Salsa, street food, and the heartbeat of San Juan, through our eyes.
If you want to understand Puerto Rico, really understand it, go to La Placita de Santurce on a Thursday night.
During the day, it is a farmers' market. Vendors sell tropical fruits, fresh fish, and homemade sofrito. But as the sun goes down, the square transforms. The stalls close, the bars open, and the music starts.
We walked in around 9pm. Within minutes, the kids were being taught to dance salsa by a group of abuelas who refused to accept 'I don't know how' as an answer. The oldest, she must have been 80, was the best dancer there.
The food is the other revelation. Alcapurrias from a cart, pinchos fresh off the grill, cold Medalla beers passed hand to hand. Every corner has a different song playing. Reggaeton from one bar, boleros from the next, live bomba from the street performers.
What makes La Placita special is that it is not a tourist attraction dressed up as something authentic. It is simply where people from the neighborhood go on Thursday nights, and have for decades. That we get to be part of it, even for one evening, is a privilege.
We stumbled home well past midnight, ears ringing, feet sore from dancing. The kids were still humming salsa melodies the next morning at breakfast.
