My fellow recruiter friends will understand this title.
We have been back from our trip to Curaçao for a couple of weeks now. I will pay my self on the back here, ok I scratched it.. I have a great sense of direction. Especially when I am hungry or there is the promise of food at the end. This has been a quality I have possessed since I was little.
We went on our trip with Aunt Eva, Mary-Lu and Mike, and Petrina and Chicky. Both couples are great friends of Aunt Eva's. They where in the villa above us.
The country of curaçao is pretty, the scenery at the beaches where breathtaking. However you quickly caught it again once you stubbed a toe on the massive amount of rocks on the ocean floor. The people are not friendly. They are not rude but no one really went out of their way to make us say, "same time, same place next year".
We arrived on a Saturday. Our flights where great and Maddie was a champ, considering we had to wake her up to be at the airport for a 6 am flight. I know.... When we got to curacao the heat and humidity hit us like a ton of bricks. Maddie of course took a nap. We found the car rental area and got in line. It was he longest line there and it seemed very slow. When they got to us it seemed to take longer once they checked us in and took the rest of our payment they directed us to walk around the building and they would assist us. They had our car but not a car seat. The one they had was broken. So we had to wait. Aunt Eva had ordered a van and called ahead to make sure it was automatic. When it was here turn, they took them to a brand new van that looked like a tour bus, and of course it was standard. So that was a no go. After what felt like hours and it probably was, we got our car and an acceptable car seat and broke away from our pack to find it in our own. Everyone said how easy it was to get there. So off we went. After driving around for a good hour and asking for directions from anyone I could we by accident found the place. Funny we got there the same time the rest of our group did. Don't worry they got lost too. English is not a primary language there, nor is Spanish, they speak popeamento or Dutch. Great...
This made asking for directions very hard. We settled in our rooms and headed back out the the grocery store which I knew where it was since we passed it on one of our many tried to find the resort. I am also using the word resort loosely here. That first night we decided to stay at the Blue Bay and eat there. The food was good but the service was long.
Sunday we went up stairs and all had breakfast together. And we headed to the beach. Aunt Eva had promised Maddie that they would play in the sand together and they did. it was great Maddie had 10 other eyes on her besides the usually four. Jeff and I actually went for a walk, it was odd. We usually do not have people say go, get a drink we have her, and they meant it. Maddie had a blast with her new "friends". Which is what she called them all as a group. Jeff and I took Aunt Eva and "friends" up in the offer and we went to get a drink. I ordered a strawberry margarita, Jeff a kalula colata. The bar tender said he could not make either. I ordered something else and he could not make that either. I said what can you make, his retort was "anything you want" I ini in my nicest "please don't spit in my drink", said, "obviously not because we have asked for three things and you can not make them". He offered to "freestyle" it was pretty good. We later found out he was the towel boy. Sunday evening was our first venture to leave the resort for food. We went to the front desk and hit directions. We took the lead. We found the restaurant with ease. It was about 15 minutes. The signs in this country are terrible. I mean really bad, there are none. This prompted Petrina to ask if I have been to this country before. I said no, never. And Jeff went in to explain how I am pretty good with a map and if there is food at the end I can get anywhere, he did say that once I am full I am useless. Which is true. I have no clue why my sense of direction is tied to my belly. Dinner was great and so was the service. So attentive. We actually went to this restaurant twice. Monday we went to the market area for water shoes. Jeff cut his foot Sunday when he stumbled on a rock. The market was an experience. They sold fresh fish, not on ice and used a news paper to shu away flies. Sorry no picture.. We got our shoes some kick ass bread pudding and headed To find the distillery. We all read about the awesome tours at the distillery. Curacao makes/ has its own liquor. By the time we got there they were closed for lunch. We walked across the street and ate lunch in a local restaurant. It was great. The distillery on the other had a lot to be desired.
Tuesday we decided to try another beach that they said was not as rocky. The rocks where as plentiful at Casa Abu, they where just smaller. I again with directions and a map found it. We had to go down a dirt road and when you got to the bottom we could peak around some trees and see the amazing view. It was amazing. The water was clearer than bath water. We only had to go in knee deep to see fish. Maddie could even see them it was great. We stayed there for most of the day. We decided to leave so Maddie could nap. The second car decided to leave as well since they might still be there if they didn't.
The rest of the week went on. We would get terrible directions from the hotel, drive around and ask for direction issuing charades. All in all we had a blast. It was a great week, however we have no plans to go back to this country. We will however piggy back on another vacation with any of Maddies "friends"
