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Published: February 26th 2018
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Basseterre St.Kitts
Early morning arrival Basseterre St. Kitts.
A smooth crossing from Tortola to St.Kitts.
For the rest of our cruise the islands are quite close together so fingers crossed we continue to experience calm seas.
We watched from our balcony as the Captain guided the ship alongside the pier from the floating bridge. I wonder if the Captains car parking is as good as his ships parking.
St. Kitts is another island we have visited before, enjoying many of the usual sights including the scenic narrow gauge railway that runs through the sugar plantations that covered this island for so many years.
Our tour today was something a bit different - We enjoyed a unique culinary experience at Fairview Great House, a plantation house built in the 1700's. There were just five on the tour plus the usual escort from the ship & we were delighted to find that Enrique, the pianist who plays so beautifully in the observatory bar each evening, was joining us.
Our driver was very informative as we drove through the old town of Basseterre.
Much of Basseterre's original Georgian architecture still stands, several of the streets we passed through had familiar English names and
an original 19th century roundabout with a four face cast iron clock is often referred to as Piccadilly Circus !
There were several red telephone boxes dotted around but were no longer in use, obvious by their faded red paint and missing windows.
The now named Independence Square was previously where slaves were auctioned which was difficult to hear about but of course is so much part of history in this region.
Traffic lights have recently been installed in the centre of Basseterre, in fact only one week ago so our driver was getting quite excited when he had to stop at a red light.
Basseterre is one of the oldest towns in the eastern Caribbean. It was founded in 1627 by the French and served as capital of the French Colony of St. Christophe, which consisted of the northern and southern extremities of the island (the centre was under British control).
The city was made capital of the entire island in 1727, following French expulsion from the island, giving the British full control.
We heard how Basseterre had one of the most tragic histories of any Caribbean capital! Destroyed many times by colonial
Basseterre St.Kitts
Relics before mobile phones! wars, fire, floods, riots and hurricanes.
We left the city behind and turned off the main road for a short distance and arrived at Fairview Great House. A beautifully situated plantation house with a mountain backdrop.
Since 1706 the house was owned by many different people from Plantation owners, Collector of Taxes, Lawyer, a Countess and from 1968-2008 privately owned as a hotel hosting visiting royalty and international dignitaries. When the owner died in 2008 the property was left empty & sadly the termites took over, but it wasn't long before a business man who had many years before migrated from India bought the property and has renovated it to what we see today.
Not all of the furniture items inside the house were original but replicas had been made from records they found, the emphasis to make the house look as authentic as possible for visiting guests from around the world.
As we entered the main room I couldn't resist asking Enrique if he would play us a tune on the piano, the guide was happy for him to do so. The sound as he played 'What a Wonderful World' was quite magical.
We
Basseterre St.Kitts
Fairview Great House then moved to another building where our chef was waiting to give us a cookery demonstration. At each place setting we had the menu and recipes of the dishes that were to be prepared.The room held probably around 15 people so we felt very blessed that we were such a small group.
As each dish was prepared the chef shared stories about the history of the foods and gave tips on preparing the vegetables, herbs, chicken & fish.
Being a small group we could interact with the chef, so many questions were answered which was great. There were mirrors above the working area so we could see an aerial view of the cooking pans.
We had a short break, giving us time to look around the gardens. The front lawn had a large and smaller pond depicting the islands of St.Kitts and Nevis. Monkeys often came down from the mountain behind the property but sadly no mangos on the trees today, naughty monkeys had eaten them all and scarpered when our small bus arrived.
We returned to the cooking area where all the dishes had been laid out ready for us to enjoy; Vegetable Escovitch, Jerk
Basseterre St.Kitts
Fairview Great House chicken, West Indian Steamed fish, Red beans rice.Local fresh lemonade ice cold - we certainly weren't expecting a full lunch!
Our chef then prepared Coconut Butter Bread Pudding - this was then kept in the fridge overnight before cooking so out came a Blue Peter 'One I prepared earlier' Mmmm DELICIOUS! I think I might be making one when I get home.
It was soon time for us to return to the ship but not before our driver took the time to drive through more of the local area pointing out Embassy buildings, the cemetery where many many years ago so many were buried following a cholera epidemic.
It was Sunday so most of the shops in the cruise terminal area were closed, a disappointment to some I'm sure but for David & I we had enjoyed our time at the historic plantation house, learnt something new and of course had a wonderful Caribbean lunch.
As the sun set over Basseterre it was time to get ready for our evening meal and to have a pre dinner drink in the observatory listening to Enrique hopefully playing again 'What a Wonderful World'.
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