The Beautiful Island Of Puerto Rico!

Everyone is different. We have our personal preferences towards all in life:

Circle or square; black or white; sour or sweet; quiet or loud; hot or cold.

Hot or cold.

It's winter and although some like the cold, others prefer the heat. What better way to stay away from the cold than to go on a sweet vacation to a hot and sandy island only a couple of hours from Florida?

Puerto Rico! Let's see what you can look forward to in the beautiful island -- You just might find yourself planning your next trip after this!

I will not bore you with the historical facts - I'm no Wikipedia, but I will fill you in on some history of the Caribbean island!

Puerto Rico is an island in the northeastern Caribbean just a few hours off of Florida - by plane of course...

The island was founded by Christopher Columbus around 1493 when it was originally inhabited by the Tainos, an aboriginal tribe. It was under the control of Spain for over 400 years until it was taken by the United States after the Spanish-American War. To this day the independence of the island is still debated by many.

Another word used to describe the island is El Borinquen, Puerto Rico's original name, while the inhabitants go by the boricuas. The island also goes by 'La isla del encanto', or 'the island of enchantments'.

Along with the beautiful beaches and the almost perfect temperature of the island, Puerto Rico has its own unique sound. It isn't heard anywhere else seeing as the tropical sound comes from a little frog known to originate in Puerto Rico -- although somewhat recently they have been migrated to Hawaii in which many are not as satisfied to have them join their island. This unique little frog is known as the Coqui.

The coquis are very small and consist of more than 16 species. They can be heard around the island making the sounds of their name: 'co-qui'. It is said that the sound is made as a mating call with the male starting with 'co' and the female ending with 'qui' ... almost like a game of Marco Polo until they find each other, though there are many theories as to why and how they use their famous sound.

Here's a link to their beautiful music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54-FzuE-w0U

A soothing way to get to sleep at the end of the day!

What is one thing Puerto Rico has that all who go on a get-away trip mainly look for? Beaches of course!

There are many beautiful beaches on the island available year-round with parties and get togethers going on every night from sun up to sun down.

When I personally go on vacation, I head to the beach in Vega Baja that goes by La Playa De Puerto Nuevo in which I will post some pictures of.

Whether you are looking for a family friendly beach or hitting the hardcore waves, there's a beach for you on the island!

Enough reading for a bit; Let's take a look at some pictures I personally took on one of my many trips to Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico is known for its delicious foods!

Coconuts for the naturally refreshing drink, mofongo with tostones for a wonderful dinner, the famous flan for dessert -- You'll never go hungry on the little island!

Parcha ice cream and piraguas -- my two all-time favorite treats!

Parcha, or passion fruit, is an orange ice cream you can find basically anywhere in Puerto Rico, especially at the beach! It's not too sweet and not too fruity -- just right. The piraguas are like snow cones; crushed ice with flavor. My favorite is, you guessed it, parcha! It's a popular flavor on the island, with other more common flavors available for both the ice creams and the piraguas.

Puerto Rico is FULL of places to visit, aside from all the great beaches.

I will show you my personal top five favorite must-visit attractions on the sunny island!

Officially named Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, El Morro is a great place to visit for some wonderful 400 year old history. Admission is only $3 for all over the age of sixteen and free for fifteen and younger. It is a huge area made of rock and concrete with all as it was many years ago!

Ahh, El Yunque, the perfect place to go exercise, relax, take pictures, and enjoy the views! It's the famous rainforest of the island established around 1903 with about 28,002 acres to enjoy!

The oldest settlement in Puerto Rico, Vieno San Juan is yet another wonderful family friendly place full of history. It is great to go day and night! With many treats, handmade objects, entertainers, and music, Viejo San Juan will never get old when it comes to visiting!

Also known as "Little Island", Culebra was founded around 1880. It has no large animal population except for the white-tailed deer that can be spotted on the eastern side of the island. Because of the island's small population, there are only three schools -- elementary, middle, and high.

It's mainly visited for the clear water, white sanded beach!

A most recent attraction in Ponce, Puerto Rico, the art museum was established around 1959 and has gotten much attention since then.

It has roughly around 4,000 different pieces of European art by famous artists such as Frida Kahlo, Edward Burne-Jones, Lucas Cranach, among many others!

Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children under 12 years old, seniors 60 and older, and students with ID's.

Those were just a few pictures I had saved from my past trip which was around 2 years ago... Hopefully I'll be heading over there soon to get some updated photos to share with you all!

So what do you think? A beautiful island, warm, with its unique sounds, its delicious food, and its sandy beaches! Sounds like a future vacation to me!