We were in the taxi at daybreak for the short ride to the Saint Vincent airport, where we expected the 45-minute flight to be shorter than the wait for the flight to Bridgetown, Barbados. However we caught a triple break; the flight left nearly half an hour early, we whisked through customs and immigration (due to filling out our arrival cards online ahead of time and flying carry-on only), and our prearranged taxi driver was there early too.
Compared to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, our brief stopover in Barbados was positively hectic. We began our tour of the island with a coastal drive along the Atlantic (windward) side to St, Nicholas Abbey. Contrary to what the name might suggest, the abbey has never had a monk anywhere near the place and has always been a sugar cane plantation and rum distillery. Like all Barbados (and West Indies) sugar plantations, it declined and languished starting in the early 1800s, but the plantation house has been restored and the cane crushing mill refurbished so that small scale rum production could start again. And they also resurrected a section of the narrow gauge railway that used to connect Bridgetown to the Atlantic coast of Barbados. So, a visit to St. Nicholas Abbey is now a thoroughly enjoyable combination of a train ride, tour of the Jacobian plantation house, seeing the sugar cane crushing (in season) and rum tasting. Lunch in the garden café too if you want!
We returned to the Bridgetown area to our guesthouse in Oistins. The location was chosen deliberately to be within walking distance of the famous Oistins Fish Fry. We were there on a Friday night, which is the big night for the fish fry. Friends of ours who visit Barbados regularly said not to go on Friday night; “too busy, too touristy”. Well, yeah, it is but don’t let that stop you from going at least once! Huge portions of your choice of fish, lots of new friends to meet at communal tables, lots of music, and of course the rum flowing like water. Check out our video of the steel drum band and one of the chefs at Oistins:
The several rum punches at the fish fry made getting up and underway the next morning somewhat unappealing, but “Bridgetown and its Garrison” is a UNESCO world heritage site so we wanted to see it. After a great breakfast at Surfers’ Café (where even the washrooms have a spectacular view over the Caribbean) , a short bus ride brought us to the Garrison area. The many heritage buildings include former officers’ quarters, a house where George Washington lived briefly, and the former British Military prison that is now the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. After strolling the area, checking out the museum, and ducking into the racetrack, we had drink and grabbed a taxi to head for our cruise!
Our next post will be about our tall ship cruise on the Royal Clipper, but first check out our pictures of Barbados on Flickr. These pictures include the “plus one more hour” images taken as we got our taxi to take us to downtown Bridgetown on the way to the airport after our cruise. Saturday was market day in town, which made for a nice addition to our quick tour around the eponymous bridge of Bridgetown, the parliament buildings, and the Synagogue District.
Pictures on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/100countries/albums/72177720324190143
