Puerto Rico

Christmas on an Island

Frangipani

It had been about 20 years since we spent Christmas on Culebra. Knowing this would be our first Christmas without Raina and the kids, Jared stopped traveling at Christmas a long time ago, we decided familiar Culebra would be a good place to be. And it was.

Greetings from Santa and Aaron

Culebra goes all out for Christmas. The Island is done up in lights and decorations., and of course there’s music everywhere. It’s fun.

A Sailboat in Ensenada Honda (not so great iPhone night pic)

Even the Canal is Ready for Christmas

The last few years that we’d been to Culebra it was windy and snorkeling was limited. I’d hoped changing up the time of year we were there would make a difference. It didn’t. We only went snorkeling twice. It was windy most every day of the two weeks we were there. But, it’s Culebra and it’s awesome whether we snorkel or not.

Playa Zoni

We have stayed at Villa Fulladoza Guest House in the past few years and we’re quite comfortable there. We sleep late, read late and take it as it comes. It’s a small island located about 20 miles off the coast of the main island with 1,700 year round residents. It’s easy to settle in.

A Fellow Diner at Mamacita’s

We spent Christmas Eve with an old friend. He made us a great dinner and we drank more wine than we should have. Raina sent a surprise Christmas package to us of lights, mini wooden Christmas trees, cookies, candy canes and a few other holiday goodies.

Christmas Morning Treats

Christmas Day Sunset Over the Canal

Since we were at the guest house at a time different than usual, we met new friends. They (hey J&J) were lovely and arranged a Christmas Day pot luck including us and other guests. It was a nice day all around.

A Christmas Palm with Seed Pods

Culebra has changed so much in the 24 years we’ve been going there but it’s also a situation of the more it changes, the more it stays the same. We’ve lost a few Culebra friends through the years and it is different without them, however the vibe is still the same. Easy going, kind locals and beauty everywhere.

Two days after Christmas we left Culebra for a few days in San Juan. We had a small but comfortable apartment on the water. It’s part of the nearby Caribe Hilton Hotel complex. There were plenty of things to do and places to eat in the immediate area.

View of Fortin de San Jeronimo del Boqueron from our Balcony

Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico was on the top of the list of things we wanted to do in our short visit to the city. It’s a small but interesting museum that we enjoyed very much. There was even a mini-exhibit of art from the Museo de Arte de Ponce. The Ponce museum has been closed since the earthquake in 2020. The exhibit was established to allow art from Ponce to still be enjoyed by the public.

Front Right of the Entrance to Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico

Self-portrait with Vultures, by Admin Torres, 2012

Melody by George Harcourt of Scotland, 1905 from the Museo de Arte de Ponce Collection

We spent a day in Old San Juan and we ventured to a part of the old city that we had never been to before. It surprised us to think we had missed the area in all the years we’d been visiting. We searched out a beautiful fountain I had seen a picture of a few months back. Unfortunately, it was during the island-wide power outage so the water was not on. Next time. We didn’t feel much of an impact due to the outage which made national news, there were giant generators everywhere. However, I did refuse to use the elevator in our building - I’ve seen too many movies. We were lucky and we were well aware of all the good people of Puerto Rico who didn’t have the luxury of generators.

Furente Raices

The Raices Fountain was unveiled in 1992 to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Spain’s “discovery” of the New World. The bronze figures in the fountain represent the Goddesses and Gods of the Island’s Taino, Spanish and African heritage. It’s beautiful even without the fountain sprays.

Old School Mural in La Mallorounia Restaurant, Old San Juan

On New Year’s Eve we celebrated at La Mallorouina. Established in 1848, it’s the oldest restaurant in Puerto Rico. We had a delicious meal and then headed back to our apartment where we enjoyed fireworks from our balcony. We were in bed well before midnight.

Coqui Mural

Puerto Rico is always good for us. It’s familiar and easy. It was the perfect place to to slow down and celebrate the holidays!