The Fountain of Youth
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011I had the pleasure of visiting Puerto Rico for the first time in my adult life. I was born in Ponce Puerto Rico but my parents decided to move us to Florida in search of the American dream. Although I believe they did what was best for us, It was an amazing feeling to come back and make a connection with my birth place.
From the moment we arrived at the hotel, we were immersed in color. We are so accustomed to living in the grey of concrete, that when you are surrounded by so much color, you feel energized. You almost feel like your legs want to move to a different pace. We were greeted with such happiness and kindness.
El Hotel Convento. Just as the name suggests, it used to be an old convent that was converted into a luxury hotel. Beauty runs deep in this hotel. There is so much culture, history, and elegance which brings a sense of richness and flavor to the experience. I enjoyed listening to the many stories at the different locations in the hotel. From the bats and bat exterminator (The bats are still there and the exterminator stayed as long as he could because he enjoyed the hotel so much.), to the nuns and their journey through life.
The streets are lined with brick made of shell. Their color is a iridescent blue that has the look of the open ocean. Against the backdrop of Old San Juan, the streets are the pearls of Old San Juan.
Even in the distance you see color and vibrancy that you wouldn’t expect. Almost like a volcano of color, these wonderful homes erupt from the top of the hill with colors usually only seen in your imagination.
It seems that even nature too is moved by the surrounding colors that it competes in a beauty contest to show itself as the most beautiful. I have not seen a more naturally beautiful place than Puerto Rico.
With the only rain forest in the United States, Puerto Rico has a treasure which no conquistador could take back on his ship. I believe Juan Ponce De Leon found the fountain of youth there. He may have passed away but like myself, I know he must have felt very young walking through the city and even younger hiking in the rain forest. Being that I had a broken toe, I barely noticed it when hiking down the trail for over 2 hours.
Just like the textures, colors, and sounds of Puerto Rico, the smells you experience are like nothing else. With pernil (roast pork) roasting on just about every corner, latin food sizzling, frying and baking away, Puerto Rico will entice you to a meal at just about any time of the day.
The one thing that I will miss the most about “mi viejo San Juan”, (My old San Juan) is the sound of el Coqui The little frog that speaks its own name. For outside our window of our hotel room on every night he would sing us to sleep with a song of his beautiful name. Good Night Mi Viejo San Juan.
