San Juan, worth knowing.

Fun facts about San Juan

1. 1Plot twist: the island was first called San Juan Bautista and the city was called Puerto Rico, 'rich port'. Over time the names swapped places.Source: Welcome to Puerto Rico!; Wikipedia
2. 2Old San Juan's blue cobblestones crossed the Atlantic as ballast in Spanish ships. They're cast from furnace slag, and that's where the blue tint comes from.Source: Tour Old San Juan; Welcome to Puerto Rico!
3. 3Guinness World Records lists Mosquito Bay on nearby Vieques as the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world. Dip a paddle and tiny organisms light the water blue-green.Source: Vieques.com; PuertoRico.com
4. 4Puerto Rico's tiny coquí frog is named after its own song: a two-note 'ko-KEE' you'll hear all over the island at night.Source: Welcome to Puerto Rico!; Wikipedia
5. 5Just outside San Juan, El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the entire U.S. National Forest System.Source: USDA Forest Service; Welcome to Puerto Rico!
6. 6Just east of San Juan, artisans in Loíza carve their colorful vejigante festival masks out of coconut husks, each one handmade and one of a kind.Source: Welcome to Puerto Rico!; Wikipedia

Things to do in San Juan

• ◦El Morro's foundation went down in 1539 and the six-level fortress wasn't considered finished until 1787. Climb it and look straight out over the Atlantic.Source: National Park Service; Wikipedia
• ◦Castillo San Cristóbal covers 27 acres, the largest fortification Spain built anywhere in the New World. El Morro watched the sea; this one guarded the land gate.Source: National Park Service; Wikipedia
• ◦La Fortaleza in Old San Juan has been a fortress, an arsenal and a prison. Today it's the oldest executive residence in the Western Hemisphere.Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre; Wikipedia
• ◦Fly a kite on the big lawn in front of El Morro, where soldiers once marched. Families have done it for generations in the afternoon trade winds.Source: National Park Service; Discovering Puerto Rico
• ◦Paddle a kayak at night through a mangrove channel into Laguna Grande in Fajardo, where the water glows every time you move it.Source: PuertoRico.com; Island Kayaking Adventure
• ◦Head just east of San Juan to Piñones and snack your way along the beach kiosks: alcapurrias, bacalaítos and ice-cold coconut water.Source: Welcome to Puerto Rico!; PuertoRico.com

Questions to bring to San Juan

From Sojourn's journeys. Ask one over a long dinner or on a slow walk, and let the place do some of the work.

Going together

• When do you feel most like yourself?
• What does rest actually look like for you?
• What is one thing you wish we did more of?

Going solo

• What is the first thing this place is showing you that you didn't expect?
• What does this version of you know that the home version tends to forget?

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