No tour today – no getting up early.
Serenity Docked in Barbados
After breakfast, we took the shuttle bus from the ship to the terminal. There are three ships here today – P and O Anudia and the Jewel of the Seas.
The Jewel of the Seas
From the terminal, which looked more expansive than I remember it, we walked about a kilometer to the Careenage, which is essentially the center of Bridgetown.
These Boots Were Made for Walking
From the Careenage, we could see the Barbados Parliament Building with its clock tower.
We visited Heroes Square and the War Memorial (Cenotaph).
The obelisk (granite) and base (coral) – were constructed in 1925 to honor Barbadians who lost their lives in WW1 – WWII casualties were added to the monument in the 1950s.
We picked a new destination, the Barbados Synagogue – Nidhe Israel (Bet Knesset Nide Yisrael). Google maps said that the synagogue was just 650 m away – about a five minute walk. That turned out to be the case – it is located on Magazine Lane.
This synagogue is one of the oldest in the Americas (established in 1654). It was a pretty ordinary place when we last visited here but, in 2011, the synagogue and recently excavated mikvah were designed UNESCO Protected sites. Today, the grounds have been redone.
The Synagogue Building
The synagogue was taken over by the Barbados Trust who planned to level the structure to make room for commercial sites. A petition campaign saved the synagogue and now UNESCO is there to protect it for the future. We were able to go into the shul and get a nice picture of the interior.
Nidhe Israel Interior
The new complex contains a new museum ($12.50 pp – we opted not to go this time) and brick courtyard plus viewing bridges and platforms affording a view of the ancient gravestones that go back centuries.
Nidhe Israel Cemetery and Gravestones
The original building was levelled in a hurricane in 1831 and the shul has been rebuilt and kept up. It is our understanding that it is now an active shul.
Also at the synagogue today was the newly assigned Chabad Rabbi, Eli Chaikin and his wife and son. He had only been in Barbados since Sunday. We chatted for a few minutes and then we planned our trip back.
As we started back we ran into a local who asked us if we needed a taxi to the port – he quoted us a price of $5 for the both of us – that was a good price compared to what he had been told. It was an unusual ride back – our driver had words for just about all the people on the streets. We got back OK, made our way back through the terminal mall and on to the ship.
We had lunch was up in the Lido Café – I’ve been adding extras (tuna melts, pizzas, and fish wraps) to the standard gazpacho and salad bar.
We sat out on the pool deck in the shade but it started to get warm so we retreated to the Palm Court. I did get about 50 flips of my book read when afternoon tea started. The egg salad sandwiches and tea were both very good as was the carrot cake.
We are taking a pass on the candle lighting today and resting in the room until dinner.
The Crystal Dining Room was offering Salmon for the first time on this cruise and it was really good. I had the Crystal version of a Greek Salad and the warm artichoke and spinach dip (different but good). We had our wonderful South African waiter and his assistant so the service was primo. Kosher food ordered for tomorrow.
Broadway Showtime continued tonight with Andrea Burns,
who costarred in “In the Heights”. She sang some unusual songs but one song I recalled from an earlier cruise – “I Can Give you the Moon, the Sun, and the Stars”. Fantastic. Nice to have two Broadway type singers on board.
To the quiet of our room.
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