[Composed July 31, 2024]
I'm sure on our past excursions I've waxed on to the kids about how valuable travel can be for building resilience. When hiccups arise, don't panic or complain, be thankful that you have a chance to exercise this muscle. (How insufferable, right?)
At 7:30am, our power went out, and I'm sure I could have given this same speech. There's nothing to worry about, I explained, Puerto Rico has a reputation for power glitches. We're all good.
A couple of hours later, the power was still out, but we had no time to dwell on this. It was time to finally explore PR in daylight!
First up, we visited the nearby town of Loiza. We cruised the quaint streets and checked out a local bakery. The only significant stop we made was at Park Maria de la Cruz in Loiza. The park contains a massive open faced cave that I was excited to explore with the kids.
As reported online, a ranger materialized out of nowhere the moment we parked our car. In broken English, she explained that the site admission was $5 per person. We paid the fee and she disappeared. We then spent about 20 minutes poking around the cave.
The cynic in me was disappointed: $5.00 per person seemed awfully steep for such a limited experience.
The idealist in me was like, dude, chill out. I've paid far more than $35.00 for far less. If you think about the fee as a donation to the local community or even the park system, it's more than reasonable. Besides, the cave was a great warm up for the kids: it was interesting and low stress. We saw lizards and snails, and the shade of the cave was welcome given the sweltering heat. The fact that the ranger didn't give us more information was on us for failing to know the local language.
Ultimately, I wouldn't go out of my way to visit the cave in Loiza. But, if you're in the neighborhood and have the right mindset it's more than worth it.
From the cave we made our way to the nearby coast for some beach time. From the cars parked along the road and glimpses of folks playing in the water, it was obvious we were in the right spot for a beach day. We drove along route 187 until we found an open spot to pull off. With our car parked in the shade, the kids and I rushed into the water. Ahhhhhh, perfection!
The scenery, the beach, the water, everything was a 10/10. The water temperature was perfect. The lack of waves meant that we could frolic without a care in the world. There was no trash, crowding or other distractions. I simply couldn't have asked for a better beach experience.
After a couple of hours at the beach, weather started to roll in so we called it. We made our way back to our Airbnb to find that we still didn't have power. Remember that speech about resilience? Screw that: no power means no AC; which given the high temps outside was turning into a real problem.
After some down time, we decided to escape our warming Airbnb by heading into Old San Juan. I was eager to give the kids a sense of this amazing city we'd be seeing this week.
We parked at a random garage and headed towards Puerta de San Juan, a massive gate that has been welcoming visitors to the city since the 1600's. The towering ancient walls, cobblestone streets, stone guard shacks, gorgeous views, colorful architecture--I love it all. But mostly I love that there's always curiosities to uncover. Take the Latin inscription found at the top of the Puerta de San Juan. It reads: Benedictus Qui Venit In Nomine Domini.
Having never taken Latin, this was gibberish to me. However, once I learned the translation, I was taken aback. The translation is: Blessed is the one that comes in the name of God and it struck me as a very Jewish blessing.
Digging deeper I learned that this is part of an ancient Catholic hymn: Sanctus. So it obviously wasn't Jewish. But then I read a translation of the hymn, and again found myself thinking this sounded awfully Jewish:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
What gives? It turns out that 'Sanctus' references two common verses from the old testament: Isaiah 6:3 and Psalms 118:26. These verses are featured prominently in Jewish services (the former being part of the Kedusha, the latter being part of Hallel); they are often sung with gusto.
But the connection between Sanctus and the Jews goes beyond an affinity for these verses. Apparently, during the Temple era Sanctus *was* a Jewish prayer, and for reasons not fully understood, it fell into disuse by Jews and was embraced by Christians.
So is the inscription on the gate of Puerto de San Juan a Jewish blessing? I suppose it is. At least it started that way.
How amazing it is that a verse composed over 2000 years ago, and etched on a gate 400 years ago, can be as familiar today as a lyric from a Taylor Swift song.
After walking through more of old San Juan we decided to head back to our car and grab some dinner. As frequently happens, I kept stopping to take photos and before we knew it, Shira and I were separated. She had 3 kids and I had D and C. This wasn't a big deal, as we were all headed back to the same parking garage. That is, until we saw the parrot.
We were just a few minutes away from the garage when we saw a curious site: a large parrot perched on a pulled over vehicle. D is a huge fan of birds, so we detoured to check it out. What we found was a man setting up his sidewalk attraction. His shtick was that for a small fee, you could pose with his flock of parrots.
This may seem like no big deal, but for D this was a golden opportunity. The only thing he loves more than watching birds is holding them. From my perspective, this was a chance to earn a bit of vindication. Back in 2019 we took D and J to the Great Smokey Mountains. One of the attractions D desperately wanted to see was Parrot Mountain. Not quite appreciating his love of birds and having a full itinerary, we never made it this bird oasis. But now, on the streets of San Juan, I could have him interact with parrots. Despite pleas from Shira to hurry up, I was convinced getting pics with the birds was worth it.
Seriously, check out these pics and tell me this wasn't time and money well spent?
Eventually we made it back to the car and had a delightful dinner at nearby Takeria. The decor, food and service were all top notch.
As we returned to our Airbnb we were treated to one final highlight of the day: the power was back on. Oh precious AC, how you were missed! I'll never take you for granted again. See, just like I said, nothing to worry about. Now just another trip to the store to replace all that food we bought last night. Isn't the adventure of travel grand?
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