Oh My Old San Juan

Alternative Post Titles...
A Color Lovers Paradise
The Art Of Architecture
Seeing Beauty In Decay
Look Up, Look Down, Look All Around

I could go on and on! Sitting in my messy living room this morning, nursing my cup of coffee, and prodding my children to get a move on, it's hard to imagine that on Thursday morning just a week ago, I was waking up in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The city was nothing short of amazing. I loved every moment spent wandering the streets. We were docked in the port for a short day. Where we could explore until 4-5pm in other stops, here we had until just 1pm. So rather than go on a preplanned shore excursion, I teamed up with fellow instructor Tracy Stanley and her daughter Kelsey for a self guided tour. I really don't think there could have been a better way to discover what a gem this place is.

This was one of those times where I went nuts with my camera. To make sure I'd be able to shoot abso-freaking-lutely everything I saw, I actually changed my camera settings to a lower resolution so the memory card could hold more. I think I took several HUNDRED photos! I spent hours yesterday and this morning picking through them all and editing my favorites. I was able to knock the 300+ down to 84. Don't worry, I haven't posted all 84 here. They are in a sweet set over on Flickr. If you love the architecture of an old city, I encourage you to click through the stream of photos. So many cool things to see! Flickr Set: Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I was so very happy that Tracy and Kelsey were just as happy as I was to explore in this relaxed way. There are two experiences that I know are going to say with my for years to come. First happened about mid-morning as we wandered around a cemetery on the water. One of the grave sites was clearly damaged and there was a hole in the large marble slab covering the coffin inside. The coffin itself appeared to be made of metal and was completely rusted away in the area where the marble was missing. You could see inside to the bones of the person entombed so so many years ago. It was the first time I had ever seen human remains and it definitely left an impression. I walked to the head stone to learn the name of the person or the year of their death and there was nothing written. So many of the graves had no names actually and I wonder why. The second experience that I'll be holding close to my heart is walking down a street and stepping into an open air restaurant and ordering the local tapas. Sitting at a table next to one of the sets of wide open doors that were every few feet around the perimeter of the room, while the breeze blew in, and I sipped sangria, made me feel like such a world traveler. Oh how I love to travel.

Now, enough of my babbling... sit back and enjoy the show. Here are a few of my favorites from Old Juan...