This morning at the Club Orange, Joyce our mimosa server, told us that none of the crew had been allowed off of the ship yesterday in Castries. Then we shared our story of how we walked out of the terminal, and were not forced to take a taxi. Maybe we slipped between the cracks?
Anyway, we took the time to complete yesterday's reports and photos before we left the ship at 10:30am. At least the weather looked good for no rain. However, it was warm and muggy.
Once again, before we entered the terminal building, we had to stop, do sanitizer, and take our temps. No alarms went off, so we were good to go and make our way to the opposite end and on towards town. At least the N. Statendam docked very close to the terminal this time, but then, we were the only ship in port today.
We had a leisurely walk to town, armed with the local map. Doing some research online on fabric shops, we discovered a store that may have been the one we visited 10 years ago. We shall see…..
First stop was the fish market, where the experts were super busy carving and fileting many species of fish. Some were very small fish to extra-large tuna. One thing we failed to notice on our last visit, was the installation of solar panels on the roof. Continuing on, we walked to the Old Marina, crossing over the Charles Duncan O'Neal Bridge, but short of going to the beach area. Then we back-tracked to High St., passing the Parliament Building and the National Hero's Square. A long way up the street, the name changed to Roebuck St. It was there we saw a tiny sign "Top Fabric" with a small door to enter. No window front at all, and we figured this was not the same place we remembered. However, we were this far, so might as well check it out. Opening the door, we found a hallway where the real shop was through another door on the left. It had an opened sign, but the door was locked. Guess they were closed for lunch. We looked through the window at what they had inside, and suddenly the door opened and we were invited in. Unseen by us, there was a door bell to ring, but we did not know they would keep the door locked all of the time.
Long story short, we purchased 1½ yards of stretchy material for a future blouse. The price on the bolt was $21. We did know that was about double of the US dollar, so we figured it would be about $15 US. Paying the owner, she rang up $18 Barbados, which we thought was US $. Then she handed back $8, charging us only $9 US. With the receipt, she handed back a $2 Barbados bill. Wow, now that was honesty. Now when I make this blouse, I will always remember that story. In fact, we might go back and purchase another design the next time we come here.
Heading back, we passed by Nidhe Israel Synagogue with a cemetery dating back to 1630. St. Mary's Cathedral was beyond that with a stop at Jubilee Gardens where there was a nice bench to use. Made a sweep through mostly closed Pelican Centre, checking out one vendor's cleverly –made copper wire jewelry designs. Not inexpensive, we said we might come back there as well in a few weeks. By the way, every place we entered today checked our temps and "purelled" our hands. At the jewelry shop, I accidently sanitized my shoe instead.
Passing the gate at the terminal, we entered a door where our stuff was put through xray, and our room keys were checked. At the terminal, it was the same process as when we entered on the opposite end. At the variety store , we picked up a small bag of chips with the $2 Barbados bill. At this same store, an elderly couple walked inside, and were asked to sanitize their hands. The man did, but the wife yelled at the Barbados lady saying she just washed her hands in the bathroom. It did not matter, she explained, it was the law. Use it, or get out (the vendor never said this out loud). Finally she complied, but mumbled all the way through the store. That was really embarrassing for all the passengers in the shop.
Lunch was in the Dutch Café, where the beers never tasted so good. The sun had begun to peek out, and it was heating up outside, so we were thirsty. Of course, we added our sandwiches and hot fries. As the crew were not allowed off today, they were curious as to what we found in town. We told them that we saw a lot of masks on the locals. Inside, outside, they never took them off. We did not either.
It was after 3pm, when we got back to the room. Great time to do some work and also relax. Our veranda was in the full sun and hot as a pistol. We sat out there off and on until the ship left at about 5pm. There was a lot of horn blowing as we left.
It was dinner for five tonight in the dining room. All but one of us had prime rib. The last time I ordered that was when I was in solitary confinement. A fun time was had by all. Presty visited once again and mentioned that Philip, the head maitre'd on the world cruise had resigned to run his family bar business in Holland. Maybe Presty will take his place in 2023?
Tomorrow we will be back to Grenada. Will we be allowed off this time? Who knows………
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Report # 52 Bridgetown, Barbados Monday - February 7, 2022 Mostly cloudy, warm & 80 degrees
