Barbados - Day 6

It is true. Tonight, tonight won’t be just any night. This describes the wonderful dinner we enjoyed with friends Bob and Glo and Rita Moreno and her husband Leonard. We all met at 7:00 PM for drinks at the Avenue Saloon and at 8:00 PM we arrived to the Silk Road Specialty Restaurant for dinner. By the time we left Silk Road it was close to 10:45 PM and other than two or three passengers who were seated at the sushi bar we were the last passengers to leave the restaurant.

As usual, the food, service and the ambience were indeed wonderful but it was the wonderful conversation that made this an evening that will last for the rest of our lifetime. We talked about so many different topics and if not for the fact that is was so late and that Rita Moreno and her husband were leaving the ship in Barbados, we could have talked all night. We covered an incredible number of topics. Rita Moreno and her husband are both truly fascinating people and while they were in different professions they have so much in common including the fact that they started off with so little in life. They are also very grounded and very warm people.

When Keith was a youngster he first saw West Side Story with his parents and he was enamored by the movie. He would sing the songs all the time and attemped to dance some of the routines from this movie actually performing some of the dance routines for his Parents, Grandmother and his Aunt and Uncle one evening. However, the reality is that singing and dancing were not strengths for Keith. For years, Keith would play the music from West Side Story on the family phonograph. As a young boy, he never would have dreamed that he would have the opportunity to meet one of the actors from his favorite childhood movie. Yes, last evening was truly a delight for all of us.

Once again we began our day with a visit to The Fitness Center. As he does each day, Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine for almost an hour and one-half, which was followed by some weight lifting. Anne Marie worked out for an hour on the Treadmill. If you couldn’t tell, we really like this facility. It is a very nice size facility given the size of the ship and the overall passenger count. We enjoy getting our workout done before the day gets going and also since fewer passengers use the facility at that time. There would also be fewer passengers in the late afternoon but we find the morning works best for us. Of course, on the first two voyages of this cruise there is not a big demand for the workout facility.

As is the case on other long voyages the pattern for who works out in the morning has already formed. Keith is the first to arrive at the center with another man arriving about twenty minutes later who does about an hour of stretching exercises. A little while later a fellow passengers who we know as he did one leg of the 2007 World Cruise arrives (this year he is doing the entire voyage) and then a little while after that our friend and fellow passenger John arrives. All three of us workout on the Elliptical Machines before doing other exercises.

Today we visited Barbados, which for us was the first time that we have sailed to this port of call. We arrived to port earlier than planned likely due in part to this port of call being relatively close to St. Lucia.

Barbados is located most easterly of all of the Caribbean Islands and is known for its pink and white sand beaches. Unlike many Caribbean Islands it offers more than beaches and tourists and other visitors alike come here to learn and experience the West Indian Culture, which is still a big part of this island.

This Island is also known as the “Little England” of the Caribbean. Afternoon tea is still a tradition on this Island, many of the locals speak with a British accent and cricket remains the national sport.

Today, Barbados has some areas that remind visitors of its heritage such as several English country churches some of which date back to the 17th century along with its seaside villages.

We were docked in the city of Bridgetown, which has a population of close to 100,000 people.

Some of the major city attractions include the Parliament Building, St Michael’s Cathedral and the Bridgetown Synagogue. It is believed that on his only trip outside the United States that George Washington worshipped at the St Michael’s Cathedral although there is no evidence that this actually occurred. The Bridgetown Synagogue is the oldest Jewish Congregation in the Western Hemisphere. This congregation was formed in the 1620s when the Jews left Brazil and introduced sugarcane to Barbados. As we understand from the Rabbi the present day congregation is quite small.

We took a nice walk from the area in which the ship was docked to the downtown area. It was only a fifteen-minute walk into town. With an excellent map provided by Crystal we were able to navigate ourselves to precisely the historical buildings that we wanted to see which we already mentioned.

Our first stop was the Parliament Building. From this building we proceeded to St Michael’s Cathedral where we walked around the inside of the church as well as the cemetery, which is part of the church property. From there we made our way to the Bridgetown Synagogue. The Synagogue is normally closed on Saturday’s since there is only one curator for the museum/synagogue. However, since we were the only visitors the manager agreed to show us all three major attractions. We first took the tour of the museum, which explained the history of the Jews who arrived at Barbados along with the explanation of the temple. Afterwards, the manager took us to the Mikvah, which was only discovered on the property two years ago. Actually, they were looking for the office of the Rabbi and discovered the Mikvah. From there he took us into the Synagogue. The manager was extremely informative and not only thoroughly answered all of our questions but provided us with lots of information. We were very pleased that we had such a wonderful opportunity at this site. We also looked at the cemetery.

We were thrilled to get the tour of the Synagogue. The other very old Synagogue located in the Western Hemisphere is in Curacao and Keith visited that Synagogue on his very first cruise with him family before turning thirteen. The other two Synagogues that are quite old are located in St. Thomas and in Rhode Island.

Afterwards, we strolled around the town and then made our way back to the ship. The town is quite a bit larger than yesterday’s port of call and much more orderly. As we arrived to the gangway we saw Rita Moreno and her husband who are flying back home today and talked for a few minutes with them. Back on board the ship we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Lido Café. Once again we sat outside where it was just us along with Captain Glenn and Victor the Food and Beverage Manager.

There were three other cruise ships in port in addition to our ship. The Celebrity Millennium, which was also in port with us yesterday in St. Lucia and the P&O Ventura. We are not familiar with the P&O ship. The third ship was the Star Clipper.

Later in the afternoon Anne Marie sat out by the pool and Keith tried his hand at singles paddle tennis. Given the only time he has played was during the seven day cruise he felt like his game is improving.

Before departing Barbados, there was a sail away party on both the Lido (Deck 12) and Sun Decks (Deck 13). The party included music from Barbados’ finest Steel Drum Band, The Crystal Ensemble of Singes and Dancers, the Crystal Galaxy Orchestra and Crystal Performers Curtis Collins and Beverly Durand. The hosts for this party were our Cruise Director and our World Cruise Hostess. Complimentary Tropical Drinks and a very nice assortment of appetizers were available for everyone.

This evening we dined in the Main Dining Room after two consecutive nights of dining at Silk Road. The Rabbi and his wife joined us for dinner and as usual we had a wonderful conversation with them. We first met Rabbi Morrie and his wife Gerri on this very ship in 2007 and then we sailed with them later that Fall on the Crystal Symphony, again on this ship in 2008 and then on the Symphony in March of 2009.

This evening we set our clocks forward an additional hour as we sail into another new time zone.

TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY…….

Before we get to the thought we wanted to mention our view of life and that is to appreciate all that we have and to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. So, from time to time we will share a thought of the day based on the glass being half full.

“You see things; and you say why? But I dream of things that never were, and I say why not.”

Keith and Anne Marie