Day 4 Willemstad, Curaçao
It was only a short trip from Bonaire to Curaçao so Azura travelled slowly overnight. After an early breakfast in the Oriental restaurant, where we chatted to fellow passengers about shared experiences on cruise ships, we left the ship and headed into Willemstad.
The road bridge spanning the river is the Queen Juliana bridge and beloe just behind the other cruise ship is the Queen Emma pontoon bridge.
The ship was docked at the so-called Mega Pier which meant a walk along the quay and through Rif Fort, which is full of shops, bars and restaurants, onto the side of the river walking towards the pontoon bridge.
The Queen Emma pontoon bridge was open so we caught the free ferry across the Sint Annabaai river and watched a container ship make its way into the inner port.
There was another cruise ship in the port today and the town was very busy. I did manage to find some graffiti and streetart, to add to my collection, just off Breedestraat Punda.
and on the fort walls along Plasa Piar
Back at the ship we had room service for lunch of pizza and apple pie accompanied with a large bottle of Hobgoblin beer.
For my second foray into Willemstad I decided to concentrate on taking pictures around the pontoon bridge and the street markets. Moored along the lagoon off the river (Waaigat) were fishing boats from Venezuela and further along was one of the street markets.
I spent a lot of time on the pontoon bridge taking pictures of the Dutch style houses along the quayside.
I walked back alongside the Rifstadium walls to add its pictures to my collection of street art. Here’s a view of the outside of the stadium.
And just some of the panels on the outside walls.
And finished off my walking tour with a local beer just inside the secure zone at the dock.
An important note to all future visitors- there was free wi-fi virtually everywhere in the town!
In the same park as the “Curacao” sign was this one. “Dushi” is a local word with many meanings but simply put means mostly sweet, nice or good. Definitely a description of Curacao!
Back on board, the dinner was beef stroganoff followed by brioche bread and butter pudding accompanied by an Aussie Red.
Over dinner one of our table companions, who is also on the port side, told us of the pod of dolphins that had appeared as the ship neared Curaçao this morning. I am sorry I missed them but the good news is that they are out there, somewhere.