To paradise and back

I just got back from a long trip to my newest favorite city - San Juan, Puerto Rico. I knew it was going to be a special place, but I didn't expect to fall in love with it so urgently. The city's charm is disarming, the kind that makes you look around for apartments to rent because you can't possibly imagine leaving.

San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521 - this history is apparent in the main part of the city by the picturesque colonial buildings and the narrow cobblestone streets that with age have turned a magical gunmetal blue.

The colors surrounding you in San Juan, the blues in the sky, the greens in the trees and plants, the yellows in the streets, are impossibly bright - and somehow the constant 88F temperatures and ever-present sun are never too hot. Everything just seems so perfect, including the inviting and friendly people, specially my friend's mom, the sweetest woman in the city, and our guide in this island of enchantment.

These are some of my pictures....



Cemetery on the ocean


Bright streets in San Juan


Atop the fort wall.


Plaza of birds.


Wild cats on the rocks near the fort.


Fort wall.








Mofongo, a traditional Puerto Rican dish.... so delicious.


The beach in Rincon, PR.


Learning to surf...

Marble and dust

I like spending my weekend afternoons in cold warehouses filled with incessant rows of old doors, antique bathtubs, rusted radiators, crumbling stair parts, and fireplace mantels.

While I am there I like to spend unnecessarily long hours photographing them, capturing their patterns and locating their unperceivable beauty. My last such excursion was to a magical place called The Brass Knob Backdoors Warehouse, one of my favorite places in the world to spend cold sunny afternoons. You will find so many treasures there, none of which you will have any use for, you will also find several friendly cats, and some very very special subjects to photograph.


Unfortunately if you want to go there your friends will think you are strange and they won't want to drive to the outskirts of the city to stare at old doors and freeze their butts off. Unless you have a friend like me :)







During this trip I was captivated by symmetry and patterns.
These are some of my photographs:




A sun-lit column on the second floor


The bright window wall





Wall of fences and gates


Old fences


Rusty gates


Rows of toilets


Old columns on the second floor


Never-ending little drawers


Side entrance


Rows of old radiators outside


Old banister


Metal lattice bars on the window


A banister pole


Brightly-colored radiators


A brass knob :)