Sunrises without clouds can be boring, even at the beach. So after watching the sun come up into a clear sky, I happened to see this angle on the building and realized that it made for a pretty graphic image. Just another angle on sunrise!
After our stop on Bonaire, we sailed to the island of Curacao. Like Bonaire, we had visited previously but it was a number of years ago. Things hadn’t changed a lot, but there were a few obvious differences from our prior visit.
The cruise port on Curacao is the capital city of Willemstad. The colorful waterfront and the Queen Emma floating bridge are two of the main symbols of this beautiful island. Downtown Willemstad is an easy walk from the cruise terminal. Although we made the walk three times, and it got a little longer each time!
The Queen Emma Bridge is a floating bridge, hinged on one end with an engine and propulsion unit on the other end that allows the bridge to open, allowing ship traffic to pass in St Anna Bay. We were fortunate to be able to see the bridge open several times throughout the day, and from both sides of the water. When there is a lot of ship traffic and the bridge needs to stay open for more than a few minutes, there is a free ferry that will take pedestrians from one side to the other. We only saw that happen once, as a large cargo ship was escorted out of the bay, and the bridge stayed open long enough for the tugs to return. And yes, it is possible to stay on the bridge when it opens for a long time, and it is possible to get off, but only on one end. So be careful if you have somewhere to be (like the ship?)!
When our ship first arrived in Curacao, Kathy & I walked into town and spent several hours walking around. We walked all over, including through the New Market, a public market offering all kinds of items, from clothing to produce and beyond. The best part for me was all the color there and in the town. It made for some interesting photography, for sure!
After our walkabout we headed back toward the cruise dock, stopping for lunch at the “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar.” Yeah, it was a tourist trap, but it was close to where we needed to meet our tour, which was scheduled for that afternoon.
Our tour took us back into town, where we retraced a number of the steps from earlier in the day. This time we had a guide and narration, however, so we learned a bit more about the town, its history and architecture. After our walk, we boarded a bus for a tour through the city and a stop at the Curacao Liqueur Distillery. Curacao liqueur is a bitter orange liqueur that can be enjoyed on its own, or used as flavoring in numerous cocktails.
After our distillery visit we were taken to a local restaurant, where we were served local cuisine, including baked chicken, plantain and rice & peas. Except for the fact that we weren’t too hungry after a big lunch, it was a yummy experience.
Our tour brought us back to the cruise dock in the late afternoon, and we debated whether or not to return to the ship. I really wanted to head back into town in order to photograph the bridge and the waterfront at dusk. We decided that if we went back to the ship we would likely not leave again, so despite being tired and thirsty we headed back into town. We found some bottled water and a place to chill while we waited the hour or so before twilight.
Our efforts were rewarded, as we not only got to witness another bridge opening, but we were treated to some really gorgeous light on the buildings as the sun set. Soon after, the lights came on on the bridge and I was able to capture the photos I had hoped for. We then walked back to the ship one last time, grabbed a quick shower and headed for drinks and dinner. My Garmin tracker recorded 15,672 steps for the day, so those drinks and dinner were well deserved!
Our stop in Martinique was our first visit to this lovely island, so we made the best of it by taking an all-day ship tour. Over the course of 8 hours we visited: the ruins from a 1902 volcanic eruption, a rum distillery, a local restaurant for authentic Creole-influenced island cuisine, a botanical garden, and to balance off the rum distillery, a church.
For length, I have divided the photo highlights from Martinique over 3 posts. The first one covers our approach to the island and our visit to the ruins and the Musée Frank A. Perret, memorial to the Catastrophe of 1902 in St-Pierre.
We don’t usually get too excited about Cozumel, because we have been there a number of times and have done most of the touristy things. We don’t go to the beach, so that leaves out a lot of activities.
On this recent cruise, Cozumel ended up being our only stop, so we decided to at least get off the ship and have a drink or two. Thanks to The Google, I located a bar and restaurant called The Thirsty Cougar which was a short walk from the cruise dock.
My usual Mexican libation is a Paloma instead of the traditional Margarita. A Paloma is made with tequila and grapefruit soda, and I like the combination. The Thirsty Cougar also does an awesome Margarita, as I was assured by our friends who sampled some. They also do a mean Nacho platter!
When visiting Cozumel on a Norwegian ship, it docks in the downtown area where a lot of the restaurants are. Many of the other lines dock at a different terminal about 3 miles away. There are restaurants there, too. But in my mind The Thirsty Cougar might just be worth the taxi fare! 🙂
Photos from this most recent trip are here.
Because there are so many cruise ships sailing these days, the cruise lines have been looking for more places to stop. And because cruise passengers like to spend money in ports, more and more countries have been trying to attract cruise ships. In some cases, ports are being “invented” where there haven’t previously been cruise ports. Often, these ports are being developed in conjunction with, and most likely significant investment from, the major cruise lines. One of these is Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic.
We visited the Dominican Republic once previously, on a Carnival ship that docked in Amber Cove, which is another recently developed port just up the coast from Puerto Plata. Amber Cove is frequented by ships in the Carnival family, namely Carnival, Princess and Holland America. We did an island tour on that cruise, so we had seen most of what we wanted to see. Highlight for me was a visit to the Brugal rum distillery, but since I can buy their products at home, we didn’t think a follow up visit was needed. 😉
The port area in Puerto Plata is called Taino Bay, and it contains the requisite spending opportunities. Taino Bay is still in the development stages, but there are plenty of shops, many of which offer locally made crafts and other wares. We picked up a couple of souvenirs, but mostly used it as a way to get off the ship, stretch our legs and take a few photos.
What I enjoyed most about Puerto Plata was that the shop owners and workers were very polite. They seemed happy to see us and were not pushy or aggressive like in other ports. It was a welcome change, and I hope it stays that way!
We were sitting at breakfast one morning, waiting for our food. I was looking up at the dining room ceiling and decided to take a few pictures. A really nice man at the table next to me turned and asked, “could I see what you were taking pictures of?” I showed him the screen on my camera, and I can’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something like “fascinating” or “interesting” or “excuse me I need to go now.” Just kidding about the last one. 😉
Sometimes I just read a line that resonates with me. I came across these two over the last day:
From The Online Photographer: It’s one of the cool things about getting older…sooner or later you live in the future.
From Douglas Adams (Hitchiker’s Guide) via Terence Eden via Om Malik:
– Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
– Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
– Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
Its interesting when you think about it. My grandmother, born in 1908, always talked about how her mother would be amazed with the microwave oven, invented, according to the Wikimonster, in 1955. Today we can’t imagine a home without one. Now, I imagine describing to my dad some of the technology we currently use. He was a “shade tree” automotive mechanic, aspiring electronic tinkerer and auto racing fan, among other things, so today’s electronic everything would be his microwave. But it seems like we have a lot more of those things today than we did 50-ish years ago. Maybe it just seems like more magic.
What will ours be?
Monte enjoyed my motion blur photo from a couple of days ago so I thought I would serve up a few more. Sometimes the camera moves, sometimes the subject moves.
Lots of motion blur here today as we await Ian’s arrival. It’s been rainy, breezy and chilly – a good day to work on photos and watch Formula 1 practice! Ian keeps angling further east of us, which is good for us but unfortunately not so good for someone else. Should be by us by morning, hopefully!
I turned the alarm off this morning and went back to sleep, but woke up 15 minutes later and knew what I had to do. 😉
Once more it was worth the effort.
I got a bit out of sequence with my Bermuda posts and intend to finish them up this week. Here are a few more photos from our Day One tour around the “west end” of the island outside of Hamilton. It included stops at an apartment complex where we saw examples of lower-end (although still pretty nice!) housing and a higher end neighborhood. We made a stop at the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, The Reefs Resort and Club, a beautiful oceanfront resort that we could easily go back to, and the Port Royal Golf course, which hosts a PGA tournament in October.
Interesting factoid: the white roofs are symbolic of Bermuda because the houses collect rainwater from the roof system to cisterns beside or below the structure. Water is very expensive to buy, and outside the cities there is little to no infrastructure. The design of the roof has multiple benefits. Made of limestone it is heavy and not easily shifted by hurricanes. In the past the limestone was covered in a lime mortar, which had anti-bacterial properties. Today, the mortar has been replaced by paint. It’s still white, because this reflects ultra-violet light from the sun, which also helps to purify the water.
Bermudans are very water conscious. In fact, one of our guides told us he uses a bucket to collect the water that runs while he waits for his (solar heated) shower to warm up. He uses that water for other household purposes rather than waste it.