January 8, 2013 22:52. Just west of Curacao.

Today,we made it to Curacao around 4pm.  We only had until around 9:30pm to enjoy the country, but that was truly enough for these travelers. It was a very nice day, with temperatures around 80 degrees F, and it only rained for w few minutes just as we were leaving the beach.

We did not sign up for a tour, which is typically our MO anyway, as we like to go off the beaten path and have adventures outside a huge group of people. We ended up walking around the back streets of the port area, taking some really cool photos of the neat houses and architecture. I can’t wait to get home and developers some of them using black and white mode. It will be very cool.

We went through the fort that you encounter when you first get off the boat. It reminded us of the fort in San Juan that we visited several years ago on another cruise. The super thick walls are really cool, and the rocks used to ensure the fort’s longevity and strength were evident when we were walking up the stairs to the  overlook.  I took developers photos of the fort itself as well as the view from atop its higher point. It was a short, easy walk up the stairs to the top, so it would be fairly easy even for someone not too strong with stairs. There is also an elevator on the side for those who cannot do stairs.

We eventually hailed a cab, and for $20 for the both of us, we were able to go to a nice beach with a couple of bars and nice calm waters. The beaches in Curacao are mostly man-made,but I didn’t really care. It was nice to get my feet in the ocean waters and see what the Caribbean felt like from that point in the world. The water, even in January was warm and it was all I could do not to jump in, regardless of my lack of swimming attire. We do  see several Speedos, but that is typical in any country where the Europeans outnumber Americans.

After hearing so many foreign voices on our cruise today, I wondered why anyone from Europe would want to go on a holiday to the Caribbean. I mean, they have all of Europe and Asia,as well as Africa to choose from, easily and readily. And most likely cheaper than coming over here. But, then I thought about how much Sweetie and I want to go to Europe and Asia, and I thought about how the Europeans ans Asians probably think the same things about us. So, perhaps they are doing just what we would do, only the opposite.

Overall, it was a nice day. The pizza and milkshake I had (included in the price of our cruise) were fantastic, as was the service on both. I did overhear an older man complaining about the food and the fact that the ship arrived late into Curacao. I didn’t say anything, but I wanted to tell him that he must have never been on another ship, because the food on this one has been great, and the reason that we were late into Curacao was in part due to passengers returning late to the ship in the Bahamas and the extremely rough seas we have encountered. It was not the cruise line’s fault that some idiot decided to delay our departure due to his or her own selfishness, or that the seas were extremely rough. I would much rather arrive on port a few hours late than not at all.

So, to the man in the pizza line tonight around 8:30, if y know nothing about mechanical operations, keep your opinions to yourself. He sounded  just like some of the people who complain about their couch bed when they are getting to sleep on it for free.

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