Island Adventures: Part Two

On our second full day in Curacao we took a tour of Willemstad and the surrounding areas. I'm not much of a city girl, except to visit, but I was fascinated by the buildings with their European design and bright Caribbean colors! In 1817 Curacao had a rather eccentric governor who was prone to migraines. He decided they were caused by the glare of the sun on white buildings, so he made a rule that you had to paint your buildings in some pastel color. Thus, the uniquely colored city. Government buildings are painted yellow, by the way.

Here's Dad at the floating market. You can see on the right where the boats dock, then they put their produce right on those "counters" behind Dad. Yes, that is a white building on the left. I don't think white is illegal anymore. In the afternoon, we had planned to visit the Maritime Museum - you can guess whose idea that was - but it turned out to be closed. So I, I mean, we, consoled ourselves with thoughts of our coming outing on the Insulinde.

Recognize that fabric? Here's a shot in front of our Hotel with me in my finished "Curacao Skirt".

Here is the Insulinde, a two masted, fore and aft rigged clipper ship that we sailed on our last day. We went around the island to an excellent spot for snorkeling. They dropped us off right by a sunken tug boat, and the place was swarming with tropical fish!

Another treat when we were snorkeling was swimming out over the edge of the reef. One moment you're enjoying the fish and plant life, the next thing you know, the ocean floor has dropped out from underneath you and you feel like you just swam over the edge of the world! I also loved the view sailing back into Willemstad.

It's hard not to smile around a sailing vessel, isn't it. :-) I suppose the sailing was probably my favorite outing if I had to pick, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. We went to an elegant French restaurant that night, so everything was as beautiful to look at as it was delicious to eat. It was a fitting end to an absolutely delightful trip! Thanks for taking me Dad! - GJ