January 2, 2017. Exploring off-the-beaten-path San Juan

LOCATION:  San Juan, Puerto Rico

WEATHER:  Mostly sunny. A few tropical rain showers. Highs 80s

 

This morning we headed to the botanical garden.  Our map took us in the wrong direction.  We ended up in the town of Rio Pedras.  I've never seen so much graffiti.

Some of it is very artistic; others are political statements.

The town center has a pretty church.

We ended up on the university campus, actually making a big circle.    The campus is very pretty.  The security guards gave us the correct directions to get to the gardens.

We finally made it to the gardens.  It is quite jungly.

One section is called "Monet's Garden", patterned after the one in France, but it is definitely more tropical!

 

New Year's Day is being observed today, so many shops were closed.  We decided to get an all-day pass on the metro and just ride around, seeing the different sections of the city. The train seems very new with nice train stations and a lot of police security.  And...most importantly, it is air-conditioned! 

People still great each other with New Year's greetings.  One of our daughters told us that a common Spanish language mistake that gringos make is to mispronounce ano.  It is ano with a tilde over the n pronounced "anyo".  Without the tilde, ano means anus.  So, apparently George has been wishing lots of Puerto Ricans a "Happy Anus"!!!!!  

We stopped at a cafe to cool off.  I watched their local TV news, with their newly sworn in governor promising a very bright future.  One of his key campaign promises was to work toward changing from a US Territory to a state.  There was lots of applause after that.  

We returned to Rio Piedras.  Some of the stores opened up for the late afternoon.  We strolled down the plaza, looking at the goods.

For our last evening here, we returned to the great restaurant where we had eaten paella before.  This time, we knew to split an entree, as the portions are so large.  We ordered a local specialty stew with meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes and plantains.  It was really good, although I'm not a big fan of plantains.  We talked to the 80-year-old owner who emigrated from Spain.  He runs a tight ship with waiters attentively serving the customers.  

It was a nice ending to our stay here.  Tomorrow we are picking up a rental car, and will stay in a hotel in a different part of the city.