Barbados trip

Hey folks,

Came home yesterday after 16 days in Barbados.
Flew from home to Stavanger, then to London, slept over one night and
continued with BWIA to Barbados. Everyting went smooth, even if we had
our
daughter that is soon 2 years old. Traveling with small kids/babies
dont
always have to be stressful. They dont always cry. And we were lucky
to have
4 seats, so she could sleep on 2 of them. No problem!

We were going to try a new hotel this time, and decided to go for
Coconut
court hotel. Located less than 5 minutes walk from the hotel we have
stayed
at before. The reason for the change was that Michelle have to go to
sleep
early, and then we are stuck at the hotel. And Sierra dont have
nothing
going on at night, so we are all alone all the time. That is boring.
www.coconut-court.com is much larger, and have beach bar, pool bar and
restaurant. Perfect for us. And guest can go all inclusive as well. We
dont
do that. But since they have that offer, it means that there will
always be
people around at the hotel. And that is how we like it. We want to
socialise
and meet other peopole. And so we did. Michelle had friends to play
with,
and we met some very nice people from britain, australia and canada.
I can highly recommen Coconut court for all people, exept those that
is
looking for a party 24h hotel. But for those ones, Barbados is not the
place
to go anyway.

We did not do a lot this time. Just took it easy. Did not even go on
any
excursions. Not even the catamarans. Belive it or not!
We rented a car and took an island tour. Thats all.

So what is new in Barbados? Well, some things did we see: Oasis has
closed
down due to financial problems. Clut Rockley (Rockley resort) had
closed
down due to financial problems. And Barbados Pavilleon had closed down
because of financial problems. We did not even know of Barbados
Pavilleon
existed. For those of you that know Barbados well, you have probably
noticed
a red ruin building across the street of Coconut court. It has been
ruin
since 1960s. Last year they built it back up, and was opened as a high
class
restaurant and meeting center. Membership club. They opened in
december, and
closed down just some few days after we came.
We went to show some people Shells guesthouse, but that was closed.
Dont
know what happended. There was a woman at the property, but she knew
nothing. Did not look like Shells had open for a good while. And there
were
nothing in the builing as we could see. Shells used to be our favorite
restaurant.
Cacrabank used to be a nice and cheap place to stay. Now broken down
and
build up. Large large compared to how it was. And splitted in 2
different
hotels. Blue Orchids Beach Hotel and Coral Mist Beach Hotel. It looked
really nice, so we went in to see. The hotel is brand new, and rooms
looked
good. But where were the pool bar? Were was people?
There were no pool bar! So no one was hanging around at the hotel
either at
daytime or at night time. That is not how we like it. Not that we want
to
spend all our time at the hotel, but we want to have some time there,
and
then someone to hang out with there. But not at those hotels. I can
not
belive that. In Europe NO ONE would build a hotel like that.
Barbados Hilton is soon finished. Will open this year. Will be more
than
twice the size of any other hotel in Barbados.

St. Lawrence Gap look nicer than ever before, and all work up there is
now
finished. I was at Ship Inn one night, but we did not go there to eat.
Some
local friends told me that the food was not as good as it used to be.
So we
went on down to Steak house instead. And to celebrate our 10 years
anniversary, we went to Josefs. Josefs is number one on the south
coast!

The low american dollar make it cheaper for us in Barbados. But still:
Barbados is not cheap place to go. While in Thailand and places around
there, you can eat for 3-4 dollars, you have to pay 20-40-60 in
Barbados.
And for the price you pay for a 3 star hotel in Barbados, without
food, you
get a 5 star hotel in south east asia, including brekfast.

Crime was said to be lower, but was on the rise again. We came to
Barbados
in the afternoon, and stayed that night at the hotel. Next morning I
took a
walk, and had walked for 3-4 minutes before I was asked if I want
drugs.
That is a dark chapter of Barbados. Some people on the beach also
bugged me
several times. And when I passed them one day, I saw a british couple
arguing with them loudly. The couple stayed at the same hotel as we,
and I
asked them later what happened. Drugs they said. They wanted to push
drugs
to the english couple, and they were very offended by that. Sad.

I saw they advertised for a president for Barbados Board of Tourism.
WOW,
that is a job I would like to have. Wish I was qualified!


OK, end of story.


Leif Arild
No way
--multiplaza.nl.nu--