Ocean Park Beach, San Juan: Ocean Park /ORT
San Juan Metro April-2007, By:Travel and Sports Staff
Metro
Easter Week Church Tour, Danza Week
The heart of the San Juan Metropolitan Area is the walled historic district of Old San Juan. For centuries, it encompassed the Island’s capital city. By the 1800s it was a very crowded district, and the city began to move east, to Puerta de Tierra and Isla Grande. Soon residents established upscale communities in the coastal Condado and inland Miramar districts. The city continued to grow, absorbing small communities in Santurce and Ocean Park to the east; and, inland, in Hato Rey, today’s financial district; Río Piedras, home of the University of Puerto Rico; and Puerto Nuevo. By the 1900s, urban expansion reached the independent cities surrounding the capital: Carolina and its coastal suburb of Isla Verde to the east; Trujillo Alto and Guaynabo to the south; and Cataño and Bayamón to the west. Now all these districts make up the metro area and house more than half of the Island’s population.
ALTHOUGH THE CHANGES OF SPRING ARE NOT AS DRASTIC HERE AS IN NORTHERN CLIMATES, SANJUANEROS DO NOTICE THE SLIGHTLY WARMER TEMPERATURES AND SLIGHTLY CALMER OCEAN WATERS. THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO ENJOY THE BEACHES. SAN JUAN HAS SEVERAL LONG STRIPS OF PALE-BEIGE SAND CONVENIENTLY ADJACENT TO HOTELS AND OTHER RESORT CONVENIENCES. THREE OF THEM – ESCAMBRÓN NEAR OLD SAN JUAN, CAROLINA IN ISLA VERDE, AND SALINAS AT THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE METRO AREA – ARE BALNEARIOS (PUBLIC BEACHES WITH PARKING, LIFEGUARDS AND FACILITIES) AND MEMBERS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL BLUE FLAG PROGRAM. DURING EASTER WEEK THE BEACHES COME ALIVE WITH THOUSANDS OF SUN AND SEA WORSHIPPERS.
For a more serious celebration of Easter week, consider a tour of churches in Old San Juan. The old city has more than a dozen, serving both Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths. The oldest is Iglesia San José. Begun in the 1520s, making it the second-oldest church in the hemisphere, it is a remarkable example of New World Gothic architecture. The church is undergoing major renovations, but its small chapel facing Plaza San José is open to the public and features an exhibit about the renovation. Equally impressive is the medieval-styled architecture of San Juan Cathedral, historic stop (through San Juan Gate) for thankful seafarers and present-day setting for many Island weddings. The recently renovated Santa Ana Chapel on Tetuán Street was also a stop for sea-faring visitors beginning in the 1500s. A chapel in miniature, La Capilla de Cristo was built after an incident involving a runaway horse and rider: according to legend, they were spared from tumbling over the city wall; according to history, they weren’t. Another chapel, in the lovely Siervas de María convent adjacent to La Fortaleza, is ideal for spiritual reflection.
In addition to several services held during Easter week, on Maundy Thursday thousands join the archbishop at San Juan Cathedral at 9 p.m. for a procession stopping at each of the old city’s seven Catholic churches. On Good Friday a live reenactment of the Via Dolorosa, marking Christ’s route to the cross, begins at the Cathedral at 5 p.m.
The fortresses of El Morro and San Cristóbal in Old San Juan take center stage the third weekend of June. They host a reenactment of the 1797 British attack of San Juan, when the British fleet led by Sir Ralph Abercromby was unable to overpower San Juan’s massive defenses.
May 14-20 is Danza Week, when both Old San Juan and the south-coast city of Ponce celebrate this traditional island music. With its origins in European salon music, the danza is an airy waltz-like composition that became popular in the late 1800s. Women dressed in frills and gloves and holding fans danced with their escorts to danza tunes in ballrooms and during patron saint festivities. One composer, Juan Morel Campos, wrote more than 300 danza pieces. The week will showcase concerts, awards and ballroom re-creations.
Music is in the air throughout the metro area. Hotels and clubs highlight lively Latin dance music, from salsa to meringue; the Luis A. Ferré Center for the Performing Arts features classical as well as popular music concerts, and the José A. Agrelot Coliseum brings in an international array of big-name performers.
For more casual settings, enjoy the regular open-air concerts sponsored by several metro neighborhoods and open to the public free of charge. In Old San Juan, weekends along the bay are lively, with La Casita’s music festival Saturday evening and romantic trios playing to the sunset on Sunday. There are weekly musical and folkloric shows in San Juan through the Tourism Company’s Le-Lo-Lai Program.
Bayamón’s Noches de Nostalgia y Bohemia, festive evenings with artisans, trios, and other performers, is held the last Friday of April and May. On April 12, the city of Carolina celebrates romantic and folkloric music at its Noche de Bohemia in Julia de Burgos Park, and on April 27 Noche de Jazz y Galería, a night of live jazz and art, takes place in the plaza. From May 30 through June 3, the city holds an annual festival in honor of its patron saint, San Fernando de la Carolina, with folk and popular music, salsa, traditional games, rides, and food kiosks.
Art lovers must not miss a visit to the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in its stately neoclassical building on De Diego Avenue in Santurce. The museum houses the largest collection of Puerto Rican art on the Island, spanning more than four centuries. The experience continues in a tranquil five-acre sculpture garden behind the museum. It also features changing exhibits, a theater, shop and upscale restaurant. You’ll find more art nearby on Ponce de León Avenue at the Museum of Contemporary Art, where contemporary pieces of primarily Latin art are housed in a lovely classical brick building. Old San Juan has dozens of art museums and galleries, and many of them open their doors to the public the first Tuesday evening of the month in a festive event known as Noches de Galería.
For a sampling of nature’s bounty, don’t miss a stop at the Plaza del Mercado in Santurce, a picturesque marketplace featuring local fruits, vegetables, drinks and other products. It is also a popular gathering place for young professionals on Thursday through Saturday evenings. The city of Cataño is home to the Bacardí rum plant, largest in the world, open to visitors on a daily basis. Its museum, Casa Bacardí, re-creates the history of the Bacardí family and the production of Bacardí rum through interactive exhibits.
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San Juan Metro Article Archive
2007-04 Easter Week Church Tour, Danza Week
2007-02 Metro San Juan
2007-02 Noche de Galerías, Concerts, Noche de Jazz, Cinemafest
2006-12 Time to Shop, Local Festivals, Decorations, Octavas, Octavitas
2006-10 Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, Baseball, Film, Science Park
2006-08 Blue Flag Beaches, Billfish Tournaments, Bacardí, Luis A. Ferré Science Park
2006-06 San Juan Bautista, Noche de Bohemía, Salsa Congress, Botanical Gardens
2006-04 Music, Concerts, LeLoLai, Jazz, Danza Week,
2006-02 Parks, Music, Events, 10K Race
2005-12 Christmas Displays, Bacardí Artisans Fair, Three Kings Day
2005-10 Discovery Day, Paso Fino World Cup 2005, San Juan Cinemafest, Tren Urbano
2005-08 Cusine, Beaches, Billfish Tournaments, Art, Botanical Garden
2005-06 Beaches, Jazz Fest, Noche de Galería
2005-04 Music Everywhere, Rockets, Blue Flag Beaches, Museums
2005-02 Ventana del Mar, Parque del Indio, Traditional Festivities, Casals Festival, Gallery Nights, World&#
2004-12 Holiday Season in the Metro Area
2004-10 Gallery Nights,Discovery Day, Caribbean Musical Encounter, San Juan Cinemafest, Noches de Nostalgia
2004-08 Beach lovers, Billfish Tournaments, Museo de Arte, Botanical Garden, Muñoz Marin Foundation, Maratón
2004-06 San Juan Bautista, Luis A. Ferré Center, Heineken Jazz Fest, Salsa, Artisans' Fair, Bacardí Rum D
2004-04 Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Castillo de San Cristóba, La Semana de la Danza, Heineken Jazzfest
2004-02 Día de la Salsa, Noche de Bohemia y Tradicíon, Parque de Luis Muñoz Rivera, World's Best 10K, Bac
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