Thursday, March 12

Back @ Puerto Rico

We had a grand cruise and returned to Puerto Rico as scheduled.
We fly back to Ft. Lauderdale and then.... RV across to AZ.

Tuesday, March 10

Antigua and Barbuda


Monday, March 9

Castries, St Lucia

Arrived....
..... in port
Small colorful town
Our small tour bus took us up to several of the highest overlooks....
on one lane narrow country roads.  yikes!
We visited a private home 'n estate  ~ Stoney Estates
~ informative ~
And ...colorful !


Sunday, March 8

Scarborough, Trinidad, + Tobago

We have arrived !!
Note: the trees behind the port are in their Botanical Gardens.

Their Gardens ...n' looking back at our ship.
From our room we could view up at the 18th c. Fort King George. 
Our island tour took us up to that historical site.
And.....this is a view looking down on our ship.
Tis Sunday, so their town market was not open.
But lots of color in the downtown area with murals of their history.
of note: this island of Tobago has changed hands 33 times.
Dutch, English,Spanish,Swedish, French, and others all were interested in their sugar, cotton, and indigo.

Then there was beach color.....

ahhhhh ...lovely Carribbean Island !

Thursday, March 5

Belem, Brazil

Here we are ...visiting a city of 2.5 million !!!
This was the first European Colony on the Amazon.
Our tender port above 'n below... far from their city center .

We took a shuttle bus into their city.
A 2 way road which turned into 5 lanes of one way traffic.
Sooooo we had a 45 minute drive to view the area.







Our shuttle took us to their 300 year old market ~ VER O PESO



Their open market is the largest in South America.
From the riverside market we did a walkabout to see their historic area .

Their nearby fort~ dates to 1616
 Cathedral of Se ~18th century
 Paz Theatre opened 1874 ~ fabulous structure !

Park across from theater
Local artists murals downtown
Wealthy European families flooded to Belem and transformed this city with ornate architecture, earning the city the nickname ~ Paris of the Americas. 


What a colorful place....

Tuesday, March 3

Markets in Manaus


Two Markets ~ side by side.
 Above is the Art Nouveau one ~ 1903.
The materials were made in France and then shipped over to Manaus.

The yellow brick one below "Mercado Adolpho Lisboa" was based on Les Halles / Paris.
It was built in Paris 'n shipped over to Manaus, constructed 1880 ~1883 .


These street markets are up and down
many of the streets in the surrounding area.