I loved Barbados. It had just the right combination of

pace and placidity, and it was neat and friendly,

the kind of place one lives easily. At least that was

my one-day-tourist interpretation!

Barbados was one of the places we decided

to tour on our own,

so after docking at Bridgetown and eating

a sturdy breakfast we found a cab driver to take us

up the western 'platinum coast' to Folkson Marine

Reserve.

There we found beautiful beaches and

excellent snorkeling on the reef. We sunned and

from barbados to eternity!

swam for a few hours until our driver came to

pick us up for lunch which was at the coolest

little beachside bar called Bombas, where I had

the traditional flying fish sandwich and of course

the local beer, Banks. What a perfect spot that was

and one that we decided we'd like to return to some

day.

After lunch we hung out on the beach until

Curtis, our driver, came back to pick us up again to

take us on a cross island tour. Barbados is a very

picturesque and clean island, and I'll never forget

the sweet molasses smell coming from that sugar cane

refinery we passed.

Back at the ship we joined our dinner group for yet

another sumptuous meal and then hit the track for our

12 laps. Tomorrow is a day at sea so we stay up late

with our warm and fuzzy Barbados buzz.