Spilling down narrow streets
Twisting for 300 years
Religious figures move
Under the chimes hung on a wall
Right to Left
every hour
on the hour
& the chimes ring
While Tommy Hilfiger
& Calvin Klein Jeans
Hold Court
Perhaps I am too harsh - Willemstad IS historic and although the surface is scrubbed, as many historic districts are, as you scratch the surface, there is a certain grit that makes one feel that the island is lived in and used by people. Unlike the sterility of places like Old San Juan or Brugge. The architecture did not disappoint - as witnessed by the volume of pictures I snapped. After going ashore with a group that turned out to be way too large and difficult to keep together, I broke off and wandered on my own. I strolled the floating market where the colors of the stalls and produce matched the brilliant hues of the buildings. After running into the friends I originally came with on the street I realized our time together on this trip had been infrequent and much interrupted. We made a point of having dinner together that evening. Upon returning to the ship we three met, split and met again - bouncing between the pool areas like a giant game of pinball.
At dinner we were seated, quite by chance, with the rep from our travel agency. After dinner, which in the dining room was always remarkable, we moseyed about till it was time for the fireworks the island treated us to as we sailed off. And, as I had not slept well (perhaps not at all, it is for me sometimes difficult to tell) I retired and, well, promptly passed out.
While waiting for the fireworks we met a gentleman that had been on the ill fated cruise of a few weeks before. From his description, I was happy to be on a cruise of this size and relative lack of drama.
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