Barbados was our destination for today. The ship’s speakers announced that there were going to be 5 ships that would be at port which meant that there were a lot of people who were going to be heading into town either walking around or on tour excursions.
On a previous cruise many years ago, we stopped at Barbados but my mind had remembered the downtown area quite differently. Perhaps part of the problem was that when we arrived at port today we had imperfect weather — cloudy with the potential of rain. We had not planned on taking a tour on Barbados but had decided to walk around the downtown area instead.
Barbados is a very populated island compared to the other islands I had visited on this cruise. It has approximately 285,000 people. The island looked less hilly to me than the others in the Caribbean. I was thankful that English is the main language that is spoken which makes it a lot easier for tourists to get directions.
After getting off the ship, there were shuttles that were waiting to take us to the downtown area. The cost was $2 per person. We could have walked the mile or so but the threat of rain made us less adventurous. Once we got off the shuttle, I was disappointed in my memory as I had thought there were touristy-type shops but instead they were more of the everyday-type that are geared more for people who live on the island except for the jewelry stores.
Still, I was glad we hadn’t paid for an tour excursion because it would have been a wet one. The clouds burst open, rain poured out and we spent most of the time walking around  trying to seek shelter from the rain.
I was fortunate to get a few photos in spite of the downpours.
I passed a large memorial of the Great War which was from 1914 – 1918. Click here to read more about it.
These flowers I saw were pretty but I’m not sure what they are. Anyone have an idea?
There were many palm trees. I liked the way they look like they’re waving.
As I passed through the downtown area, I saw this woman put a basket on her head and start walking. It appeared as if it was a natural occurrence to her. I don’t think I’ve ever balanced anything like this on my head. I wonder what was in it?
As I continued walking along, we ran into this fountain. I’m not sure what the name of it is. It didn’t need any running water as plenty of water was falling from the sky.
Continuing on our walk, we passed the Parliament Building. Unfortunately, we didn’t check to see if they had any tours going on.
On all of the islands I visited, it seems that the fast food companies have left their mark.
As my husband and I waited for the rain to subside, I tried to take pictures of what was around me.
The vendors, I’m sure, were also disappointed in the weather. Not very many people shopping today.
I kept clicking away to take pictures as we walked from shelter to shelter to get out of the rain. They certainly had enough drains to keep the water flowing. I’m guessing that the downpour we experienced is not an unusual occurrence.
Well, it was disappointing that we couldn’t get around as much as we would have liked but  that’s okay.
Some interesting tidbits I found out about Barbados:
- Civilians are not allowed to wear camouflage clothing as it is reserved for the military
- Bridgetown is the one and only city outside of the continental North America that George Washington ever made it to. The house where he stayed at is in the Garrison Historic Area
- The grammy-winning musical artist, Rihanna, is from Barbados
As we sailed away, we had a fantastic view of the sunset.
Dinner came soon enough as did bedtime. I always looked forward to the chocolates that were left on the bed by our cabin steward.
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