That cannon looks ready to defend against rogue cruise ships.

The cannon stood at attention, its barrel pointed toward the vast expanse of water as if it were still waiting for orders. The irony wasn’t lost on me—a relic of war now presiding over a scene of peace. Below, the harbor shimmered with the kind of light that made everything seem sharper and more alive. A cruise ship moved lazily across the water, its massive frame dwarfing the sailboats that bobbed nearby like scattered punctuation marks in a long sentence. Behind it all, the city skyline rose like a jagged horizon, its glass and steel reflecting fragments of sky. The air carried a faint tang of salt and eucalyptus, grounding me in this place where history and modernity seemed to coexist without complaint. Somewhere behind me, laughter rang out—children playing near the edge of the park. I turned back to the cannon and wondered how many sunsets it had watched in silence.