Boulevade of Dreams & The Great Wall

Old San Juan is a very walkable region. It feels like it's a lot bigger than it is, with its jam-packed buildings and winding, hilly streets. It's easy to feel lost but if you keep walking you'll eventually end up back in the same place as you started.

The people that settled here over the years created a beautifully structured city without a place left untouched by a plaza, a park or a monument. There was always something to see and admire in Old San Juan. Yet it gets really hot during the day and after a morning of walking you become thoroughly drained  and really feel like you need a siesta! Although that's not a custom in Puerto Rico it really should be adopted; Spain definitely has a point there. So while you could really see all there is to see in a day, or day and a half, I'm glad we had 3 days to spread out our sightseeing with some relaxed afternoons of hanging out at a bar or coffee shop, or taking that much needed siesta. 

The city wall, scene here at the entrance to Paseo de la Princesa, is

One of my favourite morning walks was along the southern side of the Muralla (wall), which we came across by accident with no plan set out. We started off heading down towards the ferry terminal where we found this cute little yellow neoclassical building called La Casita (The Little House - of course) in a plaza called La Dársena . It overlooks San Juan Bay and was originally built for the Department of Agriculture and Commerce in 1937. Across the street is the Tourist info centre (which has recently moved from La Casita) where we picked up some maps.

We also found a tiny coffee shop here at the ferry Terminal (Pier 2, Café Cola'o), which to our greatest surprise made a REAL cappuccino! We hadn't had one of those since we left Australia. It wasn't the best cappucino but it was still a cappuccino none-the-less, and that makes a world of difference. So by this stage, we were really liking San Juan, and Puerto Rico, immensely. But it was only getting started.

Not far from here is the beginning of a long section of the remaining wall, La Muralla. This defensive wall was built around the city starting in the early 1500′s to keep the city secure from invaders that regularly tried to steal this Spanish jewel. It was constantly being extended and heightened over the years as needed until it was finally completed in 1782. It's huge, almost 20 feet thick in places and up to 60 feet high at it's tallest. It is made of solid sandstone blocks held together with mortar, limestone, sand and water. The Garitas, or sentry boxes, are famous features of the wall, and it's forts, have become the official symbol of San Juan

We followed it west into the most beautiful tree-lined pedestrian walkway, called Paseo de la Princesa. It has a very European-esque feel with antique street lamps and a canopy of trees, which was a much-needed haven from the sun that was already beginning to intensify. We stopped at one of the many benches to take it all in. We also noted that it advertised itself as a free wifi hotspot. Nice.

"Originally created in 1853, the Paseo has been recently restored to its 19th century splendor. This broad brick boardwalk, enjoyed in the Spanish Colonial era by members of the gentry, now leads its visitors through a pleasant palm-lined paseo and sculptural showcase..."  (Eye Tour)

There were a few hidden gems along the way, a mysterious but attractive monument hidden beside the wall behind a locked fence, and a stylish restaurant, Cafe La Princesa, tucked al fresco between the trees and the wall. It made me wish we had money to spend on treats like this; I could just picture myself relaxing here with a glass of wine at one of those tables hidden amongst the vines, but alas, it looked a little out of our price-range. However that was all forgotten when we came out of the passageway and saw before us an even more magnificent sight; in front of us was the striking Raices Fountain.

ABOVE: the superb composition of the Raices Fountain framed by the
 trees and lamp posts on either side and the shimmering bay behind.

LEFT: the monument tucked by the fence that I couldn't and still
can't identify, but look how pretty it is.





This really is a magnificent fountain and the perfect ending for the paseo de la princesa by the edge of the bay. It has at its centre a bronze sculpture which symbolises the islands mixed cultural roots (Raices Fountain: 'raices' meaning 'roots' in Spanish). It's actually a very recent statue, completed in 1992 for the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the New World , and depicts the Amerindian, African and Spanish origins of Puerto Rico as human figures "represented as a ship being steered out into the open sea with leaping dolphins leading the way to a bright 21st century future". (PuertoRico.Com)

The stately grey and white building on the corner here is called La Princesa and for centuries housed the city jail, one of the most feared  in the Caribbean. Built in 1837 it held up to 200 prisoners at it's peak. Though it's been restored it seems like it must have been one of the prettiest jails ever, with a lovely inner courtyard. It now houses the Puerto Rico Tourism Company headquarters which confusingly didn't include a tourism information centre. Besides a small gallery exhibition that we wandered through it didn't have much else going on but if anything providing a refreshing departure from the oppressing heat outside it's doors. Seemingly, in San Juan everywhere has super cold air-conditioning which is not a bad thing at all. We didn't realise you could get a quick tour of some of the old cells that were kept in their original condition, obviously you have to ask specifically.

From here, steps lead down to a narrow path that continues around the waterfront at the edge of the wall. This first part is enclosed by shady trees and it's a lovely spot to take a moment and look out across the bay to the hills on the other side of the harbour and the cute little boats bobbing on the water. Continuing further along out of the trees I got the shock of my life when a HUGE Iguana almost landed right on top of my head! I don't even think I've seen an iguana before in person, and here was one making it's delivery from the sky! Actually, a workman was sweeping the top of the wall and had just swept this Iguana right off the side - not stopping to think there might be people down below! I didn't know what was going on at first, I heard this massive splat and turned to see this stunned scaley green ugly thing about 2 ft from me. That could've been bad. Word of warning - don't walk close to the edge of the wall, you don't know what might fall on you!

The Culprit

My shock subsiding, we reached the bright red frame of La Puerta de San Juan - The San Gate. The wall, being the defense of the city, obviously had to have gates controlling the coming and going of people in and out of the city.  Three of the walls five (perhaps six, depending on what you read) gates lead into the city, and out of these this is the only one that remains today. It's probable there was always some kind of entrance here from the beginning but the present gate was built in 1635. This heavy wooden door, framed by a red painted buttress was for centuries the official entrance for notables who came to the city by boat and for all goods from trading ships. The doors were closed at sundown to cut off access to the city and protect the city from invaders. As you go through you get a sense of just how thick the wall is and that its not a 'gate' in the conventional sense of the word, but more like an antechamber between the big bad world outside the wall and the sanctum inside. We had now officially entered the gates of the Old San Juan.