Monday, December 24, 2018

Monday, December 24, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2007. This was Mattie's sixth Christmas with us. Each year, Mattie got a new Christmas sweater for our photos, but the consistent props of choice were his antlers and the Christmas train. Mattie absolutely loved his train and looked forward to it coming out each holiday season. 


Quote of the day: T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. ~ Clement Clarke Moore

We arrived in Curacao today. The name is derived from the Portuguese word for "cured." Early Spanish sailors, suffering from scurvy, found themselves miraculous cured after landing in Curacao, most likely from eating local fruits rich in Vitamin C. 

This is the largest of the ABC islands. Like Aruba and Bonaire, Curacao is also part of the Netherlands. There are 160,000 people on the island. Compared that to Bonaire's population size of 20,000. The island only gets about 15 inches of rain in total a year. But the average temperature is in the 80's. It is a culturally diverse island with over 65 different ethnic cultures represented. 

The port of Willemstad is alive with historic treasures. The island boasts that it hosts 799 different UNESCO World Heritage Sites. What is noteworthy is that in each port we visited, the largest structure on the island was our cruise ship. Yet I can't tell you how appreciative the islanders are to the cruise industry. As tourism is the number one form of income and the ships bring in thousands of passengers with each visit. 

We had the opportunity to walk through a cave today. The Hato Caves have been on the island for over 100,000 years. We literally did a walking tour through the dramatic, underground limestone grottos. We saw stalactites and stalagmites, which produce unusual shadows in the caves' eerie lighting. 

Our guide pointed out limestone structures that resembled a donkey head, a horses head, a witch, and the famous Madonna statue. The caves are also a haven for a colony of rarely seen long-nose fruit bats. Bats that apparently come out of the caves at night to eat the flowers on the Cadushy cactus tree. It is the bats that propagate the cactus on the island. The caves were originally used as a hiding place for runaway slaves and prior to that as a shelter for island natives.

We were only allowed to take photos in this one section of the cave. Prior to getting this this area, we walked through a large section of bats flying over our heads. We were warned that the bats could potentially poop on our heads and clothing. Fortunately we came out unscathed. But the warning was significant and intimidating. 

Peter exploring the caves. We did something like this once with Mattie, at Luray Caverns in Virginia. Mattie was a bite intimidated by the caves but nonetheless absolutely loved the experience. 

From the caves, a bus drove us into the town of Punta. It was there we went on an hour walking tour. We drove over this elevated bridge, called the Queen Juliana bridge. In fact it is the first structure that greets you in the harbor and it is a very distinct landmark that distinguishes Curacao from the rest of the Caribbean islands. 

The architecture on the Island is noteworthy! This is Fort Church, Curacao's oldest Protestant church.

There were many streets in Punta that looked like this with Dutch architecture and a bright Caribbean flair. Many of these buildings date back to the 1700's!

All the buildings are made out of limestone, which makes it remarkable that they remain standing. In addition, you are allowed to paint these buildings any color you chose, which is why you see all colors of the rainbow. 

We had all sorts of weather today..... sun to pouring rain. Yet regardless of the weather, the town was charming and beautiful. I would have to say that Curacao really sticks out from the other islands.... because of its infrastructure, history, and reservation of culture. 

This is the second bridge that puts Curacao on the map. It is the Queen Emma Floating Bridge. It is 
supported by 16 pontoons, the bridge swings open to allow ships to access the port. It is affectionately called the "Swinging Lady," this historic bridge was originally built in 1888, and has recently been totally restored.

My mom and me on the Queen Emma Bridge. Literally the bridge opens like a gate, as it is not a draw bridge. When the bridge opens up, we were told that you can't cross over it for 45 minutes. So you really have to time your walking appropriately. 

This was a floating market. Literally Venezuelan merchants sell their produce straight from their small fishing boats. Now here's the story behind this. These merchants park their very filled boats for five weeks at this dock. They can make $50 a day, for five weeks in Curacao compared to selling the same merchandise in their own country. Which would generate for them only $5 a month in comparison. These merchants live on their boats for five weeks and the fruit and vegetables are never refrigerated. Our tour guide literally walked us through this market and stopped to buy fruits and vegetables for her Christmas dinner. I am not sure how I felt about this, but I truly think she did this in order to encourage all of us to buy from these vendors. Of course, we as tourists are unable to transport such vegetation on a cruise ship. 

We walked for about 3 miles around the old town. After which, we walked back to the port through Fort Rif. They have converted the fort into a local shopping area. Which was very charming and decorated for Christmas. 

In front of the Delft store (where they sell the famous Blue Delft pottery from Holland), they had a cute replica of a Holland clog. 

Curacao appears to decorate their Christmas trees with bird houses. It was an adorable display, colorful, and different from our usual cold weather decorations!