Day 4
By this point, we'd gotten into our little rhythm of early starts, a mile walk around the ships promenade, and breakfast in the Lido. I opted for a heartier breakfast than usual as we were landing later that day and knew we probably wouldn't be coming back onboard for lunch. Breakfast had become a highlight for me not only due to the quality (and indeed quantity) of the food, but also the friendly nature of the staff who were so happy to chat to you and get to know you. Most of the kitchen staff were Filipino, and they definitely made me feel that the Philippines must be a happy country if everyone is like this.
Around 9am, we fast approached Willemstad, the capital of
Curaçao so spent the time peering out of the window as we came closer. A
local pilot boarded the ship to guide us into port and without so much
as a bump, we were docked. We decided to let the hordes of people
heading off on tours go ahead, although quite honestly it didn't look
too busy from our vantage point, so decided to head off into the city.We'd certainly achieved our goal of escaping the cold British weather as the weather was positively balmy as we stepped off the gangway. Walking a short while along the coast, we passed through Rif Fort and found ourselves pretty much right in the city - the benefit of a small island being that it doesn't take long to get where you need to go. We crossed over the pretty Queen Emma Bridge, which subsequently split in two to let a boat pass by, and into the Punda district.
This was my first experience of the Caribbean so I can't comment on what other Caribbean islands are like, but I'd say they're fairly different to this. Due to the Dutch influence, Willemstad was certainly quite European with brightly coloured buildings much the same (if not prettier) than you'd find in the Netherlands.
We'd printed out a walking tour and so began wandering along the colourful streets. It was easy to forget that it was indeed approaching Christmastime due to the hot weather until we stumbled across the occasional Christmas decoration. My favourite were the wooden slats shaped to represent a Christmas tree and studded with lights. A cheap and simple, and no doubt easier to procure in this Caribbean climate, alternative to the original.
Our walk didn't take too long, passing along buildings of every pastel colour until we found ourselves back in the main square - the perfect opportunity for a coffee and apple pie, again another example of the Dutch influence. In fact, sitting there as we were served by blonde haired and blue eyed waiters, you'd think you really were in the Netherlands.
Still having plenty of time left, we crossed back over the Queen Emma Bridge into Otrabanda, another of the city's districts. This was immediately more recognisably 'Caribbean' in terms of the shops and bars that we passed, and less touristy than the other side. Again, there were a bunch of recognisable buildings to pass and read up about which we happily did in the baking mid afternoon sun.
By this point, we'd pretty much seen everything that we could by foot, so headed back to the pleasant air conditioning of the ship - now I understand why they keep it so cold, so it's nice and cooling when you come back in from the Caribbean heat! We were just in time for 'Tea is Served' in the Dining Room, which was pretty much afternoon tea sans the three tiered platter. Dinky sandwiches, tiny scones and sweet cakes accompanied by a pot of Darjeeling. Luxury at its finest.
I took An American Marriage up to the Mix bar to ensconce myself in one of their Oceanside comfy chairs to breeze through its pages. At five, I made the decision to head to the Total Body Conditioning Class in the gym, thinking that it would be nice and easy so as to appeal to the generally older demographic on board. I was vastly mistaken, and spent the next half hour sweating profusely as we worked our way through squats, lunges, Russian twists and more. Probably helped to work off half of the pancake I had at breakfast...
Freshly showered, it was time for a dinner of ravioli soup, Mexican tacos and creme brûlée. We made our way down to the Mainstage slightly before the 8pm show as people seemed to have caught onto the quality of the nightly entertainment and so it was already pretty busy by the time we got their. Tonight's entertainment was Scottish vocalist and instrumentalist Matt Cairns. A very talented and lovely bloke, he serenaded us with John Denver, the Bay City Rollers, Scottish folk music, plenty of The Beatles, and more; backed by a full band. Even after two nights, I was already impressed by the high standard of entertainers - I'd love to be part of the team that chooses what we have every night.
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