Old San Juan

After two hours in El Morro I still had a couple of hours of light left. The question then became how much of the rest of Old San Juan I could see in that time!

I started wandering east figuring I'd make my way to San Cristobal Castle.  But I made sure not to focus too much on what was ahead of me and turned back to look at the pathway to El Morro.  The silhouettes of people walking toward the citadel, tiny as ants on the broad green expanse, with the sun partially obscured by large, textured clouds struck me as unique and interesting.

Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery, the final resting place of many of Puerto Rico's most prominent natives and residents.

Made in England using iron ore, Old San Juan's famous blue cobblestones were brought to the New World as ballast in ships and dumped at the harbor to make room for more valuable cargo. The iron gives the stones their color, which shifts depending on the heat, sun, and humidity.

The Plaza de Armas of San Juan was designed to serve as the original main square for the city.  The square's main feature is a round fountain with four statues called "The Four Seasons."  I'm guessing this one is winter.

Colon Plaza is at the entrance to Old San Juan and contains this statue of Christopher Columbus at its center.

More garitas!  This one is right outside the entrance to San Cristobal Castle, and I was able to get some decent color from the setting sun despite the overcast skies.

An observation post was built onto the castle in WWII, which seems a bit like overkill to me given all the sentry boxes it already had.  Here's the view to the west down Boulevard Del Valle through its narrow slit.

Marbles?  Blueberries?  Nope -- a stack of cannonballs on the main plaza.

The citadel flies the American flag, the Puerto Rican flag and the Cross of Burgundy flag, the old Spanish military flag.

Colon Plaza after sunset.  I was hoping for more people on a Friday night to get a little energy in the shot.  But then again, I'm just not that good at shooting people.  So maybe an empty plaza was for the best. :)

I'm starting to get better at shooting on a tight schedule.  But I think I'd really like to move at a more leisurely pace again sometime soon!

El Morro

I participated in a digital marketing summit this past week organized by Yodle, a prominent local internet marketing company. Not especially worthy of note. But they chose to hold it in San Juan, Puerto Rico. That meant a chance to tack on some time after the sessions were over and get out to shoot some pictures. First stop: the 16th-century Spanish citadel known as Castillo San Felipe del Morro.

I can only assume that the fortress had more formidable guards at its entrance during its heyday.  This fellow didn't seem particularly interested in stopping anyone.

The sentry boxes around the walls are the most visually recognizable features of the structure.  Known as garitas, they've become a cultural symbol of Puerto Rico itself.  I'm usually an adherent to the rule of thirds, but the perspective straight down the path leading to the box called for a centered shot.

I don't know what this fortified post inside the fortress was for.  I just found its weathered appearance and tiny battlements interesting.

El Morro protected San Juan Bay and by extension Spain's interests in the New World for nearly 400 years.

Really, it was difficult to take a shot that didn't have a sentry box in it.

The nautilus-like underside of a spiral staircase placed to give soldiers quick access between levels of the fortress.

I don't mind how blown out the doorway to the outside ended up in this shot from the inside of the second level tower.  It lends an almost supernatural mystery to what awaits at the bottom of the stairs.

In a fairly short time, I got to see garitas from just about every imaginable angle.

And another centered shot from a guy who almost never tries this sort of perspective.  I like the light and shade of these archways.

I'm no military expert.  But I'm pretty sure that metal grill would not help the effectiveness of that cannon one bit.  Then again, not much would probably help that cannon any more.

Spent a wonderful couple of hours wandering around this impressive fortress, and gained a firsthand appreciation of Spain's military prowess during the colonization of the New World.