Mom and Dad have been to San Juan before and they said it would be fun to go see El Morro. They told us it was close to the Pier so we could walk there. El Morro was built and designed to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay, and defend the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan from seaborne enemies. I pulled this picture from the internet so you could see what it looks like from above.
On our walk there we stopped to take a picture by this cool fountain.
Mom led us down a path that was between the shoreline and the huge wall from the fortress. Its overwhelming to think that these walls were built back in the 16th century with no cranes or heavy machinery. I can't imagine the amount of blood and sweat that went into it.
Mr. Independent had to get out of the stroller and walk with his walking stick and all. I swear there is a magnet in them that attracts sticks, rocks and dirt.
This sweet boy picked that flower just for me. I love it. He's always been a thoughtful kid. I'm a lucky Mama to have him as my son.
After our "short" walk to the fortress, we finally arrived.
It was so cool how it was right on the ocean. The view was incredible.
We saw a lot of iguanas and this one was particularly friendly. I guess it helps we were feeding it some apple, but we'll take what we can get.
There were several little tunnels like this that the boys loved crawling though. We could have left them there all day if we wanted to. A perfect place for them to climb and run around. All but the high ledges that made me even scared to stand on.
After we finished walking through all six levels of El Morro we walked over to the second Fortress, Castillo San Cristobal. I also pulled this image from the internet to show from above. This fortress was a lot smaller and there was more of the Old San Juan city around it.
We were starting to feel a little fortressed out. It was super hot and after awhile it all seemed the same. One unique thing about the Castillo Fortress was in one of the rooms where prisoners were kept was these drawings of ships. Made it more real to think that 100's of years ago someone was actually there.
Group Picture!
I love this picture because it shows how it's right on the shore and up so high. It's breathtaking.
Once we explored both fortresses we went into Old San Juan to do some shopping and looking around. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the ship. I would really like to go back to Puerto Rico to see more of the Island. I heard amazing things about that place and we only got to see a tiny portion of it.
Back on the ship, Jesse took the boys on the waterslide and played in the pool/hot tub. When it became available Ryker went to play with the giant chess set. The very first day on the ship he discovered it and wanted to play everyday. Believe it or not he actually knows how every piece of the game can move. We can thank Jesse's Dad for teaching him. Ryker is still learning strategy, but he is pretty good for his age. He was playing against a boy that was older than him, and Ryker lost. He wasn't too happy about that. I think he is used to Grandpa going easy on him and "letting" him win.
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