AWESOME ANTIGUA

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Today we are back in the CARIBBEAN ISLANDS! Antigua. It’s 77 degrees, humid, with soft trade winds. YES!



People ask me all the time...where is my favorite place in the world? That’s such a hard question and there is no clear answer as I have found amazingly friendly helpful people all over the world. There are awesome vistas and food everywhere and history beyond comprehension in the cities and country sides of this planet. The answer for each us, lies within us. Where do you feel like you belong, where are the places in the world that touch your heart and soul?



Although I love many places, topping the list is Paris, the Baltic from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg and from Oslo to Stockholm to Helsinki. Add Turkey, Italy and England. Of course no list would be complete without Sydney, Hong Kong and Toronto ;-) Coupled with stateside, Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, Washington, Seattle, Dallas, Miami, Chicago and all the little towns along the way. What place does your heart and soul yearn for? For me…the 2 places that touch my heart and soul are California and the Caribbean. Texas may be closer to Cope’s heart ;-) but he has learned to love this part of the world almost as much as I do. If a little of the humidity could be washed away he’d be a little happier ;-)



As we docked in Antigua we could hear the steel bands playing and trades blowing. Off the ship, up through the tourist shops and into town. As with most Caribbean towns you need to watch where you are going. The sidewalks are uneven or non-existent, there are potholes and just holes in general. Traffic lights are pretty non-existent so watch crossing the streets. People are gracious and wish you good morning as you pass by. As we head up to the main street we pass by some young entrepreneurs with a coffee cart…Yea! We tell them we will definitely stop by on our way back.



We head off to find an internet café where Cope can talk to his economics students. He is teaching a class that will end in another 10 days or so but until then, our first job on each island is to find internet service.. Yes, it is available on the ship but it can be expensive and the upload and download times are REALLY, REALLY slow. We are lucky to have 1000 free minutes but that will go fast on this long trip ;-) Down a couple of blocks and over we find what we’re looking for and an hour later, Cope is done. Time for lunch.



The nice gal at the internet café sends us to a locals place for lunch called,” Aligators”. Just a couple of doors away. It is set back from the street and very tropical. Lots of locals having lunch and only a few tourists. Our kind of place. We share a fish and chips and use their wi-fi to post our blog. Back to the ship to dump the computers and we head off for a walk to the cathedral up the hill. On the way we dodge cars ( NOT like the craziness of China… these drivers are laid back and will actually stop if you start across the street ;-) refreshing.



We pass a small market that we will return to later and head up past the police station where a crowd of people are waiting to take care of business. Up ahead is the church. It appears to be closed so we take some pictures and head around the side where…yes… there is an open gate and a cemetery. As we walk through the tree shaded grounds a young man tells us we can actually go up to the church and when we do an older gentleman tells us that they are restoring the 160 year old church and are hoping people care enough to donate something. We do. We are allowed into the doorway of the church. Workmen everywhere and it still has a long way to go. There are pictures on the wall of its former glory and it was beautiful. Cannot wait to return one day and see it completed. As we begin to leave we look at the above ground tombs. The oldest we can find is of Anne Otto Bayer, 1726. Relic (wife) of John Otto Bayer. Will need to do some research ;-)



As we head down the hill the police station has opened and everyone is inside now doing business. A little further on we find the grocery store and pick up diet coke and ginger ale to take back to the ship. The streets are less crowded now, 2:30, as many people have gone back to the ship.



We stop at Go Go Café with the young entrepreneurial coffee vendors and pick up an amazingly delicious iced latte made from beans freshly roasted on Antigua. We laugh together and take a photo. Cope and I want so much to just stay and help them get their little business off the ground… but alas we give them our card and head back to the ship. Perhaps we’ll be back.



Next Stop: St. Lucia

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Comments

[Jenn]

I Wish...
How I wish I were with you! Do you stop in Haiti this trip? If you do, you will be at Labadee beach. Lance is home right now but will be back down there in a couple of weeks. The relaxing Caribbean is so what I need right now! Have fun!