Walking around Old San Juan

One thing that struck me while walking around Old San Juan was how it felt like I was walking through European streets. Which was so cool for me, because I’ve never been to Europe and have always dreamed of someday spending considerable time in that part of the world.

The restored 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial buildings were what lent it that European feel, and the cobblestone streets and narrow alleyways added such a charm to it all.

No, that beer bottle wasn’t mine, and that’s not why this door looks lopsided. My poison of choice that afternoon was an order of coconut ice cream, topped with more scoops of passionfruit ice cream. I thought, hey, if I’m going down, I might as well go down all sweet and creamy.

Of course, at that exact time, what was really going on in my head was it’s okay, every two steps uphill will cancel out five ice cream calories. Hence the extra scoops.

I’m pretty nifty with math that way.

Calories aside, I’m glad we walked everywhere that afternoon, because some time later, I saw my favorite balcony door of the day.

I just love how the glass shows the blue, blue sky of the day.

And those birds? I bet they were eying the last bits of my ice cream cone. I just know it.

I’d tell them to get their own, but you don’t tell that to birds perched above you. No sirree. Not unless you’re armed with an umbrella. A disposable, throwaway umbrella.

7 Responses to Walking around Old San Juan
  1. Mary Holy Mackerel
    January 22, 2009 | 11:43 am

    Those are gorgeous photos. I need to go there. Thank you for sharing.

  2. brc
    January 22, 2009 | 8:24 pm

    Sigh. Somehow you make the ordinary special with your photos. Not sure I’ll ever get there.

  3. karma
    January 24, 2009 | 8:04 pm

    I just love those pastel colors. Thanks for capturing them!

  4. Christina
    January 24, 2009 | 11:01 pm

    I love San Juan, i’ve only been twice. I think I have those same shots, too! It’s one of my favorite spots to visit. Last time we visited an old church with lovely grounds that the towns people ate lunch at and had a little dog follow us all around.

  5. ivoryhut
    January 26, 2009 | 3:24 pm

    Brc, are you kidding me? That photo you took of a solitary twig in the snow still enters my mind every time I watch the snow fall. Talk about beauty in the simplest of compositions.

  6. Mary
    May 5, 2009 | 10:47 pm

    Wow, you get to travel a bunch (I just started reading your blog and came across this post after reading about the Philippines). I’ve been to Old San Juan before. I wish I took more pictures of the architecture. These are awesome shots.

  7. ivoryhut
    May 6, 2009 | 3:03 pm

    Thanks, Mary! I didn’t have much time in San Juan to really capture it photographically. Hope I get to return someday.

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about me

I write, cook, play music, and make pictures. Not necessarily in that order. I was born and raised in the Philippines, and it shows. That means I eat rice with every meal, love my cousins like my own siblings, and firmly believe that avocados are best eaten with cream and sugar.

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