Licentia Poetica

We woke up early to the clouds clearing out of the skies over Boston. Which was good news for us and the little plane we were about to depart on. We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel - a free copy of the USA today announcing the inauguration of Obama and hopped on the shuttle to head back to the airport.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time and it was great to not have to scramble to catch a flight. We cleared security and made our way down Terminal C to the Cape Air gate. They only have one and share it with Jet Blue. Actually, the Cape Air is a door to a stairwell where you walk down to enter the plane as the planes are too small to pull up to the gates.

We had a 9 am flight, but they called us to board at 8:40 or so. M and I got up and headed toward the door and no one else moved. I looked at M - I think we’re the only people on this plane. M said - could be. and asked the clerk if that was in fact the case - and it was. We boarded the tiny Cessna 402 and were allowed to select any seat we liked so we sat one row behind the pilot and copilot. It was very exciting to be the only two in the plane and all the anxiety I’d felt on my first Cessna flight was replaced by the knowledge that it was a safe plane and it was going to be fun to fly again.

We taxied to the runway and took-off into a beautiful sky. The take-off was very smooth and we only encountered a brief spell of turbulence while clearing the cloud front moving in. The entire rest of the flight was perfect, like skating on glass, and we were able to take some great pictures. The clouds moving toward Boston ended in time for us to see the White Mountain range of NH, the Green Mountains or VT, and our beloved Adirondacks in NY. We came in over the ice-covered Lake Champlain and had a great landing. We gathered our belongings and M went to go clean off the car.

We had an uneventful drive home and spent the rest of the day relaxing and doing laundry and putting everything away. Our vacation is over, but we’re still tan and I can still feel the sun on my skin… and the rocking of the boat as I drift off to sleep….

So Monday was a bit rough. After missing our flight in the morning, we managed to get on a flight departing San Juan at 12:55 - which meant four hours sitting around an airport. Fortunately we figured out how to play Cribbage without a board and that kept us occupied for a bit. The people watching was amazing, but I’ll spare the details as it made even me doubt the worth of some people. Our flight wound up boarding nearly a half hour late due a tardy stewardess - it was quite frustrating.

This put us at JFK at 4:35 or so - in the middle of a snowstorm. It was seriously so foggy outside that we didn’t know we were close to landing until Matthew said - I think I see a light and then boom we were down. After ten minutes of taxiing to the gate, we quickly scrambled to try and reschedule our connecting flight to Boston - as we had obviously missed the flight I booked. We were put on the wait-list for a 5 pm flight and quickly ran down to the gate where the attendant refused to let us board because the plane stops boarding at 4:45. We were quite annoyed and were put on the wait-list for the 7:59. We walked back down and grabbed dinner before heading back. Along the way we noticed that the 7:59 to Boston had been canceled… well great!

We got back to the desk and asked what could be done to get us to Boston - since now everyone who was on the 7:59 and the next flight out at 10 would be trying to get on the later plane that might also be canceled. (We were never told why the flight was canceled.) So they suggested we hop a taxi to LaGuardia and hop on the 7:29 flying out of there. It was 6pm. So we said fine let’s do it. We quickly walked to the taxi stand and held on for dear life as our driver skillfully (and scarily) navigated the snowy, rush-hour highway - while talking on his cell phone (hands free of course!). He did get us to LaGuardia with enough time to clear security before our flight… which unfortunately wound up being delayed two and a half hours.

We finally boarding at 9:15 and landed in Boston just after 10. It’s thankfully just a quick hop. We were to our hotel by 11 and slept until 6:30 the next morning. I must admit, we would never have gotten to see NYC at night by plane if our flight hadn’t been delayed long enough for the sky to clear. And NYC by night is definitely a sight worth seeing. (and thankfully all the geese were sleeping…)

This day at sea was a lot more enjoyable than the first. We found a spot pretty early in the morning that was a table in the shade. This worked out very well as we were still outside, but protected from the heat of the sun. I spent the morning trying to remember how to do a Sudoku puzzle. I even managed to confuse an old German man who was passing by. He talked to me, but I didn’t understand. Then he left and came back with the sudokus he had been doing the whole time (there was a new one every day). He realized that the one I had was new and gestured that he would go get it and do it and be back. In the meantime I remembered how they worked and got a new one. When he had finished his he stopped by to make sure I was on the right track. I tried to explained what happened, but he probably couldn’t understand me either. He stopped by once more an hour or so later and motioned for me to show him the completed puzzle which I did. He smiled and patted my shoulder and I never saw him again.

Just before lunch our new friends Tim and Lisa joined us and taught us cribbage which is a ton of fun. We had a blast playing it and purchased our own version now that we’re home. We packed that afternoon and had our final dinner with Tim, Lisa, and our beloved Eileen who is by far one of the most amazing “little old French ladies” I’ve ever met. I miss her stories greatly. Tim and Lisa live just south of Ottawa and I hope very much to keep a relationship going with them as we have a lot in common it seems - and not just our love of travel! After dinner, Tim and Lisa, M and I played Scrabble and Cribbage while drinking the champagne they won for being the “Newest Newlyweds”. Ok so M and Tim drank the champagne…

Aruba was an interesting island -though entirely too over-the-top Vegas-style commercial for me. Well.. half the island anyway - the north side of the island is a completely different story. Best described as moon-like terrain, a jeep is definitely the only way to travel on the north side of the islands where there are no roads and boulders at every turn. We woke and looked out the veranda on a sandbar which was a little odd, but very cool.

We didn’t plan an excursion for this island - I had my travel book and had my heart set on climbing Mt. Hooiberg which is a haystack shaped mountain near the southern/middle of the island. So we threw caution to the wind and rented a jeep. The jeep wound up being standard - and I being the better standard driver, got the opportunity to go off-roading! M was awfully brave!

We first made our way to the California lighthouse named for the USS California which sunk off the shores of Aruba many years ago. The lighthouse is very, very tall and quite a bit inland compared the lighthouses of New England. Aruba is a mostly flat island though so I’m sure it’s very visible from quite far away. We also caught a glimpse here of the Troupial - a beautiful orange and black bird.

After the lighthouse we headed “off-road” onto the dirt like roads of the northern side of the island. We didn’t encounter very many other people which gave us even more of a moon-like impression. We were making our way to the Alto Vista Chapel which sits in the middle of nothing but dessert. We stopped a few times along the way unable to resist the thundering waves which made the waters seem slightly unfriendly. At first glance, I thought we were seeing bike tracks in the sand, but we’re pretty sure they were snake tracks. Could they have belonged to this rare and elusive inhabitant? We arrived at the Chapel just as a group was leaving so we had some time to get some great shots without anyone else around - which was exactly what we needed after having so many excursions with our fellow travelers.

After the chapel, we made our way to the Ayo and Casibari Rock Formations. Another free attraction on the island, the park is quite beautiful though we didn’t get to climb much due to the thousands of wasps swarming the caves of Casibari. We did get some amazing pictures of the Indian Drawings however and climbed that rock to get a great view of the island and Casibari. From this angle - the main formation of Casibari looks like a giant shark cresting out of the water. We also caught some more birds here, the Caribbean or Brown-throated Parakeet (green bodies) and the Tropical Mocking Bird. Again we were alone at this park which was heaven.

Finally it was time to head to Hooiberg. We made our way there, thankfully you can see it from almost all points on the island so it wasn’t too hard to find! Hooiberg is over 500ft. high and has 561 cement steps along it’s side. This is helpful because the rest of the mountain is covered with cacti! We encountered several friendly whiptail lizard. One particularly brave male climbed over my foot and almost onto M’s back!

Once we regained our breath from hiking up all those stairs (thighs definitely felt the burn!) we walked to the other side of the peak and could just barely make out the coast of Venezuela - which was exactly why I wanted to climb Hooiberg to begin with. We also got a great view of the whole island, including out ship docked at Oranjestad.

After climbing back down all those steps we had a great lunch and headed back towards the ship. We explored the shopping district a bit - but it was very commercial and definitely had a Vegas vibe to it with it’s flashy casinos and desert-like ambiance.

Bon Bini a Curacao! Curacao (pronounced “kur’a’sow”) is well known for it’s pastel buildings. It’s been a UNESCO World Heritage site for many years, and it’s really a treat to see in person. The colors are so bright and fun and happy, yet the architecture is very reminiscent of Holland - it’s a very neat island.

Here we had booked an excursion called Curacao Experience. Our first stop was to the home-museum of Yubi Kirindango. Yubi is an internationally known artist whose claim to fame is seeing treasure in another man’s trash. Mostly know for his car-bumper art, Yubi has many unique pieces surrounding and inside of his home - which we allowed to freely roam about. The art was really very interesting. His house was also home to many animals including three hairless dogs from Peru. They were very happy to have visitors.

Our next stop was Kueba di Hato which is an above ground cave formed thousands of years ago under the sea and eventually pushed up to the surface by a volcano. The cave was also home to many bats which flew around above our heads while we were in the cave.

While the rest of our tour group was freshening up from exploring the cave, M and I ran down a trail marked - Indian carvings. It was well worth the detour!

Our next and final stop was to be dropped off in Otrobando (lit. the Other Side) where we explored some of the city and went to the Kura Hulanda Slavery Museum. The Caribbean islands played a very important role in the slave trade industry of the 1700s - especially the Netherland Antilles which were of course frequented by the very famous Dutch West Indies trading company. The slavery museum was a real eye-opening and horrific experience. The entire museum was brought together by one man - a dentist and inventor of the one hour photo - who took one year to acquire all the artifacts inside - some of which were beyond priceless.

After the excursion we crossed the pontoon bridge to Punto (the point) and did some shopping and grabbed lunch. I honestly preferred Otrobando with it’s locally owned shops to the boutiques which lie in Punto. There are also forts - one of each side at the mouth of the port canal - which have been turned into shopping and dining facilities but have returned their fort structure and are really cool to walk in. We enjoyed walking around Fort Rif. As we sailed away we got a good view of the tallest bridge in the Caribbean.