Walls

"Men of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war. " - Aristophenes

The city of San Juan is five hundred and ten years old.  It was built as a walled city to protect it from attacks by sea.  There are two huge forts in Old San Juan, both of which we visited yesterday.  Learning from the night before, we took a cab to the harbor rather than do the 90 minute walk from our hotel.  The harbor is at the lowest elevation of this very hilly city.  The forts, of course, are at the highest elevation.  It was another ten kilometer day spent in exploration of Puerto Rican history, punctuated by stops for tapas and beer.  We started out in the early morning hours, before the markets were set up and the stores open.  By 4 o'clock we had both hit the wall so we headed back to the hotel for a pre-dinner nap. Even after a rest I couldn't find a short walk left in me so we ventured no further than one of the hotel restaurants followed by a brief interlude at the casino.

It is pouring rain here this morning.  Showers are predicted for the next three days. Tomorrow evening we are booked for night kayaking on a glow-in-the-dark lagoon.  The following morning we're headed out for a rainforest hike.  I need to find a drug store today so I can buy blister bandages.  Pretty as my newly pedicured toes look, these old feet aren't faring well.