See You Soon Puerto Rico

Today I went for a little domestic tourism to Old San Juan with the student exchange program students that are leaving, have arrived and the staff to give Emily, a girl from Wisconsin that's participating in the program at our university, a tour of the city and show her some of the best places to see in Puerto Rico.

Our first stop was the castle San Felipe del Morro which was built in 1539 when King Charles V of Spain authorized it's construction. It was built to protect the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan from unwanted visitors.

Front view.

Panorama view of the whole area. Here you will always see people having picnics and flying kites. Fun fact: Part of the movie Wizards of Waverly Place was filmed here.

Inside view of the back part. That water looks so good. 

It does, doesn't it? I wanted to go in so bad but this particular part is not safe because of the rocks. 

This is called a Garita and soldiers used to stay in there at night to look out for ships. 

The floors of the second level. See that round tiny building in the right top corner? That's a round staircase, a scene of the Wizards movie was filmed there too. 

This was beneath the stairs. Third level of the castle. There are five in total. The other two being underground cells. 

Next place we went to was the Paseo de la Princesa, a place I've been to tons of times when I was a kid and just today was the first time I saw this. It's a time capsule! Never did I notice that on the floor. I give thanks to the girls that we're with me. 

"Tributo a la visión del Honorable Luis A. Ferré, propulsor de la Compañía de Turismo de Puerto Rico, creado en el 1970, hoy viernes 18 de agosto de 1995, día del XXV aniversario, sellamos esta cápsula del tiempo con documentos históricos y culturales de la industria turística, que serán revelados el 18 de agosto del 2020."

"Tribute to the vision of the honorable Luis A. Ferré, propeller of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, created in 1970, today friday August 18th of 1995, day of the XXV anniversary, we seal this time capsule with historical and cultural documents of the tourism industry, that will be revealed on August 18th of 2020."

This was made a year after I was born. Incredible! Only 7 more years to go until it's opened. 

Fountain of the princess. The back part. I couldn't take a good picture of the front part cause the sun was behind it.

If you keep walking through there, you will reach all the way to the castle San Felipe del Morro. Fun fact: Another part of Wizards of Waverly Place movie was filmed here as well. Disney loves us apparently. (It's probably cause it's not that expensive to film here, really.) 

Lastly we went to Santurce's market square where I saw a giant sculpture of an avocado (we're crazy about those things, and grow the best) and a Guinness World Record for the longest tobacco cigar in 2005.

The reason I went on this trip, apart from getting to know Emily, was to give my island a farewell until December because I leave on the 15th of September to California for my student exchange. Puerto Rico is a beautiful place full of incredible and historical landmarks and honestly, it's an inexpensive vacation with wonderful beaches waiting to happen. And for people in the states, you don't even need a passport. Internationals, you do, but it's still super affordable. 

I'm so exited to experience California and all that it has to offer, but at the end of the day I will miss my small island and definitely my friends and family. But this is something I need to do for myself, to find out what I want and finally cut that metaphorical umbilical cord from my parents and venture off on my own. I'm ready.