Curaçao

Wednesday – Curaçao

This reminds me of the old movie “If this is Tuesday, it must be Belgium”... I have no idea of dates, etc., but if this is Wednesday, it must be Curaçao. (Note : my online pronunciation guide, prior to my trip, said this was pronounced “Sir-ah-cow” but that's wrong. It's “Kur-ah-so”, which I should have known, given that the “ç” in French is pronounced like an “s”.) Regardless, this is where we docked today at 2pm.

Because we had a late dock time, I had a late sleep in time, and didn't crawl out of bed until 8ish (which is NOT late when I am home, but seems late here). Breakfast and lots of ship exploring/shopping killed most of the morning. They have some lovely high-end gift shops on board … I have fallen in love with the new Columbian yellow emeralds. The staff patiently puts up with me wandering through and drooling on their lovely showcases, but they know I'm not buying. Grabbed a burger for lunch and got ready to debark when the ship docked.

What a gorgeous place this is! Willemstad is the capital, where we dock, and it's the prettiest town ever. Because it was a Dutch colony, you can see the Dutch influence in the architecture – tall, narrow buildings, all side by side, in the loveliest pastel colours. (The story goes that the governor declared that all the white buildings were hard on the eyes and caused migraines, and decided that everyone needed to paint their houses. Of course, it was later discovered that he was a silent partner in a paint factory that was losing money... LOL! Now, it's just tradition to use these lovely paint colours, and it's what the city is known for.) It's a more affluent island than the previous 2 stops. Most people here speak 4 languages fluently : Dutch, English, Spanish, and a local dialect called Papiemento. The country is no longer a Dutch territory/protectorate, but gained its independence a few years ago, and now belongs to the United Dutch kingdoms (like the British Commonwealth).

I took a tour of the Island, and it was really interesting. We drove through the town looking at the beautiful homes – all of which need constant upkeep. They made the mistake of using salt water for their cement blocks, and the homes disintegrate on an alarming basis. It does help keep the place looking always new! We saw their famous floating pontoon bridge, and then stopped at a small museum. Our tour guide, Melisa, was very informative and the planned 20-minute stop was closer to 45-50 minutes, but she was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it- especially the grounds. Back on the bus and we were off to Chobolobo, the colonial plantation that produces the famous Curaçao liqueur. The Spanish brought Valencia oranges to Curaçao centuries ago, but they just don't grow well here – they produce small, very bitter, inedible fruit. So one enterprising man- Mr. Senior- used the peel of these oranges to produce the now world famous blue liqueur. It's still made the same way, at this family plantation- no factory. And we got to taste it... 4 different types. Mmmmm! The original is lovely, but mix the chocolate Curaçao with the coffee one, and it's heaven! Then back on the bus for more sightseeing, including the above ground cemeteries. The ground is too hard to bury people, so they place them in above ground crypts. After 5-10 years, they remove the bodies, put the bones in smaller boxes, and replace them, making room for the next family member who dies. It's like time share... that everyone is just dying to get into! Hahaha!

By the time I arrived back at the port, it was 6pm, and most of the shops were closing. They have a gorgeous harbourfront, with fabulous shops, but I mostly had to windowshop (probably better, anyway). I met up with Cathie, who was coming back from her excursion, and we wandered around for a while before heading back to the ship. The sun was just going down, and I got some wonderful pictures of the ship lit up.

We met up with Leslie and Davie at supper. They spent the day in the town, which I will do if I come back this way. I loved my tour, but Willemstad was beautiful and intriguing, and I'm sorry I didn't have more time for more than a cursory look around when most things were closed. It was nice to be there in the evening, when the air started to cool a bit (I think it went "down" to 31ºC/88ºF after sunset! Thank goodness for the constant Caribbean breezes...), but I would have liked more time.

After supper, the 4 of us went to the Victoriana lounge and played “80s lyrical trivia”. Wow. Where was I in the 80s? I could only name 7 of the 20 songs (although, to my credit, I did at least recognize 18 of them!). Davie got 3 right, Leslie scored with 13, and Cathie wouldn't even let us see her score sheet! Because of the late sail out (11pm) there was no show tonight. We watched the sail out from the deck- the city was lit up and those pastel buildings glowed in the dark. It was postcard-perfect. Then listened to some live music in the main lobby, and off to bed. This was a lovely place, and I would not mind a return visit- with more time- in the future.

Foodies :

Breakfast : eggs Benedict, bacon, fresh fruit, OJ

Lunch : burger and fries

Supper : Langoustina cocktail

           NY strip loin, fries, carrots

           dessert : almond chocolate roll in hot, crispy phyllo pastry

Late night snack :  olives, cheese, shrimp, Thai samosa

Kitty peeps : All is well, and I don't think they even know I'm gone! :)