We decided to walk to the capital city of Bridgetown, about 4 kms (2.5 miles) away. But of course we don't take a direct route when we're out exploring!
We started off on the boardwalk...
Beautiful start to the day!
Don't forget, you can click on any picture to make it full screen.
Do I look like a tourist?!
The water is sooo clear!
A few people enjoying the beach.
We headed back to the road because we wanted to see the historic Garrison, Barbados only UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Barbados flag.
Ruth, outside the Main Guard, built in 1804.
In the middle of the Garrison property is the racetrack.
We walked over to the grandstand to check the schedule. Our friend Kent says this is a fun afternoon event, so we want to go. The races had been scheduled for this coming Saturday, but they had a lot of rain last week and the track is waterlogged. So the races have been postponed to November 4th. Hopefully things will dry out by then.
These old barracks are in need of restoration.
Cannons.
The Main Guard tower.
From there, we headed downtown. We were looking for the main Digicel cellular customer service store, as well as a Republic Bank. The Republic Bank ATM's do not charge any fees to foreign users.
There are a lot of "fixer upper" type properties for sale!
Scenery along the way.
Carlisle Bay is Bridgetown's main beach.
More scenery along the way.
Fishing boat charters.
We found the Digicel store, but it was lunch time and there was a huge lineup. We decided to try to find some lunch ourselves, and come back later. Along the way, we found a Republic Bank and I stood in line to change $40 USD cash that I had into Barbados dollars. At least it was air conditioned. So, with $79.20 BBD in my pocket (there was an $0.80 BBD fee to change the cash), we looked for some lunch.
But then we saw a Flow customer service place. Flow is another cellular operator in Barbados, and really it didn't matter which one I went to. Or so I thought. It turned out that Flow had an unadvertised bonus on the go...
I sat down with the girl and got a new SIM car for the phone. Cost was $10 BBD ($6.50 CAD, $5.00 USD) for the SIM card, and that is standard at any of the three cellular operators on the island. Then, I bought a data only package of 4 GB that is valid for 30 days. That should be lots. But then after she activated it, I got a text message that said they have given me a promo double! Sure enough, my balance shows 8 GB available!
Total cost for our cellular internet for the next 18 days? $58 BBD ($38 CAD, $29 USD). Not bad. This way, I can post real time pictures to facebook and Instagram for you!
We walked down a side street away from the tourist area to find a place where the locals eat. Sure enough, we didn't have to search far...
This looks like it'll work!
GPS approx 13.098681, -59.616803
GPS approx 13.098681, -59.616803
The menu.
We each had a plate of chicken curry and rice. An shared a bottle of water. Total cost for the two of us? $24 BBD ($15.60 CAD, $12 USD).
Eating out in Barbados doesn't have to be expensive!
Ruth, with her chicken curry and rice.
From there, we just wandered around.
But, we saw some clouds coming in the distance...
Dark clouds coming in!
We stopped to pick up some things for dinner.
I guess they don't grow tomatoes here?
When we came out from the grocery shop, it had started raining. We decided to carry on walking. It's only water!
But we did get a little wet.
We made it to the main bus terminal where we each bought a $2 BBD ($1.30 CAD, $1 USD) token to take the bus back home.
The terminal was packed, but we did find the right bus stand. Then we waited. And waited. And the announcer came on saying they were having problems with all of the buses, and said sorry! We decided to carry on walking!
Busy bus station!
It was almost 5:00pm when we made it back to the apartment. I had been recording our path, and we had walked 14.2 kms (8.8 miles)!
A good day, but we didn't plan on that much walking the first day out.
Not sure what's on the agenda for today, but it won't involve that much walking!
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Here's a fantastic deal for anyone who ever eats at Applebee's...
And in Canada...
Very beautiful pictures Kevin and Ruth. It's so darn rainy and cold here again today in Niagara. Yikes that's a lot of walking in one day! lol
ReplyDeleteI guess we left Ontario just in time then. We were lucky to have had such great fall weather there this fall.
DeleteIt really isn't a lot of walking for us normally but when you are doing it in sandals rather than hikers your feet sure notice the difference. We didn't walk quite as far yesterday.
That menu had a lot of interesting choices, I am sure you will find other reasonable restaurants too. Neck and gizzards? Food is too expensive to throw away anything there
ReplyDeleteYes, it definitely had some interesting choices, you may be right on the fact that they don't want to waste any of it, lol! I doubt we will be trying out the neck, gizzards and liver.
DeleteWe got our lunch off the back of a truck that seemed to be their version of a canteen truck that goes around to serve the workers on the street and it was quite cheap as well and delicious.
Yep - where the locals eat - looking good! Love the photos!
ReplyDeleteThat is what we like to do, plus we think the food is not only cheaper but better in these places. :-)
DeletePictures are lovely! Is it safe to walk around on your own? Lunch looks good. Long day but you both are fit enough so good for you! Kevin you always amaze me with the deals you get👍
ReplyDeleteIt is totally safe to walk around. We won't go down a dark alley alone at 1:30 in the morning but then again we wouldn't do that at home either.
DeleteWe lucked out on the internet but still it is a great deal. You would never find an internet provider in Canada and probably not in the US either that would double your GBs or give you an additional bonus of money on any of the packages you purchase but it seems that many of the countries that we have been to, do this. Canada could stand to learn a thing or two from these countries.
Ruth, I sent you some information on your prior post to help (I hope) with your and Kevin's gluten-free problem. It looks like you two had a great day. Yes, the clarity of the water and the colors of the water are so gorgeous; an approaching storm makes the colors of the ocean look even more dramatic. When you have a warm rain shower, I would walk in the rain, too; feels so good!
ReplyDeleteThank you Dee, I did see it and responded to it. We really aren't having a big problem with the gluten as long as we stick to meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. After all the traveling that we have done to many countries that have very gluten based meals we have learned to adapt easily, especially when we can make our own meals. Our problem is just buying meat, fish, veggies and fruit at a reasonable price here compared to the many other countries that we have visited where it is much cheaper for these items.
DeleteWe are having a wonderful time. The water is so clear and warm, we won't have any problem swimming in it that is for sure. The rain shower did feel nice and refreshing when we were walking in it. :-)
Nice...I see Ruth getting a tan. The beaches look fantastic. Food looked good. I read someone brought jambalaya to a fund raising festival in Florida and everyone got sick from eating it....salmonella and one person died. Hundreds ended up in hospital. We got sick from shrimp in Mexico...we bought the shrimp and cooked it at the condo. Anyway, your vacation looks relaxing.
ReplyDeleteI have added a bit more colour from our walk but I did have a pretty good base to start with from my summer working outside at the campground this year and because we had a nice fall, it luckily never disappeared.
DeleteWe won't stop eating at restaurants like this or food stalls/trucks just because the chance of getting sick might be a little higher, it can happen at any restaurant. However, we do try to keep our eyes open for the ones that are busy with the locals.
Looks like a great day. That struture looks more like a knockdown and start over:(
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think it might be past the fixer-upper stage, which is too bad because it looked like a beautiful building in it's day.
DeleteBarbados prices seem in line with Ambergris Caye in Belize. As you found, if you eat in the modest local places, you can save a ton of money! We splurged on certain things, like nice lettuces, but mostly bought from local fruit/veggie stands and ate a lot of beans and rice! From time to time we'd splurge on a fancy dinner out, but most of the time, the Belizean mainstays of chicken & rice, plus whatever veggies we bought at the fruit stands served us well. Fresh fish was very hard to find, one of the biggest surprises to us!
ReplyDeleteThe diet seems the same in Belize as well as here in Barbados, chicken, rice and beans. That is what we are trying to do, eat at the little hole-in-the-wall type of places. Also the canteen/work trucks usually have a great meal in the back of them for the workers in the area and the price is very reasonable. I don't think we can afford to eat out for a dinner meal, even lunch is expensive at some of "nicer" restaurants so that will have to do for us if we want a fancy meal.
DeleteWe have found that fish seems to be expensive just about everywhere, whether is it is a place where it is a staple or not. We don't understand it!