During a second visit, we stayed in the beach resort area of Isla Verde. This afforded us the chance to see more aspects of metropolitan San Juan. With its tropical climate and vast areas of beach, Puerto Rico depends on tourism to support its otherwise stagnant economy.
 

The districts of Condado, Miramar, Carolina, Ocean Park and Isla Verde  are where the hotels, casinos, and arts and sports venues are located. (wikimedia commons)
 

Freeways and thoroughfares criss-cross this city of  2 million. We got around by taxi and public transit.

By the nineteenth century the old city had become a charming residential and commercial district. The city itself with its institutional buildings, museums, churches and plazas is part of the UNESCO heritage zone.
 

Just outside the walls of Old San Juan sits the Capitol Building, inaugurated in 1929. Across the street are bronze statues of every U.S. president that has visited Puerto Rico

A lovely Art Museum, housed in a former hospital, is in the district of Santurce near the Concert Hall and various banking and government buildings. 
 

During our stay, the Museum was featuring the works of the Puerto Rican artist, Francisco Oller, the only Latin American to have played a role in the development of   impressionism.

Plaza Las Americas is the largest shopping mall in the Caribbean and second largest in Latin America. With over 300 stores it is anchored by Macys, JC Penney, Sears, and Old Navy.
 

Nearby are the Roberto Clemente Coliseum and the Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

San Juan's business district is known as the Golden Mile.

A statue near the capitol building commemorates the contributions of teachers.