Yo soy boricua! Pa'que tu lo sepas!

And we're back! What a trip that was! We had such an amazing time in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean islands. I can't believe how fast the week flew by and it was a sad day flying home Sunday. When you're on island time it's easy to forget all your worries and stresses from home and it was a much needed trip for both of us. We took a million pictures- of course- so I'll start with Puerto Rico and go day by day.

San Juan & Fajardo, Puerto Rico:

After a slight mishap on our way to the airport (Trey unfortunately sliced his leg open slipping on the step getting into the parking shuttle to the airport- we had to bandage it the entire trip and make sure to keep the wound clean... poor guy), we flew into San Juan late on Thursday night and took and eventful 45 minute ride to a town called Fajardo. Eventful- because Trey got to experience driving in a place where all the signs were in Spanish, drivers have no concept of following rules of the road, and it was pitch black dark by the time we got there. And let's just say Puerto Rico doesn't have the best roads or road signage- and Trey's fear of going through the wrong lane on a toll or going the wrong speed made me laugh so hard I could hardly translate for him. Thank God I speak Spanish though. It really was put to good use on this trip throughout the whole week.

Anyway, Fajardo lies on the eastern side of the island and we decided to stay there instead of in San Juan to experience the Waldorf Astoria's El Conquistador Hotel. We figured everything touristy that there is to see in San Juan would be closed that weekend anyway since Puerto Rico is a very Catholic country and it was the holiest weekend of the year. Also Fajardo is very close to the world famous El Yunque Rain Forest and we knew we wanted to make a visit there. So, Fajardo it was and it was a great choice!

The resort was everything we thought it would be and more. The hotel is massive. It truly is the biggest on the island and certainly the nicest thing in the city of Fajardo- which is just an uneventful somewhat run down part of Puerto Rico. We couldn't believe the shanty like conditions you had to drive though to get to the beautiful resort and didn't even realize how great it was until we woke up in the morning and really got a feel for the view.

El Conquistador Resort

El Conquistador sits on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. The resort is so big it has 2 resorts in one and so many places and buildings where you can stay. It kinda felt like Disney World on the ocean. We had to take a lift from our section of the hotel down to the marina where a boat was waiting to take us to the resort's private island. Within minutes though we were on the water feeling the sea breeze hit us as we headed toward the island where crystal blue water and powdery sand awaited us. We were finally in paradise and we were in heaven! Little did we know the destinations would only get better once we got on our cruise a few days later.

The Funicular Lift

Finally relaxing by the beach! Ahhhhh

On Saturday we woke up early and headed to El Yunque National Park. Since Puerto Rico is a territory of the U.S. it was declared a National Park Monument by Roosevelt I think ? It is so well preserved and just as beautiful as I remember it from when I visited Puerto Rico in college with my family. One difference was when I came with my family we took a tour of the massive park by car. Well- if you know Trey then you know a car tour just won't do. No NO No... we did drive through most of the park stopping occasionally for photo ops at various points but we both agreed it would be fun to do a hike at one of the stops. Man was it a hike! I mean... 30 minutes my a** (according to the Fodor's travel book we had with us). Thank God I've been doing p90x! But the view of the waterfall at the end and the feeling of accomplishment felt good. We were ready to leave El Yunque by the end of that hike and head back to El Conquistador for a nice relaxing afternoon on the beach.

El Yunque

View from the boat leaving the beach...


They had parrots in the lobby!

On Easter Sunday our time in Puerto Rico was sadly almost over. We woke up early and found a Catholic Church in a nearby town called Luquillo. It was quite an experience to see how other cultures experience a holy holiday like Easter. There were basically tons of people standing outside of this quaint yet outdated church with no air conditioning that clearly couldn't accommodate many people. The church had doors that opened on all sides and they kept them open throughout the mass so the overflow could peek in. It was really neat and the wood carvings on the altar and around the church were very impressive.

Happy Easter!! It was a bright sunny morning- as most Easter mornings are.

Wood carvings in la Iglesia de San Jose Luquillo, Puerto Rico

Our next and last stop on the Puerto Rico tour from mass was a trip into the city. We headed back to San Juan and right into the heart of Old San Juan to take a walking tour through the town before we headed to the pier for our cruise. Boy was it hot! It was neat to see though and I always think of my mom when I see the streets of Old San Juan because she used to say it reminded her of her home and the streets in Camaguey, Cuba where she grew up. We had a great time walking around and on the Christopher Columbus fort we spotted our cruise ship. We got so excited and decided to pack up and head to the port!

Old San Juan

Next post... Royal Caribbean and First Port of Call BARBADOS!!!!!