alexist

waahhh... want to go back, it was fabulous!!

Longer report later when i'm awake :-)

Last Saturday, we flew out to Barbados. This involved being at Gatwick far too early in the morning, despite having stayed in a hotel next door the previous night. I have bad luck with BAA's terminals: my flight invariably leaves from one of the furthest gates. Pah. The flight out was fine, though I was my usual restless self. It's official: I have no zitsfleisch.

Upon landing, I regretted not planning my packing better, as I was still wearing a jumper and had no T-shirt underneath. Grantley Adams airport is small (for an airport capable of handling 747s), and it's under construction. The arrivals hall does not have air-conditioning. And although Barbados is not particularly hot, it is fairly humid. Luckily, we soon met our prearranged ride and headed to the hotel, gaining our first experience of Barbadian roads, more on which later.

The hotel (Villa Nova) was wonderful. We'd decided that we wanted something quiet, peaceful, and relaxing, and this fit the bill. Its position away from the beach was actually an advantage, from this point of view. It was great--see the photos, though they don't do it justice. Even the decor was perfect--stylish but comfortable, and everything felt light and airy and in keeping with the style of the building (ex-plantation house). And it had a huge roll-top bath: bonus!

After a day and a half lazing around the hotel, we got a car and explored. And so began our adventures with the Barbadian road system. Barbadian roads run as follows:

1) The ABC Highway (unofficial name). This is a real road. It has lane markers and roundabouts.
2) Anything else labelled "highway": A country road where cars can pass.
3) Everything else. Paved, but poorly.

Signage is minimal, consisting solely of little white arrow markers saying things like "Four Roads via Wakefield". You never know where you are, merely where you're going. The bus stops, which have only 2 possible destinations ("To City", ie Bridgetown, and "Out of City") can be used as markers to ensure you're not going in completely the wrong direction. Only the ABC Highway has signs (sometimes) saying what it is. For a small island, there's a staggering number of roads and it's very easy to get lost. Barbadians do, however, have good road etiquette. It's a developing nation with developed-country driving, though occasionally you have to watch out for farm equipment.

Now, all of this led to a little incident. On Wednesday, I took the plunge and drove. I'd never driven on the left before. When I went to make a right at a junction, I pulled out too far, and had a little tap. I wasn't going very fast at all, maybe 10mph, but I caused a nice dent and a busted headlight. After this, nerves became frayed on both sides (there is no better way to rattle a nervous driver than to keep saying "you're too close on the left!") and a few miles later I pulled over and refused to drive. Neil thus stuck himself with the remainder of the driving for the week. :-)

Most of the week was spent as follows:
- Get up
- Have breakfast (included, so we had no reason to skip a full breakfast... hmm)
- Head to beach
- Swim, read
- Have lunch at beach bar
- Swim, read, doze
- Head back to hotel, shower
- Go out to dinner

Great week, eh? :-) We did go into Bridgetown, and drove around, and took a boat out to see the sea turtles. No snorkelling this trip, perhaps I'll try next time (Neil wasn't keen, but I can leave him behind :-P) The beaches were lovely. The west coast is calmer, but the beaches can be a little harder to access because there are more closed-off resorts. By law, all beaches are public, and there are access roads, but you can't always park! The south coast is a little rougher, though still very swimmable, and had perfect sugar-white sand (the west coast beaches we were at were slightly rougher and darker). It was wonderful to be shoulder-deep in clear turquoise water, still able to see your toes.

We remembered the SPF50, but still got a little burnt. Mostly pink noses (should've found some Zinka) and some burnt bits where we'd been careless with the cream.

All in all, a perfect holiday--I spent the whole week relaxed and happy. I don't mind at all that we "did" very little stuff--just sitting in the sun was fabulous! Plus I ate lots of very nice food. The Barbados dollar is fixed to the US one, and since the US$ is in the crapper, we did quite well. :-) I'm sure some American tourists were crying at the prices, but when you're bringing pounds it's not too bad.

Only down side was the return flight running out of both non-veg meals. Now, normally I wouldn't mind, but the vegetable jambalaya turned out to have black-eyed peas in it. You can't really pick them out of rice. :-(