A Visit to Ponce

Another outing to report on from Puerto Rico where E and Jeanne are house sitting this week. The house where they are staying on the northern (Atlantic) shore and today, they took a trip across the island to the south coast (caribbean shore) to the town of Ponce. Heading into the mountains brings lush vegetation.



In the mountains are dramatic clouds and green vistas galore.

There are streams to cross...

and valleys in this tropical rainforest.

There is still evidence of the damage from Hurricane Maria. Here, we see where a mudslide made a mess of things (and has now been cleaned up).

The mountains scenery is quite impressive. I'm sure that it you could escape the road noise and simply sit in the rainforest, it would be a relaxing and enchanting place.

Blue skies, dramatic clouds and verdant mountains make this river a most inviting place. Just don't think about the creepy crawlies too hard!

The traffic on this, the main road from the north shore to Ponce, is not especially wide.

This makes navigating the turns with the large trucks a bit stressful.

But the view is well worth the climb. The older homes in Ponce have unique character and are very attractive.

I'd like to have a house with semi-naked ladies on either side of the door.

The urns across the top complement the details on the facade lower down. In between are pointy bits to irritate the birds.

At street level, we find vendors peddling their wares. In this case, it is plantains and sugar cane.

The cathedral is dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The main altar is quite ornate.

You can see in the image above and the one below, some of the very fine metalwork. Below, is one of the side altars.

The stained glass windows have the interesting feature that they open at the bottom. I reckon this is a great idea in a place that gets hot in the summer.

The altar on the other side of the church.

E suggested that this angel has heartburn. I think it might rather be that with her ear so close to the loud speaker that the priest cleared his throat unexpectedly and gave her a start.

Here's a close up of a panel of the metalwork found in front of main altar.

Naturally, we have the body of Christ showing his bloody wounds for all the see. I always find these displays to be more than a little eerie.

Outside the cathedral is a cross that replaced the mariner's cross made from ships masts. It really looks like modern technology has overcome prayer here. The array of what appears to be radio antennae covering the cross beam seems to overwhelm the intended message.

A lush green place filled with new and interesting places to see. E is out pushing back the frontiers of house sitting (whatever that might mean) while I enjoy the rain and fog of Snohomish.

We are preparing for a short trip to Las Vegas, NV soon, so stay tuned for more travels.