Merry Christmas!

Only one month late, here's how we spent Christmas in Barbados.



Dad found some lights to put up on the window and bush in front of their apartment. Kind of festive! There were actually quite a few houses decorated like the one at the top of this post.



On Christmas Eve we had a great dinner at Blakey's, right on the beach. The food was great, the rum punch was tasty and there was even live entertainment at one point.



Christmas morning we had breakfast at my parent's. Baked french toast, bacon and sausage, and champagne and orange juice. Although it was really too hot to enjoy that much food.



Next stop, Rockley Beach. Nothing says Christmas like turquoise waters, right?




It was the busiest we saw the beach the whole time!



A quick shower, and we were off to see Grandma. This is the house where she still lives, the same house my dad and his three sisters grew up in.




I think this shot was taken just before Grandma asked Rob when he would be settling down... :)



Then it was off to Angela's for a buffet/pot luck dinner with all the aunts and some cousins.


My aunties Angela and Elaine

We had a great time eating, then playing cards and dominoes. Finally it was time for the family shot, and all the kids were singing Christmas carols between shots. It was truly a Christmas to remember, and the whole trip was worth it just for that one day.

Rum!

No trip to Barbados is complete without a visit to the Mount Gay Rum headquarters. I'm pretty sure this is one of the touristy things that I didn't do the last time I visited, when I was 8.

We met quite possibly the nicest security guard in the parking lot as we pulled in, but I'll let Rob share that story in the comments.



It was a pretty straightforward tour, with the perky and personable guide explaining the history of Mount Gay. Click the link for more info, but all you really need to know is that Mount Gay is the rum that invented rum. We got to see the bottling facilities, a promotional video, and then, of course, got to taste. First the regular Eclipse rum, then the reserve. No spitting bucket like you get at wineries, which was surprising because I doubt that most people are used to drinking rum straight like that. I think Erik was the only one of the four of us who really appreciated it.


Driving through Bridgetown on the way home, we had fun taking photos through the sunroof.

After some smooth driving manoeuvrings, Rob got us safely to a yummy roadside lunch place serving the standard chicken-macaroni pie-dirty rice meal.

No better place to recover from high-carb heaven than the beach.



We went to Pebble Beach this time, a slightly pebbly beach that has great waves, and lots of surfers. Good swimming, entertainment, a clean change hut and a truck in the parking lot that sells beer. What more could you ask for?

Welchman Hall Gully

After visiting Harrison's Cave our next stop was a visit to Welchman Hall Gully.

Stepping out of the car in the parking lot we quickly realized that there were a lot of chickens around. We were particularly amused by the rooster perched on top of the phone booth.



The gully is basically a nature reserve full of many native species of plants. There's a path to follow through the gully that was formed when one of the caves collapsed. You could even see stalactites on some of the old cave walls at one point.



We were fascinated by this bamboo. We had never seen it growing in a tree formation like this.



There were lots of creepy crawlies on the ground. Had to watch your step!


A good view of the cave walls


I try out my Tarzan skills



We had a nice dinner at my parent's apartment that night, one of the few of the trip.



And then dad presented Rob and I with our signed copies of his book.

Good times!

Harrison's Cave

The most touristy thing we did was probably visit Harrison's Cave. I think it was the only place where we really felt like there were a lot of tourists. Barbados is the only Caribbean island that is not a volcanic formation, and is actually made of coral. Water erosion through the limestone created the caves, and the calcium rich water forms stalactites and stalagmites in the process.



To visit the caves, you get on a little tram with a tour guide to take you deep into the depths of the caves.







It was basically raining inside, with water dripping constantly from the ceiling. Our tour guide wore a shower cap to protect her 'do.





Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to swim, although at 27 degrees inside the cave, it wouldn't have been unpleasant. Not quite cool enough for Champagne storage however....

Barbados

Here's some long overdue highlights of the trip I'm still thinking about.


Erik's holding a coconut.

On one of the first days it rained pretty much the entire day. We got in the car, and dad drove us around the island. First stop, Bathsheba to check out the huge waves and the surfers.





Back in the car we drove up the the northern-most point of the island to check out the cliffs.







They were pretty impressive.

The next day the weather was much more cooperative, so we headed straight for Worthing Beach.



The water was very shallow, so you could swim right out to the boats.



It was very stressful.



Especially this part.

Relieved

Here's a random shot for you:



We took this one shortly after finishing our sprint through JFK to make our connection between Barbados and Paris. Our flight turned out to be delayed long enough for Erik to have a pint, and for me to think that we'd lost the camera. After unpacking all of our carry on (while Erik enjoyed his beer) I of course found what I was looking for, and we took this shot just before getting in line with all the Frenchies boarding our flight.

To say that we were relieved on many levels is an understatement. My heart still starts racing when I think about that connection.

Happy New Year!

A little belated, but best wishes for a happy new year to all our loyal readers!

Good Eats, Barbados Style

There is so much to say about our trip, that I thought I'd start somewhere easy: food. We ate lots, and it was all delicious, but I have to admit I was mighty happy to eat fruit once we got home. Most fruits were out of season down there, and anything that isn't grown on the island is super expensive.



First up, the ubiquitos flying fish sandwich. The flying fish is the national fish of Barbados, and can be found in most tourist and local restaurants. We ate it most often fried in a sandwich, and it was delicious.



Here it is served with breadfruit fries.



And here is a cutter (the Bajan word for sandwich) from Cutters, near Crane Beach. Triple decker!



Banks is the beer of Barbados, and we enjoyed quite a bit of it though locals seemed to prefer Carib beer, from Trinidad.



We went out for Jamaican food one night, and had some fantastic jerk chicken.



There are many fish markets on the island, and Oistins is the largest one. Every night, stands open up serving grilled or fried fish fresh off the boats.




We waited a LONG time for our food to arrive, but when it did, it was delicious! (no photos, we were too hungry to worry about that!)



After visiting Harrison's Caves, we ate at a little shack across from a gully we were about to visit. The food was cheap, and delicious (you can see the fantastic macaroni pie that was served everywhere), and the view as specatcular.



Another staple of many meals was rum punch. I took it upon myself to sample many, and had quite a few good ones.


Christmas Eve at Blakey's


At Cutters, you can see the fresh nutmeg on top.

My favorites were from the Round House, Cutters, and the clubhouse on the golf course where we stayed. The formula is apparently 1 part sugar, 2 parts sour (lemon or lime juice), 3 parts water and 4 parts rum (mix of aged and white), finished with bitters, cherry and fresh nutmeg.



Here's a plateful of traditional food from the Brown Sugar restaurant's Christmas buffet lunch-clockwise from the top: roasted squash; beet salad; cormeal fritters; jug jug (kind of like refried beans); sweet potato pie; pepper pot (meat mixture in a peppery sauce); rice and peas and fried flying fish.



Of course I have to end the post with dessert! We didn't actually have it very often, and aside from a yummy piece of coconut pie at the Round House, I think this sad looking piece of banana bread was the only other dessert I ordered. It might look sad, but it was anything but! I shouldn't have said anything at the time, but as soon as I mentioned that this was the best banana bread I'd ever tasted, Rob and Erik were very eager to help me finish it.

And now I'm hungry! And I could sure go for a rum punch....