Another travelling day

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Had an early start today as we had to be back at the airport for 0600 for our first flight of the day to Miami.

The Bahamas are very American, but not actually part of USA, so before we boarded the flight we had to go through all USA customs security checks.

George particularly was selected for extra security checks.

When we had cleared out the fridge in the apartment this morning, there were still some grapes left. We though these would be nice to eat at the airport whilst we waited for the plane, but because they are on the list of restricted items, we were not allowed to do this. This then prompted customs to check our other bags to make sure we had nothing else we should not have had. Everything else was clear. USA customs and security checks are always thorough but rarely consistent.

This made the two hour wait go very quickly. We just had time for a quick cup of coffee before they started boarding the plane. Very small plane taking only 30/40 passenger with prop engines.

30 minutes later we were in Miami airport. Unfortunately, we had a three hour wait here for our next flight out to St Thomas. But we found a nice café to have some breakfast then sat and mingled with the other passengers waiting for the next plane as us.

When we got on the second plane, everyone else around where we were sitting appeared to have already taken their seats. They had not complied with the boarding order calls. We are not sure how they did this, as when we came on they still had not called them on. As a result of this, we had to put all our hand luggage into overhead bin about 10 seats back from us, right at the back of the plane. The bin was not that big, and we just about managed to get our two cases and the laptop in, so we knew there would be no one else using it. When we arrived at St Thomas and everyone was getting up to collect their belongings, we were dismayed to see a couple open the bin with our bits in and remove our laptop. They then put this on the floor next to their belongings. They were too far away to hear us shouting that it was ours, so George went back through the other passengers to talk to them. They claim that they thought that this was theirs. The fact that their bag was only 12 inches across when ours in 21 inches, and that our name was clearly visible on the outside of the case, did not seem to have registered with them. Thier lap top was even in a diffreent overgead bin. This even is going to be a talking point for the rest of the holiday. We are now the couple that nearly lost our laptop. The support from the other passengers at the rear of the plane was really outstanding. Not a really pleasant experience.

We enquired at the airport about prices to hire a car, but it looks like $600 is going to be the cheapest for a large SUV Jeep Cherkoee. We are not planning to do too much here, so though that was not cost effective or justifiable. Got a taxi to our apartment and it cost us about $40.

It is very warm here. About 30 degrees at the moment we think.

Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie. The district has a land area of 31.24 square miles (80.9 km2). They drive on the same side of road in UK.

We are staying at Bluebeards Castle whilst here on St Thomas. See attached link http://www.bluebeards-castle.com/ . It is an apartment complex in the hills above Charlotte Armelie, the main town of the island. The reception is at the top and then all the apartments are built into the hills with balconies overlooking the sea. Our apartment is at the bottom which is 129 steps (23 levels) down from the reception. We should be fit by the time we leave here. We have a very high quality room courtesy of RCI.

We took a walk into the town for dinner. A steep down hill walk that took us about 20 minutes.

We had been told to be very careful in the dark. Once we had finished dinner, it was well and truly dark, and with the roads that we need to take being very secluded, we thought a taxi was the order of the day. He dropped us off at reception and we had to walk all the way down the steps again. Taxi fares all very reasonable. Every other car is infact a taxi.

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Photos

Bluebeard
It's his castle