Curacao was our next port of call. This is really an interesting and beautiful city. Curacao is a colony of Denmark and the governor is chosen by Denmark for a period of 6 years.

We decided to take a trolley ride around town to get acquainted with the area. Usually the first time we are in a new port, we like to take an excursion that shows us the highlights of the area we are visiting. In this case, the trolley was like those you took between parking lots and the main entrance at most tourist attractions in the USA.

As we head into the old part of town, we see this sculpture that has been entirely made out of old car bumpers.

We now travel through a former residential neighborhood of Scharloo. This area that has been saved for restoration by the government. The houses are a multitude of color and we are told that because of the salt air they must be painted twice a year and re-plastered every two years. The families finally decided to move to the hillsides because of the expense of upkeep. Finally the government stepped in and are now restoring the old homes and making office space out of them and renting to the public.

In addition to all the colors, there is wrought iron everywhere we look.

Originally, all the houses were painted white. However, a governor of the island said that the white houses and blinding sun was giving him serious headaches. So, he outlawed white houses. The residents then began painting their houses in numerous colors. Upon the death of the governor, it was discovered that he actually owned the paint facilities on the island. One begins to wonder…  To this day, the city is a rainbow of colors.

This house here is famous and is called the “wedding cake house”.

While many of the tombs in the cemetery are white, several residents paint the tombs of their relatives the same color as their house.

 We stopped at the Pietermaal Cathedral and visited inside. Currently the inside of the cathedral is being restored, but I was still able to get several beautiful pictures. It is small nicely adorned.

As we went back toward town, I was able to take a nice picture of tall (very tall) bridge we crossed over getting to town. Rexie had no idea how tall it was when we crossed it.

Another interesting site was a monument dedicated to the early residents. Using a donkey, they all had to bring water from the hills in barrels.

Getting near the end of our tour, we passed the original Milkve Israel Emmanuel Synagogue which is the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere.

On this side of the river stood Fort Amsterdam (built in 1635), which guarded the entrance to the harbor. Now it has a multitude of shops, bars, and restaurants.

Last, we entered the government square which is currently home of the governor and is used by the governing body.

High on the wall is a cannon ball stuck half way in the wall. It was shot by the English toward Fort Amsterdam, but they shot high. Since the English apologized for missing the fort, the cannon ball has remained in the wall as part of the history of the area.

Instead of going back to the ship immediately, we walked the streets of the city a little. One of the interesting sites was a floating pedestrian bridge which takes one to the other side and all the cruise ships. When they need to open it, they just start the motor and swing the bridge open. If you are on the bridge when it starts, you just stay on the bridge until it closes. Quite a necessity and a tourist attraction all rolled up in one.

We are in a store when we hear a carillon ringing. As I walked out and looked around for where the sound was coming from, I spotted the bells on the side of a building.

Underneath the bells were a number of figures gliding around while the bells rang. It reminded me of a cuckoo clock as it struck the hour, but a lot more impressive.

Walking across the floating bridge were a number of buildings all painted differently.

As we walked back to the ship, we went through Rif Fort, which originally helped protect the harbor. Now it has been turned into a number of shops and restaurants.

This (whatever it is) was sitting out front of a store. I guess by putting a Santa Hat on top it made it look better. Probably not!

As we near the ship, we have a chance to really see that the huge rocks have been created not by volcanoes, but coral. You can see the fossils in the rock in this picture.

This finishes our third port of call.

I must be off!

After Grand Turk, our next stop was La Romana in the Dominican Republic. It is hot, even early in the morning.

As we are sitting in our air conditioned bus waiting for everyone to board, we saw one of the primitive excursions. Glad we’re in our bus and not this one.

We are heading to Casa de Campo. This gated community is approximately 5 square kilometers and is a restricted area.

This gated community of 350 year-round families has four golf courses, a horse riding camp with approximately 3,000 horses, a private international airport, and an exclusive resort. Later in the excursion, we were also informed that the port we docked at was also owned by the Casa de Campo community.

Our first activity was a cruise on a Mississippi Style Riverboat (there words, not mine) on the Chavon river.

This river has been used for locations of several movies including Apocalypse Now, Predator, Anaconda, and several others. As we cruised up the river, it was easy to see these movies in this setting.

Next we went to the Altos de Chavon, which is a replica of a 16^th century Mediterranean village. As we are driving to the village, it is amazing the number of people working on the roadways mowing grass, making repairs, etc.

They have an outdoor arena that holds 5,000 people and is used several times a year for concerts. The next concert will be Julio Eglacious.  We also found out that these concerts are not open to the local residents of the Dominican Republic. Even the mayor of the nearby town of Santo Domingo has never been invited until the next concert. It is exclusive and you can see what money really buys.

As we head into the village, it reminds me of Eze, France which we visited last year.

Flamingo dancers were waiting for us as we toured the village.

The village overlooked the Chavon River, which we just cruised.

Of course, no Mediterranean village would be complete without its own church.

On our exit, a couple more shots of the village really show just how much it looks like it belongs in the Mediterranean.

Well, we make it back to the ship. I realized early in the tour that I had left my driver’s license on the ship. I figured I would have to talk my way through security or else Rexie would have to go to the ship and fetch my license back to me.

As it happened, because we were in a restricted area the entire time we did not have to show any identification except the ships sign and sail card. Again, I lucked out. But I am sure Rexie will never let me forget the forgotten Passports and now the Driver’s license. Why do I keep giving her ammunition against me? I don’t know why.

I must be off!