay

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Back at the hotel for the last time- had to get one more picture!

Sad to be leaving, but a fun trip!!!

Day 3 Puerto Rico: Exploring Old San Juan

On our third day in Puerto Rico, Gil and I walked into Old San Juan. This may have been the hottest walk of my life. The views were worth it though!

The Capitol building

Heading into Old San Juan

We loved looking at all the buildings- They are such fun, bright colors.

After finding a shady spot & recovering from what felt like a 200 degree walk, we explored the main square and surrounding streets. We ended up heading to a place called Mojitos for lunch. Although we probably should've ordered mojitos, we ended up getting sangria which was delish. We got a half pitcher to split and the whole time we were thinking, "Is this really a half pitcher? Cause it's huge!" After lunch, we did some more exploring.

Even the post office building was pretty!

Fort San Felipe del Morro in the distance

All these people were flying kites...what a pretty setting.

Beyond the cemetery, you can see La Perla. This is a slum neighborhood set just outside the city walls. In the late 19th century it was the setting of a slaughterhouse. I was fascinated by this neighborhood because it's an entire group of people who seem to be ostracized by the rest of the community. Tourists are warned away from this area because apparently violence & drug activity is high. It was quite strange to be right on the ocean in the most gorgeous setting and then to see the dilapidated houses along the shore.

Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery

Tótem Telúrico- commemorates the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of the New World

Plaza del Quinto Centenario

After walking around all day, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. Old San Juan was beautiful! As a side note, I really want to learn Spanish now. This would've come in handy in a couple of instances! Rosetta Stone??

Puerto Rico Day 2

Our second day in Puerto Rico was a pool/beach relaxation day. We pretty much did not move all day. And it was perfect.

There's nothing better than laying at the beach all day & reading. It's my favorite.

Puerto Rico Day 1

On our first day in Puerto Rico, we got there around 2:00 and luckily we were able to check in to our room early. After that, we checked out the grounds and I swooned over the pool. We decided to walk around and see what was around our hotel. From our hotel, we had a view of Fort Geronimo and we were very close to some pretty public beaches.

After walking around a while, we got ready for dinner.

Not a great picture, kinda grainy...Take two.

Gil: "You think you're soooo funny." Hehe, yes I do.

Still not great, but whatever...I'm hungry for dinner!

All in all, the first day was relaxing & uneventful. Why is traveling so tiring? All we did was sit on the plane & yet we crashed pretty early that night. We slept with the door open every night so that we could hear the sounds of the ocean. Awesome!