Beautiful Barbados

Today we ran out of milk and the fridge is looking pretty bare so I guess we actually have to go shopping again. But later, much later.

Our usual housekeeper, Brenda, came back from a 4-week holiday and it was so nice to see her again.

We started the day as usual, my typing away, Tom checking email and we decided to go out to L'Azure for breakfast. They have a really nice buffet-type spread so we got lots of good stuff to eat, with a nice view.

When we got back, we found that Brenda had cleaned out or coffee pot, our supply for the day was gone and we hadn't gone shopping yet. Oh, no! I need my coffee and I'll drink day-old, cold, I don't care as long as it's fully caffeinated.

Tom managed to get some last coffee out of our container, enough to tide us over a little.

I went over to Reception and did my daily email, Facebook, Cushing's news and bios, the usual daily routine here. I saw Mel again from the other day and he actually remembered my name, probably because I'm the only person in Barbados walking around with a laptop all the time.

We were going to go to the store but decided to go later (everything in my life is becoming later and later!) and take the opportunity to go in the pool. Tom had a book to exchange so while we were over by the big pool we noticed that no one was in it so we settled into our private space. After reading for a while, we went in and swam for a bit, then went over to the pool complex and tried out a couple of those pools that we hadn't been in yet this year. Pictures were taken.

And I finished my third book for this trip.

We decided to go back and get to the store. We had decided on the little general store here. Surely they had milk, coffee and spaghetti sauce. The paperwork said they were open until 9, so no rush. We got there just after 7 and they were closed for inventory. There had been no announcement, no sign earlier. Luckily we had the rental car. Otherwise, I guess we'd have had to eat at one of the restaurants. Not a bad thing, but something I like to plan for, to look forward to.

So, we went back, got the car keys and headed to Emerald City again. We got more than we would have gotten at the general store and it probably cost less, so it all worked out.

Today's pictures: Click the cover one to see them all

Click on above image to get today's pictures, if you want :)

Wow, our time here is nearly half over. I was sad when I thought about this this morning but then I remembered that most folks would be headed home tomorrow after a week here. When I get home, bells will start up right away, maybe children's choirs, piano teaching for sure, doctors appointments... Boggles the mind, how to transition from this to that.

One thing that I'm looking forward to – our son is supposed to be there when we get home. He was able to get a week off work, but it was Labor Day week, not one while were were here. It will be so nice to see him, whenever, wherever.

Something new and exciting! The fire alarm is going off in our building. I was impressed how quickly staff got here. I talked to one of the workers who said that someone cooking set off the smoke alarm. The sound is still going, though, so we'll see.

I had gotten a mystery from the book exchange a few days ago. It looked like something I'd like and there had been 17 previous books in the series so someone must like it. I just never got into it at all and ended up returning it today. I've found some really good books here in the past. Books from England or Canada that I can't normally get as easily in the states. Back to reading the books I brought on my Kindle.

>We ended going to L'Azure for lunch which is always nice. I had a chicken and roasted pepper wrap. I had assumed that the peppers would be the mild green or red ones like we have at home but they were the hot Bajan ones. Shoulda known! It was good though.

Sometime in the afternoon I was reading/napping when not one but two sets of noisy neighbors arrived. One set, to our right, was the yelling, slamming doors type and the other set arrived and started watching sports on TV at a high level. I tried listening to my iPod with headphones to block out the noise but it wasn't enough. Tom tried noise canceling headphones and those didn't really work, either.

We shut the doors, turned on the AC and headed to the pool to get some quiet. When we got back it was nice and cool and we couldn't hear the upstairs people...too much. Who goes on vacation in the tropics to watch daytime sports? Sheesh! Hopefully tomorrow, they'll all go out, go to the pool, something quieter.

I am really liking this new Mac. The only thing really missing is Windows LiveWriter which I use to write my blog posts. I like that because it's so easy to insert images and other formatting where I want and, if there's something that's good for two or more blogs, I can easily switch to the second without changing any formatting.

I installed the new Google Voice today although I'm not sure if I'll use it much. I have Skype and rarely use that. We do have a MagicJack that we're using here to give us a “local number”, even though it's in Massachusetts. It's still cheaper than calling/being called from the states. We were able to get a vanity number that ends in our last name, although that gives us quite a series of 6s!

Tuesday, August 24:

Another early rise for me, anyway. I woke up at 8 with the sun streaming in. Made some coffee, wrote a little bit. The gardeners cut down some of the foliage that I liked the other day. Tom likes it better – we can see the sea better again. I liked the jungle feel, though.

By the time Tom had finished his morning work we decided to go to breakfast at the new Italian restaurant here. The paperwork said that they were open until 11. Turned out, they were only open until 10, then at noon for lunch. We could have gone to L'Azure but I knew that their buffet ended at 11 and I didn't want to get all the left-overs so we decided to go shopping instead.

We headed out to Six Roads, near Emerald City and the Chefette from the other night. The highway we usually take had a roadworks sign up so we circled the roundabout again and got off at highway 5 instead. That way to go is a little longer but prettier and goes by the Four Square Rum Distillery. That's a great place to go for tours and info on the rum process. A bit easier to get to from here than Mount Gay!

We got out to the ABC highway – named for 3 important past politicians from here: Tom Adams, Errol Barrow and Gordon Cummings. Each has his own named section of the road.

Then, along the Spring Garden to Holetown where we were going to another Cave Shepherd for that ellusive bathing suit. They had one – hooray! We also went into a tshirt store where they had a cute dress. They showed both the LP (Local price) and the DF (Duty Free price). Big difference – $24 US DF and $43.50 US LP. Luckily we were able to get the DF price.

From there we headed back home. We tried to take the road that had been closed out of Six Roads and we got close but there was a long detour. Of course, there was just the one detour sign with no further instruction. We did find our way and went just past our place to a newish restaurant called Cutters. Cutter is the Bajan word for sandwich. This restaurant is owned and operated by the husband of someone we've known for a long time here at The Crane and its nice to see them doing well.

While waiting for our food, Tom took the opportunity to check his email (as usual!)

I had a flying fish cutter. Yummy! I've never heard of any other place in the world that has flying fish. It's an interesting phenomenon to see, a school of fish flying/gliding through the air, all shimmery. They have a wonderful hot sauce to put on things here, made with Scotch bonnet peppers. I used some – sparingly. Yum! We actually bought a bottle to take home once but I never used it. Nothing at home seemed like it was suited to the hot sauce like flying fish is.

Back home for a little nap. When I woke up, I started taking pictures of the newly trimmed gallery when I came upon a little rainbow. I took these pictures but within 2 minutes, according to the timestamp, the rainbow was gone.



(Click on the image to view all today's pictures, please. But only if you're interested!)

Off to Reception to update webpages, blog and so on then we sat outside for a bit and just talked.

This year is nice. No plans (yet), no people to show around, no place we have to be. Just relaxing and being calm. I like this! Usually by now we'd have plans drawn up for the whole time. Where to be on what day, things to do, scheduled conference calls. How nice to leave all that behind for a few weeks and just chill.


I think it's about time for a bit of “Kristine's” rum punch now!

From http://blog.thecrane.com/zen-barbados-top-restaurant/

The Crane thanks all its valued members and guests for helping us making Zen the top restaurant on the island, as noted by the 2009 Zagat Guide to Barbados. Beating out traditional favourites, our Japanese and Thai signature restaurant was named Top in the Food category of all restaurants in Barbados.

Perched atop a cliff overlooking Crane Beach, Zen restaurant took the top rating in the Food category, of all restaurants on the island. The restaurant, which features classic Thai and Japanese cuisine, has a fantastic panoramic ocean view, traditional Grand Tatami room, an exquisite sushi bar and private rooms for dining. It’s no wonder that reviewers declare it is “worth the drive” for Zen’s delicious cuisine.

We are extremely proud to be the home of the top restaurant in Barbados!

The accolades were presented to The Crane at Zagat’s award ceremony held at the Fairmont Royal Pavilion in St. James on Saturday, September 13.

Both Zen and L’Azure restaurants were honoured with ratings in the ‘Top Ten Most Popular Restaurants’ and ‘Top Hotel Dining’ categories. L’Azure was praised for its “incredible Gospel Sunday brunch” and described by one reviewer as “heaven on earth.”

The Best of Barbados Guide is the only Zagat Guide for a Caribbean destination. Now in its third year, the 2009 Guide features 181 restaurants, night spots, attractions and golf courses stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Caribbean Sea. The ratings and reviews are based on the collective opinions of more than 1,500 savvy locals and frequent visitors.

About Zagat Survey:
Zagat Survey is the world’s leading provider of consumer survey-based leisure content. With more than 250,000 surveyors, Zagat Survey rates and reviews restaurants, nightlife, movies, music, golf, shopping and a range of other entertainment categories.

Zen Restaurant's Grand Tatami Room

Yesterday was such a lazy day for me. Tom ended up working most of the day, on the phone, in conferences, on the computer. So I read a lot of my book, went in the pool, napped and kept cycling through those three.

When he finally finished up he offered to go to Chefette and get some rotis for dinner.. Oh yes! I love roti. Chefette is sort of a Bajan version of McDonalds. There are no McDonalds here, or Burger Kings or most any of the fast food places of the states. Somehow, there is KFC here but that's about it.

So, Chefette fills most everyone's fast food needs with fried chicken, pizza, ice cream, burgers, fries and those rotis. Like similar places in the states, they have playgrounds, "drive thrus" and kid's meals.

Rotis are hugely popular here and most restaurants sell them at least for lunch. There are even places with names such as Roti Hut and there's a place this year that claims that it's the "Home of the One Pound Roti". I guess that's a relative of the "foot-long hotdog".

So, Tom came back with a chicken roti and a beef roti (and 2 kinds of ice cream!). The basic roti is pretty simple. It's potato, curry and other spices wrapped up in something similar to a tortilla. That's the "vegetarian" version. You can stop there or add the beef or chicken. A simple but delicious and filling meal.

We went out for a walk along the old pool, the cliff, sat by the new pools a bit then came back inside.

I had some trouble getting to sleep last night. It was a little warmer and my sunburn is getting a bit itchy so I tossed and turned for awhile. At some point, I noticed a pain/pressure in my chest. It feels sort of how I would imagine it if my lung got pinched in my ribs. Not a big pain but there. That led me to thinking about my cancer and the possibility that it metastasized to my lungs. Oh, joy. I started trying to think about where my lung nodules but couldn't remember. I think I have a CT scan in my future!

It's only 7:30 am right now and I already hear a small boat by the cliffs. Fishermen sail out there each morning to get the "catch of the day" for the L'Azure and Zen restaurants here and some of the west coast restaurants. One of the first years we were here, one of the staff pointed out lobster being brought in. It's amazing that they were so close to where people were swimming just up the beach.

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We're b-a-a-a-c-k!

We got to the helicopter parking place outside the Barbados Concorde Experience in plenty of time and our pilot went out to do a last minute check of everything. I was amazed how small this was - and that they covered it with a cloth, sort of like you do with a car in the driveway.

The pilot, David, let us know when he was ready and I dutifully followed while Tom, as always, took more pictures.

He caught up and more pictures were taken before the safety rules were discussed.

We learned not to open the door during flight - yeah, right! - and to keep the seatbelt on. No problem with any of that.

We sat for a while before take off. The engines had to warm up and we were listening to the flight tower from Grantley Adams airport so we would know when it was safe to go.

Finally, we lifted gently up and were off. It wasn't straight up like I'd imagined but it felt like we were a gondola swinging from the propellers. I felt vaguely dizzy. I had expected to feel scared, not

dizzy!

This is the Crane from the air. We followed the coast all the way around Barbados except for where the airport is.

Unfortunately, it started raining when we got near the northernmost point. David wanted to avoid the rain so he headed out to sea to get past the clouds.

I am not normally a good flyer. I hate turbulence, noise, anything out of the ordinary. So, here we are, cramped in this small space high above the ocean, heading out towards sea. And some rain came in through Tom's door. I was sure that his door wasn't properly sealed. I was also sure that I might be sick. I saw some barf bags so I guess I'm not the first one to think of that.

When we had passed the storm, we could actually see some shipwrecks in the water. We have snorkeled near these same wrecks so that was pretty cool.

By the time we got back, the rain had let up and it was a sunny day again. David landed and I wanted to get OUT. NOW. But we had to sit and wait for the propellers to stop spinning and for the engine to cool down before it could be turned off.

I was so glad to get back on solid ground. I can now say that I've been in a helicopter - and probably never will again!

Our helicopter tickets got us admission to the Concorde Experience so, of course, we went in there, too. The A/C was wonderful!

Until 2003 the Concorde had made regular flights to and from Barbados. This was one of only 4 regularly scheduled stops, the others being London, Paris and New York. It was always a big deal to see the Concorde arrive or depart. We happened to be here in Barbados for it's final flight from here and it was a big deal locally. We were very glad when we heard that British Airways was sending the Concorde back to Barbados on a permanent loan. There is also one in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum which we have seen several times but their display is nowhere near as good.

We went inside the huge hangar housing the graceful plane and joined a group that had just started its tour. We learned some of the history of the plane, sat in a mock departure lounge, saw the luggage requirements (the plane isn't all that big inside and luggage was limited. It was expected that your maid or butler would fly a slower plane with the rest of your stuff), saw various place settings over the years.

Then we got to go up the red carpet and up the stairs. I thought if you were paying the thousands of dollars required for this trip they would have had an escalator!

The next guide greeted us and led us on - through the hold. It was really small and I could see why luggage was so limited.

The seats and windows were also much smaller than I'd have imagined. The windows were small to keep them from breaking at supersonic speeds and had 3 layers of glass.

After we saw the cockpit (also very small!) we deplaned and they had a show on the side of the plane. It was part light show, part movie, part sound effects. They lit lights on the floor that looked like a runway would look. They showed the speedometer and when it hit mach 2, there was a loud supersonic boom and I jumped out of my seat.

After that show, we walked around some, saw part of a movie of the history of the Concorde (on sale in the giftstore, of course), saw the history of flight in Barbados. I was interested to see that, in the very early days, before control towers, Cable and Wireless would call when a plane was coming in and someone would go out and light the grass in the field on fire so the pilot would know where to land. Amazing!

We could have gone up on the flight deck and watched planes arriving/departing Grantley Adams but I was getting tired. So what else is new? We looked around the giftstore some and Tom got some jim-crackies and a T-shirt.

We got back home and decided to go out to lunch. I was ready but Tom decide to check his email...so I fell asleep. We got to L'Azure, one of the restaurants here and sat out on the deck on top of the cliff.

Then, finally, real nap time for me. Hooray!

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Tom's version:

Before Flight over Barbados and surrounding seas

Sunny weather on the South Coast ...at The Crane overlooking Crane Beach

On the East Coast with an approaching storm

The edge of the storm above the waves breaking on the Atlantic Coast of Barbados

The pilot flies further out to sea as we move north working around the edge of the storm

The storm is largely behind us

Banking to starboard working around the storm

Out of the southern edge of the storm and back to sunny weather

Approaching the heliport

A few feet above touch down

A capable Pilot and A Passenger who is happy to be back on terra firma _______________

________________________ On the next day, after flying around the edges of a storm in the air, above Barbados We sail before a following wind aboard a Catamaran along the edges of a storm off shore along the West coast of Barbados

Dark clouds and choppy seas ...the storms are brief moments in otherwise sunny days