I again woke up very early and got everything together to head home. Since my flight didn't leave until around 2pm, I figured I could head out to Old San Juan one last time. I arrived early before all the crowds and easily found a parking spot. Then I wandered around town, just exploring really, with no one but the stray cats (and there were a lot of stray cats) and the occasional jogger to keep me company. It was quite nice having the place basically to myself.
Ponce de Leon's tomb
I figure I walked a good five miles this morning, a lot because I walked the entire length of the old city walls and back. Besides seeing the charming houses, the highlight was visiting the Cathedral, where a small and humble tomb stands marking where the famed conquistador Ponce de Leon is buried.
Walking along the old city walls
At this point though, it was really quite hot out and I was drenched in sweat. I bought a piraguas, Puerto Rico's answer to the snow cone and made one last stop at the San Felipe fortress, which stands on the very edge of the islet. It was on par with the fortress I had visited the day before, with similar impressive views. But at this point I was tired. I soon headed back to the car and drove back to the hotel for a little bit of rest before heading to the airport.
Castillo San Felipe del Morro
My only concern at the airport was finding one last fix of Puerto Rican cuisine. The food court was full of the usual standards I didn't want to eat--McDonalds, Subway, and the lot. I finally found a cafe which served Puerto Rican sandwiches as well as a few other classic dishes. So I was able to get one final delicious taste of pork, rice and beans, all covered in sofrito.
I made a few souvenir purchases including a deck of Spanish playing cards with the Puerto Rican flag on it, a box of Puerto Rican candy for Lyssa, and a Christmas ornament with Santa arriving a cruise ship. I slept a little bit on the flight and was pretty soon back in New York where I had a massive five hour layover with nothing to do. I bought some American candy and chocolates for Lyssa, but was having a really hard time staying awake. My flight didn't start boarding until 9:20pm, and I figure a good hour before then I was really struggling. I even at one point found a quiet corner of the airport, sat down, and just rested my eyes for a few minutes. The moment I got on the plane I was completely out, and slept a good four to five hours. I wanted to sleep more, but I also didn't want to mess my schedule up too much. So I watched a couple of movies, of note was the film Moon with Sam Rockwell. I had heard it was on par with 2001 or Solaris in that it was a thinking man's sci-fi. It was pretty good and interesting, but I don't know that it was quite as good as those other two.
Lyssa hadn't left for the airport by the time I landed so I called her. Even though the flight was packed nearly everyone was transferring to another flight, so I basically just walked through passport control, waited at the baggage claim with four other people, and quickly made it through customs. Lyssa wasn't quite there by the time I got out, but I only had to wait around a few minutes and then I was on my way home.
I only had two days of work to attend to, since Thursday marked the beginning of Eid Al-Adha, the start of the Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca. Even still, with jet lag was a pretty rough ordeal to teach my classes, and having Thursday off was a very welcome treat. We attended a big thanksgiving dinner with some other Americans which really hit the spot.
Today is Christian's first birthday and we've got a little get together planned for the little one-year old. We had a bigger one in mind, but again since it's a holiday, a lot of people we know are out of town. We're also going out of town, just not yet. On Saturday morning we're going to fly up to Berlin where it will be cold and the halls will be fully decked out for Christmas. So expect to hear all about that in the upcoming days.
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