Day 2 (November 12, 2015): "Imagine Meeting You Here!"

Sometimes your brain says to your body, "That's quite enough: too little sleep, so I'm shutting you down."  And that's what our brains said to our bodies last night.  We slept like logs til after 8AM.  I woke to see a message from a Halifax friend who has been working here for seven years.  I know this will sound bizarre, but I had totally forgotten it was HERE that she was living -- my brain had linked her with Trinidad for some reason.  In any case, she had seen my Facebook posting, indicating we were here, so she reached out.  And our get-together became the highlight of our day.  More on that shortly.

At 9AM, we went to the business lounge on the hotel's top floor and enjoyed the buffet breakfast there, overlooking beautiful Carlisle Bay.

Carlisle Bay from the Hilton Lounge 

By 10AM, we were installed on the beach and started a three-hour regime of beach chair > ocean dip > beach chair > beach walk > ocean dip... You get the picture!

Mid-morning walk on Drill Hall Beach

Surfboards on Drill Hall Beach

There is a well-known hole-in-the-wall down the road from the hotel called Cuz's Fish Shack.  It is a Barbadian food institution, so having it so close to the hotel was a huge bonus!  I ran down to get a couple 'fish cutter' sandwiches for lunch, and we ate them on our balcony.  Quite tasty.

Coming to Barbados and NOT having a Cuz's Fish Shack sandwhich would be like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower!

Back to our surprise friend contact:  Megan Ingram works with Operation Mobilization here in Barbados.  At 2:30 we hopped on one of the prolific private packed vans that ply the streets here and made our way to the centre of Bridgetown.  

The dizzying pool of minibuses at the Nursery Drive Minibus Terminal

From there, we set out on foot to explore the hodge-podge of streets in the city centre, passing monuments and the Parliament.

The Parliament Buildings

Much to our surprise, we actually found Megan's office, and enjoyed a wonderful catch-up conversation.

Megan Ingram outside the OM Barbados office 

From there, we got another van to the community of Hastings, which boasts a stunning 3-KM boardwalk along the water.

The impressive 3km Boardwalk in Hastings

We watched the sun go down as we walked, and then had an early dinner at the Tiki Restaurant on Accra Beach, sampling calamari and local fish cakes.

Sunset from Accra Beach

It was a beautiful, hot-but-breezy day here in Barbados, filled with relaxation and re-connecting.  Good night from here!