I'll Have Another...: Puerto Rico Part 1: Old San Juan

You could basically call this post "overload of alley pics". I was obsessed with how pretty all the little lanes in Old San Juan were...so this is my warning. Get ready for some effing beautiful streets.

We stayed at Hotel El Convento, a landmark monument that actually used to be a convent.

The rooms aren't huge (well, ours wasn't), but the place was clean and nicely decorated. From the hotel website: "Select from 58 elegant rooms - each adorned with rich wooden beams, handcrafted tiles, carved chairs, velvet settees, and antique chests." We thought we were going to have a friend stay with us. Hence, the rollaway bed. That would have been a really tight fit.

The interior courtyard part of the hotel.

The spooky melted candles at the hotel bar.

The pool area

I wanna check out the hotel...but first, lemme take a selfie.

This was actually for a makeup and OOTD post from the trip. Yes, these pics are from 2014!

The view outside our hotel room

You should totally stay here. I loved my time at El Convento. Forget about the scary melted candles.

These gorgeous flowers were everywhere- bougainvilleas, I believe.

Ya see...

Hey there, whatcha doing?

My chicken wing pose. I don't know. There's something bird-like going on here...like an ostrich?

Colorful buildings, colorful doors. Impromptu photo shoot.

Mallorcas are Puerto Rican ham & cheese sandwiches topped with powdered sugar. I tried them at several places, sometimes without the sugar. Some places can be very heavy handed with the sugar. Anyway, I prefer the flavor of ham & cheese without too much sweetness, but you should definitely give these popular sammies a try! This was a random place I ran into for a snack, but there are good reviews at Cafeteria Mallorca.

I like how I protest the sweetness in my Mallorca, but then I drink 5 pounds of sugar.

Our walk to El Morro.

There were cats everywhere in Old San Juan. But this cat was special...hello, Lucifer.

Trying to catch up with Andrew. He walks so far ahead of me. #rude

Leaving the site

More streets (I told you)

When we travel, our favorite dining experiences are usually dives serving the local food. So I was a bit skeptical about a vegetarian/pescetarian fancy-looking restaurant. However, I would say don't miss out on Verde Mesa. The whimsical decor, interesting cocktails, and DELICIOUS food were worth the price. Check out the reviews here.

I now realize that the guy must have been yelling something at me.

Good bye, Old San Juan!

Did I only pack like 2 outfits on this trip?

On our way to Rincon for our friends' wedding, we stopped by a pork shack. We had been reading about these pork places where they machete the crap out of the meat and leave these crispy fatty pieces on for pleasurable consumption.

Right across the shack

Oh, hello there.

The meal

Look at how thick that piece of pig skin is!

I have a theory that Andrew fed me that meal to help me get over taking a detour to the Arecibo Observatory (and missing some pre-wedding fun with friends at the Rincon hotel!). He wanted to see the world's largest single-aperture telescope. I didn't know what that meant. It was all "beep borp boop" to me. All I knew was that it was in "Golden Eye", and it creeped me out. Certain monstrous constructions really freak me out. Not consistently. But it happens. Like that huge ATT building in the city.

*shudder* I can't believe I'm even putting these pics in my blog. It makes me sweat.