Aruba

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TOP PANORAMA PHOTO- Palm Beach at the Marriott Resort

December 5, 2009
Palm Beach Aruba- Marriott Surf club

The rest of the week we continued our decadent ways spending hours each day by the pool and in the lazy river. What a relaxing way to spend the day in the tropics. The other fascinating thing about the lazy river is it’s watchful herd of Iguanas. Iguanas of every color and size inhabit the pool area at the Marriott. There are small six inch brown ones with purple spots to large, three foot long green ones. They wander under your chair as you sit and stare you down from the rocks as you float around the river. Everywhere you look you see iguanas, on the walkways, the bridges and gardens. Occasionally two of the large ones have territorial battles and end up in the pool. We saw one young woman almost walk on water when two of then landed in the pool next to her.

On Friday after lounging in the river for several hours Karen and I went into Oranjestad by taxi to the Gostoso Restaurant. Thankfully we took a taxi because we would have never found this restaurant on our own. It’s located in a neighborhood several blocks from the center of town. Gostoso is a Portuguese style restaurant. This is a wonderful local restaurant with great food but you can’t be in a hurry it runs on island time so don’t expect to be in and out in 20 minutes. The décor is attractive and the restaurant immaculate. Jose the owner and chef came out to introduced himself and wanted to be sure we enjoyed our meals. We compared our Portuguese roots and had a friendly conversation. The two waitresses that served us helped us with our selections and were knowledgeable and friendly. We both started with a glass of wine. Karen and I enjoyed our meals. I had a well-prepared beef and chicken stir-fry combo and the flan we had for dessert was scrumptious. I would recommend a visit to this restaurant for any tourist that would like to sample local fare at reasonable prices.
After lunch we walked back to town and stopped at the Crystal Casino long enough to lose some money. We took the bus back and I got off the bus at the Amsterdam Manor Resort on Eagle Beach for some great sunset shots.

About 9 pm Friday night while transferring myself from the lazy river to the hot tub, I slipped on the wet cement. Being the klutz that I currently am I needed help getting up off my tukas. Hotel security came and with the blood running down my head insisted I have a doctor look at my injury. So I took the opportunity to visit the local hospital. Thankfully the hospital is slow on patients Friday night and we were the only ones there. Karen took care of the paperwork, while I sat in the small inside waiting room. The main waiting area is a tented roof outside the door. After the doctor cleaned the wound and determined I hadn’t cracked my head we were out in less than an hour and total out-of-pocket cost $119. Back to the Marriott compliments of the security staff. Too late for the hot tub.

Saturday we lazed around the pool again and then went to the Marandi Restaurant for our last night in Aruba. Marandi could just be the best restaurant on the island. It’s a palm roof hut complete with chandelier built over the water in a lovely lagoon behind the airport. A definite must for anyone wanting a great meal and unbeatable and very romantic location. I had a teriyaki tuna fish filet that was absolutely delicious. It was a very fresh cut that was seared on both sides and raw in the middle. I could cut it with a fork just the way I like it. The sun cooperated and we were treated to another outstanding sunset from beneath the palm hut. Feeding the fish in the lagoon next to our table provide us, easily entertained tourists, a great diversion during dinner. We all agreed that we could not have picked a better place to celebrate an end to what was a fantastic week.

After dinner we stopped at the Palm Beach Plaza for the liquid fireworks show held each night. This musical water fountain light show provides spirited entertainment every 45 minutes. There were two different shows. We caught the end of the Christmas music and waited for the next show, which to my “delight” was music from Abba! But the highlight of the night was getting to see Sinter Klaas. December 5th is the Dutch celebration for Sinter Klaas. This is the Dutch holy person who is the originator of the North American Santa Clause myth. He’s a Turkish/Spanish Bishop who along with his six to eight black assistants brings goodies for good children who leave out their shoes for him. I’ve included the web page that explains the Sinter Klaas story better than I can.

Sunday night after another day in the lazy river we flew back to a snowy cold Boston where Maya picked us up with our winter coats. Another wonderful vacation week, thanks to Jim and Kim.


The Sinter Klaas story ,explained

http://www.galactic-guide.com/articles/13R2.html

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