NOW TO VIEW MY JANUARY POSTS YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK ON "JANUARY" SO THOSE POSTS WILL BE DISPLAYED.
TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT. THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED. ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM. I RECOMMEND THAT.
CURACAO BACKGROUND INFO:
Curacao is
the largest of the ABC islands at 117 sq miles and is located 40 miles off the
north coast of Venezuela. The population
of the island is about 160,000 and its capital is Willemstad, where we are
docked.
The economy
is based on tourism, trade, shipping services, oil refining & storage, and
international financial services.
620,000 cruise ship passengers call on the port per year. Another 1.8 million fly to the island
annually. The coral reefs are great for
snorkeling and diving. Willemstad is a
very colorful town as you will be seeing in my photos and has lots of
restaurants and shopping. Again, luxury
hotels are near some of the 37 beaches on the south side of the island.
There are also several forts on the island built by the Dutch back in
the mid 1600’s that can be visited.
Water is produced here by reverse osmosis and desalination. Electricity is produced by generation plants
and wind farms. Gas for cooking is
supplied to homes by pressurized containers.
LAST NIGHT:
Terry & Julie Bishop with Marcia Rector and us at dinner in Compass Rose after cocktails in the Mariner Lounge.
Chateaubriand
Panel of "liars". Each giving the definition of "drintling". Only one gave the correct one. The audience had to pick who was not lying. Lots of laughs and fun were had by all.
TODAY:
TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE PHOTOS I TOOK TODAY YOU NEED TO CLICK ON THEM TO ENLARGE THEM.
Took this photo of my laptop Google Map showing where Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao is very close to Venezuela. We are just 40 miles from the Venezuelan coast today.
We did dock in Willemstad on Curacao this morning a little before 8am. It is overcast and windy this morning. Temperature 80 degrees and 70% humidity. Forecast high of 85 degrees this afternoon.
Some views from Deck 12 of Willemstad.
Some shops just off the pier where we are docked.
This is the Queen Juliana Bridge. It is 185 feet high over the St Anna Bay. Bridges here are named after queens.
Walking off the pier and was greeted by them.
Marcia was with me on tour again today. After a 15 minute taxi ride we arrived at this trolley. Name of our tour was "Trolley Train Through History".
Marcia and Katja was back seats. Katja is the head of our Destinations department (tour desk).
This is the Queen Emma floating bridge built on pontoons. It is a pedestrian only bridge.
Floating bridge
Some dogs having a siesta.
Queen Julian Bridge in distance.
Trolley we were on.
Street market. Selling fresh fish here.
Looking on down the street at the vegetable and fruits stands.
Looking back at the street market.
Not sure what the meaning of this writing is.
Statue of Simon Bolivar
This is the old Jewish section of town. Most all the 100+ years old home have been restored. Houses here have to be repainted twice a year as the salty air from the Caribbean Sea degrade the paint.
This statue of a lady is made from chrome car bumpers.
Down this street are small houses made from wood.
Most photographed here is this. "The Wedding Cake House"
Old catholic cathedral. 65% of the people on the island are catholic.
Interestedly decorated souvenir shop.
Street side outdoor restaurants.
Hard to tell but this is a city square.
Long ago they used to haul fresh water to houses in barrels on carts pulled by donkeys. Of course nowadays they have a desalination plant.
This is inside an old fort. Now government offices located here.
Our guide, Nina. She was excellent. This was the end of our tour. We had the choice to take the free taxis back to the ship as part of our tour OR talk back. She said it would be a 20 minute walk. Marcia and I took the taxi as it was about noon.
So we arrived back at the ship at noon. They have installed new face recognition equipment since we began this cruise. Instead of swiping our room key cards they use face recognition to know when we are off and back on board. I took a photo of it taking my photo.
Lunch was up in La Veranda. They were carving the salmon in pastry which is our favorite. Rebecca forgo her Atkins bar today and enjoyed the salmon in pastry. It took longer than normal for my phone to upload the 40 photos I took to the Google Photos cloud. Finally complete so I could then put them on this post. Been working on it for 3 hours. Hope you enjoy my work.
I also had to select the tours I want to do on our next 31 night segment that begins on February 13th. I need to get them turned in by 6pm today. I have that done now also.
Plan for tonight is cocktails in Mariner Lounge at 6pm followed by dinner in Compass Rose. We did not particularly care for the menu choices this evening so yesterday I asked them make fried chicken thighs for us tonight. Marcia thought that sounded good so she will be joining us too.
The show tonight is a variety showtime with Andy (cruise director) and performances by the production cast. Should be very good. Tomorrow is a sea day enroute to Barbados.
