Monday, January 14, 2002 - San Juan, Puerto Rico Arrived 4:30 p.m./Departed 12:30 a.m. (Tuesday)
San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the USA. It is also the oldest city within US territory. The island was originally called San Juan (St. John the Baptist) and was discovered on Columbus' second voyage to the New World in 1493. At that time he named the capital city Puerto Rico (rich port). Later, the Spanish settlers switched the names to the Island of Puerto Rico/City of San Juan.
We were joined by our "Super Friends" Jeanette Whidden and Sue Guluche and we spent our evening doing a walking tour of Old San Juan. We strolled among the 200-year old houses with balconies overlooking cobblestone streets cafes, squares, shops, monuments and traffic jams, all within a small seven-block-square neighborhood (one-square mile area). Buildings aligning the narrow streets were still adorned with their Jan 6th. christmas decorations and as daylight faded, the seasonal lights added a quaint ambiance to our very hilly walk.
