So I'm going to try to update this post / thread as I go because...well I never got around to doing the trip reports for Bangkok or Sri Lanka this past winter. Ah well.
We got into Miami around 8am local time and I got a chance to check my email, speak with my worker-bees who are going to be stepping up their game while I'm away, fix a couple of site problems, respond to a bunch of emails, update my to-do and we were off by 11am. Thankfully, I got some more sleep on the plane to Curaçao. I've only been doing occasional 1-2 hour naps the past week trying to keep up and catch up with work and it's been awful. So sleep, even plane sleep, was absolutely outstanding.
Mandatory plane and from-the-plane shot.
We picked up our rental car after a bit of trouble with our reservation. I haven't been on prepping for this trip of it so I didn't have an offline PDF with all our reservations and there are no sim-card stalls at the actual airport. Being disconnected sucks.
After some haggling and agreement to take a stick shift (yay) in hot pink (FUCKING YAY!!!!!) we were on our way.
The first place we are staying is an amazing little AirBNB in the heart of Willemstad. It's adorable. It's a few little standalone bungalows that are very private in front/back of the owners house. He also has constructed a 3-story high tree-house type thing complete with hammock, electricity, reading light, and awesome views.
After a much needed shower (fuck, it is humid here), we went for a short little explore from about 5pm-8pm.
We walked down to the floating Queen Emma Bridge.
- The Queen Emma Bridge is a pontoon bridge across St. Anna Bay in Curaçao. It connects the Punda and Otrobanda quarters of the capital city, Willemstad. The bridge is hinged and opens regularly to enable the passage of oceangoing vessels. On the opposite end from the hinge is a small shelter where an operator controls two diesel engines turning propellers. The propellers are mounted perpendicular to the length of the bridge and allow it to swing parallel to the shore. The process only takes a few minutes to complete.
We enjoyed the Dutch architecture and tried every beer on the menu while watching the bridge move in and out of the way for passing boats and ferries. My favorite was Dinos, a Pilser brewed in Curaçao and served in adorable 8oz bottles. randomuser also enjoyed the $1.50USD Polar. They are about as big as his hand. The reviews on Beer Advocate are terrible. Honestly, it's not a bad beer and I really enjoyed it too. I'd but it on line with Heineken. I still preferred the Dinos.
And now it's 12:30 and I'm finishing up some work and going to bed. I'll keep you posted!
Day 3 in Curaçao ---------------------------------------------- We woke up late this morning (to some drama-rama regarding a site that apparently was migrated last night and broke shit. Thanks for keeping me informed, cunts. I'm on vacation. Not fixing your immature shitstorm.) We went to a local lunch at Plaza Bieu and ate some amazing Goat & Chicken stew. The portions were massive and it was delicious. You eat picnic style, side by side with random people, tourists, etc. We were super full and slowly wandered back to the hotel. It was about 2pm and too hot to stand. We dropped off leftover food (dinner tonight) and took a bit of a rest and took some Tums. >.< Then we decided to go to the Kura Hulanda Museum which was awesome. We wandered around for hours and they have sooo much stuff. I love history and they had an amazing collection of just about everything. Little deities from Babylonia eras, sculptures and musical instruments from Africa, and a pretty real exhibition about the slave trade. Plus awesome maps. FYI, history is full of tits & dicks. Fertility gods & goddesses are epic. For example, in this photo, all the items on the left are items for fertility ceremonies, even that wishbone looking one in the lower left.
They put all the creepiest statues in a little hotter-than-hell hut. Seriously. Super heeby-jeebies, but fascinating nonetheless. It was particularly nice to be walking around in air conditioned rooms. Appropriately, the only room that wasn't AC'd was the one on the US. Man, we are fucking terrible. Then it was on to more drinks and food. I love cheese. And the fact that their fancy-pants cocktails are only $6. Then I got another fucked up email from the same client as in the morning and basically....let lose on him. Which ended with him begging for mercy and apologizing profusely. Honestly, I wish he just had cut me lose. He's not worth the drama anymore. Let me enjoy my vacation, yo. So we took our slightly intoxicated and cheesed-filled asses to the jewelry shops and spent way too much money on a really fucking beautiful diamond necklace. I love vacation.
Day 2 in Curaçao
---------------------------------------------- We woke up and went to find some breakfast because we had had an especially early dinner the previous night. It was a mediocre breakfast but we did see a big awesome ship! Then it was time for more wandering. It was raining on and off and incredibly windy for the entire morning. We managed to do some touristy gift shopping and find a place promising "Curaçao's Best Mojitos." They weren't the best mojitos but they were pretty good and had fresh muddled mint & lime. At least it wasn't like the US mojitos that have like...a mint leaf floating on top. Mint in Mojitos is not a garnish. Also, we saw a random dude carrying around lizards. It was....odd. We wandered around some more. They've made the old fort here, Riffort this crazy mall / shopping / restaurant area. You know all the round tunnels that you can walk under? They've converted them into little shops and restaurants. It's super cool. Then we drank some more. Then we found Cuban cigars. Then we had sushi for dinner and now we're back in our cozy little cottage! Tomorrow, we're going to the Kura Hulanda Museum and to get some amazing local food.
Um...it smells like the ocean. Plus humidity. Sometimes it smells like New York, which is basically baking trash. If you are close to a bakery...it smells like baking bread. If you are close to someone smoking cigarettes, it smells like cigarettes. If you are inside the cheese shop...it smells like amazing fucking cheese. Wait. What the fuck is this question. LOL
Haha! Playing with senses for description. Like, there is a T stop where the train suddenly twists and starts shrieking as it comes in and then all that loud chatter from the old Chinese ladies (if there were any) stops. That's how you know you're at Boylston.
I'll probably keep it in this thread until it gets too long and cumbersome. I just updated it with today's events. If you click the "save" button, you will receive a notification for every new comment on this thread.