When you wake up and the first thing you see outside the bedroom window is a rainbow, you just know it’s going to be a great day.

We had no agenda for the day, so we woke up leisurely and headed to breakfast at the cafe on the corner. Literally less than 100 steps from our door. Delicious latte and omelette for me, and coffee and breakfast sandwich for the young one. You really couldn’t beat the view – until it started to sprinkle!

From there we set out to explore the entire city. We started at Fort Cristobal, then walked to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro San Juan. Daughter indulged my fascination with cemeteries and let me explore Cemeterio Sant Maria Magdalena De Pazzis. We spoke with a groundskeeper at the cemetery as we were leaving. He gave us a brief history and explained the city government no longer paid for upkeep of the cemetery, only cutting the grass. They used to get funding from some U.S. organization or grant, but the “money was hidden” and never used as intended. What I originally thought was hurricane damage was a fair amount of vandalism due to a lack of security in the cemetery after dark.

Behind the arches is the columbarium. There were several niches open. I’m not sure if it was storm related damage or not.

From here we headed more towards the center of town beginning with Casa Blanca. This was the original Governor’s mansion for Ponce De Leon. Past US Presidents have stayed here when visiting Puerto Rico. It was closed for lunch/siesta time when we arrived, so we didn’t get to see inside.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant tucked back and away from the beaten path. We finally got our mofongo!

We stimulated the economy as best we could while being mindful of the weight of our suitcases to get home. Once we were sure the cruise ship passengers had left port, we headed to the Paseo de Sombrillas. An incredible sight!

We rested a bit (it may have involved an adult beverage) before heading back to the four flights of stairs to our flat. Dinner was take-out from a restaurant at the end of the street. Too much food, but such fun to sample it all. We were enjoying a bottle of wine on our patio when we were treated to a fireworks display. Not sure what the occasion was, but we were happy to participate and enjoyed the show!

We went to bed trying very hard to figure out how we could extend our stay, and how to squeeze as much as possible into our last day.