Justin's Journey

My plan today is taking the hotel shuttle and going to Willemstad. It’s the biggest city of the island. The weather was very nice to walk around. I just needed to remember putting on sun screen. 🙂

The Queen Emma Pntoon bridge is really neat. The bridge basically rotates to the center of the St. Annabaai river if a ship is moving over. The whole bridge moves! It’s a nice area to walk around, with several bright colored buildings. There are lots of stores for tourists, especially for the people on the cruises. There are some interesting places to visit. I went to Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, which is the oldest synagogue in continue use in the Americas. Inside the building, I was surprised that the floor is just sand. It’s very beautiful inside and out.

I spent the whole day just walking around, and explored whatever I could. I went to the floating market where the Venezvela people bring the fresh fruits and vegetables and sell them on the river side. I also went to the their traditional market, looking like a circular ring. It’s always fun for me to see what people buy and what people eat locally. I then went to their old market, which Is called Marshe Bieu. It’s a local place for lunch. It looks like a big tent. I had a fried red snapper with the sids of rice, plantain, and vegetables. It was pretty good!

I then walked around more, got on the moving bridge, checked out the Museum Kura Hulanda where they have a good collections of materials and information about slavery. I was getting tired. After a cup of coffee, it was time to hoop on the hotel shuttle back to the hotel. I got some time to jump into the water and cool down, and went to the restaurant for dinner. I guess it’s a fish day – I got Hack for dinner with some vegetables. It’s the happy hour at the restaurant. You would get two drink for the price of one. Well, I got two glasses of coke! My version of buy one get one free, alcohol free.

It’s a long day walking in Willemstad under the sun. I was exhausted. Relaxing at the hotel room and posting some pictures here. I decided to rent a car for the rest of the vacation starting tomorrow. Let’s see how it goes!