I woke up around 4am on Saturday and started grading students' papers. When the sun came up, I went out and walked around the main square a minute so I could still see all the Christmas lights up. Then I got in the car and drove the hill to see El Vigía, this giant futuristic cross that overlooks the city. The grounds were closed, but I was still able to take in some views of the area from up above. Quite lovely.
Panorama of Ponce
I drove down hoping to park in this garage where I had parked almost all of yesterday. The place had few cars in it, so I was kind of surprised that no one else was there. When I pulled in this morning, however, a guy stopped me and told me it was the parking garage for government vehicles only, and that no public parking was available. Whoops. It probably would have helped had there been a sign--any sign--explaining what is and isn't allowed. I got some change together and put it in the meter by the hotel.
One-way sign in Ponce
I walked around town one last time, stopping in the cathedral as mass got out, and going to the main market hall to get some breakfast--ham, eggs, and very good toast. I got some sort of meat-filled pastry on my way out that was also very good. I thought about going to one of the local museums, but ultimately didn't feel very up to it. I instead got packed up and in the car. After one last stop at Wal-Mart for some Christmas decorations, I got back on the autopista and headed for San Juan.
After about an hour I got off the road and took a detour to find Lechonera Los Pinos, which I had seen on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's travel show. A lechonera is basically a restaurant that specializes in all things pork, and this place was supposed to be one of the best in the country. After taking a winding road for at least 15 minutes I finally reached the place, and was pretty surprised to see what a big deal it was. It had a good sized parking lot with its own security telling everyone where to park. Now, I have to confess up front that I let my pride get the best of me here. Instead of going up to order and telling them I didn't anything about pork, but that I knew I wanted pig, rice and beans, I wanted to play it cool and just started pointing at things, having no idea what they were. The rice and beans were good, but the stew I ordered to go with it was very clearly fish--really stinky fish at that. I did my best to eat around it, but in the end I just had to throw it away. There was no way I could eat it. I humbly went back to the counter and told the woman working there I would like about a quarter of a pound of pork to go. This time I was not disappointed.
When I finally got what I wanted
The meat itself was very tasty but it was the skin that was amazing. It was crunchy and salty, contrasted with the slight layer of fat underneath. I picked at it as I drove back to the autopista and then up to San Juan.
I had put the address for my hotel into Google Maps, so I felt pretty confident that I'd find it easily. No surprise, the hotel wasn't anywhere close to where Google said, so I ended up driving--a lot. I ended up on a one-way road to Old San Juan, which is a confusing labyrinth. And wouldn't you know, my only map was in my trunk. I drove around in busy traffic for at least thirty minutes, just trying to find a place where I could get out and get the map from my trunk. After that, I easily got back on the main road. However, I still didn't really know where the hotel was, and ended up just as lost in a different part of the city. At this point my map was somewhat useless, since they don't mark the names of most streets, so I had no idea where I was. By luck, I ended up back on the street the hotel was on. Since traffic was light I was able to slowly cruise down it until I finally found the hotel and was able to check in.
View from Castillo San Cristobal
After I was finally settled, I drove back to Old San Juan, this time intentionally. I parked about 3/4 quarters of a mile away (where I could park for free and wouldn't have to deal with traffic) and walked to Castillo San Cristobal, the largest fort built by the Spanish in the Americas. I was able to use my National Park Pass to get in for free and tour the area. There were some truly spectacular views of the Caribbean, the old town, the city walls, and the other fort at the end of the islet. The fort was also filled with several guard towers which were originally built by the Spanish and are currently a symbol of Puerto Rico.
Guard Tower
I thought about visiting more of the Old Town since I was there, but I had quite a bit of a walk back to my car, and most stuff worth seeing was going to close soon. I decided to instead head back to the hotel and just relax, grade papers, and talk with Lyssa on Skype. I figured I would again wake up early in the morning, and have enough time to go back to the Old Town and explore before heading to the airport.
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