5 and 6 December, 2019: The Islands of St. Lucia and Barbados
As you may already know, I cruised the Caribbean for eleven days in December from 1 December to 11 December. Read all about it! I had a wonderful time with the high lights including tours of two of the islands we visited, St. Lucia and Barbados.
Note: I took a lot of pictures, many of which are under the links below. You have been warned.
Besides these two excursions I went on, I had signed up for seven other before I fell in Philadelphia International Airport on my way to the plane that flew me to San Juan, P.R. That fall resulted in a cracked bone in my left big toe that seriously affected my walking. The two I kept were both bus tours, so I felt fairly sure I could manage them.
As you can tell from the vantage point of this picture, I was seated at the back of a small bus that seated, maybe, twenty people. What it doesn't show is that my seat was over a wheel. The seat rested right on top of the wheel housing which meant that I had to fold myself into a Z to fit onto the seat. I don't actually fold that tightly anymore, so I was left perched uncomfortably on less than half a seat. My discomfort had nothing to do with my poor toe; it had everything to do with my poor contorted body.
St. Lucia is a volcanic island; its roads are narrow and squiggly. Looking out my window, I saw mostly very steep slopes that fell away from our road precipitously. I wanted very much to get a picture of one of the houses attached to a cliff but our bus never stopped...or even slowed down...near one.
At the road's edge, the builder cleared a parking space for a car; from the car an asphalt path wound down the cliff a short distance to the house. The house appeared to me to have been built on beams driven into the side of the cliff: it perched, nice and straight, over a sheer drop of many feet. The houses themselves seemed to be conventional cottages, one story with possibly an attic. No basement, of course. To reach the house, the occupants took a gangplank from the end of the asphalt path to their doorstep which was always on the side of the house, as though that side of the house faced a street instead of an unmeasured plunge. The gangplank usually had some kind of guardrails...usually ropes strung on posts...but not always. The doorsteps did sport railings. All I could think, as I glimpsed this arrangement, was that coming home after dark, drunk, would eliminate any unsteady St. Lucians.
The pictures that I did get were of houses built on larger areas of flat terrain.
The round object is part of a wall fencing off a property.
Sorry about the window glare. Both pictures were taken through the bus window.
Ti Rocher RC Primary School.
The ultimate goal of this excursion was Stony Hill, a manor house set high above St. Lucia's principal city of Castries.
Stony Hill's owner...
...gave a talk on the fruits, seeds, and nuts that are grown on St. Lucia...
...which I'm afraid I didn't listen to.
I was more interested in wandering around the well-tended grounds and enjoying the spectacular views.
I don't know the name of this beautiful, blooming bush. Sorry.
After Stony Hill, the bus took us down to and through Castries to our ship, via different narrow, winding roads.
My second tour was on Friday, December 6th. I didn't take a picture of the interior of this bus because, while about the same size as the one in St. Lucia, it was a lot more comfortable; i.e., I was not sitting on top of a wheel.
As we drove through to the countryside, our guide introduced us to Barbados by contrasting it with St. Lucia. St. Lucia is a volcanic island; Barbados is not. For the first century or so of St. Lucia's modern history, ownership of the island changed hands frequently, with the French being in control of the island seven times and the British wresting it away from the French seven times. It wasn't until 1814 that the British seized control for the last time and held the island until 1970's when it became independent. Barbados, in contrast, was acquired by the British in 1625 and remained under British rule until 1966. It is still an independent member of the British Commonwealth.
Although Barbados is much flatter than St. Lucia, it does have mountainous areas with great views:
There were many more birds hopping around in the grass when I went to take a picture, but most of them were too camera shy to stick around for my shot.
Another pretty plant the name of which I do not know. Tsk, tsk.
The high point of our excursion was a stop at St. James Parish Church. The current church was largely constructed in the 1870's, replacing a series of structures that go back to the original, built in 1627.
I took a great many pictures of this church, mostly because I didn't want to sit inside and listen to the lecture being given by (I think) a verger.
St. James Parish Church.
Conscientious tourists learning more than I know about the Church.
The baptisimel fount was installed in the original church sometime in the early 1600's. My guess is that it was brought over from England which, considering its size, heft, and probable cost, demonstrates something about the values of the British settlers of Barbados.
One of several pretty stained glass windows.
Seen from my balcony:
Taken while the ship was under-weigh, leaving in the evening for another island.
Other, smallish cruise ships. All are big enough for me.
As I've said, I usually had a late breakfast (9:30-ish) and an early dinner, a little after 6:00, and nothing in between. One afternoon, though, I was feeling a little peckish, so I went up to the cafe and ordered a latte. The waitress who brought it looked dubiously at it and said, "What else can I get you?"
When I ordered my latte, I couldn't help but see an array for four small pastries set out at the same station, so I said, "I'd love to have one of those pastries."
"What kind?"
"It doesn't matter. You choose. Surprise me."
The best one was the little tart with the blueberries on top. The pastry was sitting in a chocolate shell. OMG!
I ate all the other three, too. FanSee
Note: I took a lot of pictures, many of which are under the links below. You have been warned.
Besides these two excursions I went on, I had signed up for seven other before I fell in Philadelphia International Airport on my way to the plane that flew me to San Juan, P.R. That fall resulted in a cracked bone in my left big toe that seriously affected my walking. The two I kept were both bus tours, so I felt fairly sure I could manage them.
As you can tell from the vantage point of this picture, I was seated at the back of a small bus that seated, maybe, twenty people. What it doesn't show is that my seat was over a wheel. The seat rested right on top of the wheel housing which meant that I had to fold myself into a Z to fit onto the seat. I don't actually fold that tightly anymore, so I was left perched uncomfortably on less than half a seat. My discomfort had nothing to do with my poor toe; it had everything to do with my poor contorted body.
St. Lucia is a volcanic island; its roads are narrow and squiggly. Looking out my window, I saw mostly very steep slopes that fell away from our road precipitously. I wanted very much to get a picture of one of the houses attached to a cliff but our bus never stopped...or even slowed down...near one.
At the road's edge, the builder cleared a parking space for a car; from the car an asphalt path wound down the cliff a short distance to the house. The house appeared to me to have been built on beams driven into the side of the cliff: it perched, nice and straight, over a sheer drop of many feet. The houses themselves seemed to be conventional cottages, one story with possibly an attic. No basement, of course. To reach the house, the occupants took a gangplank from the end of the asphalt path to their doorstep which was always on the side of the house, as though that side of the house faced a street instead of an unmeasured plunge. The gangplank usually had some kind of guardrails...usually ropes strung on posts...but not always. The doorsteps did sport railings. All I could think, as I glimpsed this arrangement, was that coming home after dark, drunk, would eliminate any unsteady St. Lucians.
The pictures that I did get were of houses built on larger areas of flat terrain.
The round object is part of a wall fencing off a property.
Sorry about the window glare. Both pictures were taken through the bus window.
Ti Rocher RC Primary School.
The ultimate goal of this excursion was Stony Hill, a manor house set high above St. Lucia's principal city of Castries.
Stony Hill's owner...
...gave a talk on the fruits, seeds, and nuts that are grown on St. Lucia...
...which I'm afraid I didn't listen to.
I was more interested in wandering around the well-tended grounds and enjoying the spectacular views.
I don't know the name of this beautiful, blooming bush. Sorry.
After Stony Hill, the bus took us down to and through Castries to our ship, via different narrow, winding roads.
My second tour was on Friday, December 6th. I didn't take a picture of the interior of this bus because, while about the same size as the one in St. Lucia, it was a lot more comfortable; i.e., I was not sitting on top of a wheel.
As we drove through to the countryside, our guide introduced us to Barbados by contrasting it with St. Lucia. St. Lucia is a volcanic island; Barbados is not. For the first century or so of St. Lucia's modern history, ownership of the island changed hands frequently, with the French being in control of the island seven times and the British wresting it away from the French seven times. It wasn't until 1814 that the British seized control for the last time and held the island until 1970's when it became independent. Barbados, in contrast, was acquired by the British in 1625 and remained under British rule until 1966. It is still an independent member of the British Commonwealth.
Although Barbados is much flatter than St. Lucia, it does have mountainous areas with great views:
There were many more birds hopping around in the grass when I went to take a picture, but most of them were too camera shy to stick around for my shot.
Another pretty plant the name of which I do not know. Tsk, tsk.
The high point of our excursion was a stop at St. James Parish Church. The current church was largely constructed in the 1870's, replacing a series of structures that go back to the original, built in 1627.
I took a great many pictures of this church, mostly because I didn't want to sit inside and listen to the lecture being given by (I think) a verger.
St. James Parish Church.
Conscientious tourists learning more than I know about the Church.
The baptisimel fount was installed in the original church sometime in the early 1600's. My guess is that it was brought over from England which, considering its size, heft, and probable cost, demonstrates something about the values of the British settlers of Barbados.
One of several pretty stained glass windows.
Seen from my balcony:
Taken while the ship was under-weigh, leaving in the evening for another island.
Other, smallish cruise ships. All are big enough for me.
As I've said, I usually had a late breakfast (9:30-ish) and an early dinner, a little after 6:00, and nothing in between. One afternoon, though, I was feeling a little peckish, so I went up to the cafe and ordered a latte. The waitress who brought it looked dubiously at it and said, "What else can I get you?"
When I ordered my latte, I couldn't help but see an array for four small pastries set out at the same station, so I said, "I'd love to have one of those pastries."
"What kind?"
"It doesn't matter. You choose. Surprise me."
The best one was the little tart with the blueberries on top. The pastry was sitting in a chocolate shell. OMG!
I ate all the other three, too. FanSee