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This post is in three parts:
It all starts in Le Meridien hotel, North Terminal, Gatwick Airport - a fantastic idea, a hotel with a direct covered walkway into the terminal building itself. Our flight was from South Terminal, at around 10am the following morning, so we'd stayed overnight. There's a very efficient monorail transit system thingy between the two terminals, so first thing Saturday morning saw us hopping on it and heading back 'down South' for check-in, some indignant and useless baggage handlers for our over-sized suitcase (BAA handlers, the poor dears, aren't allowed to handle bags over 32kg in weight, lest they strain their ever-so-delicate little backs).
A pleasant enough flight ensued, arriving on time at Grantley Adams International Airport in the south-east corner of Barbados, and our holiday was in full swing. After locating the pick-up sent by our hotel, we were on our way.
The remainder of Saturday (we got to the hotel at around 4pm), and all of Sunday, were lazy, lounging round the hotel and pool and getting to know the place, and the dinner menu.
Monday, Mr Jones of Jones Garage (we'd be seeing more of him later in the week...) arrived to arrange our hire car, and now in posession of a grey-import ex-Japanese white Toyota Corolla, we set out to explore the island. Aside from an afternoon in Bridgetown, we explored mainly the coastal areas, finding beaches during the day, and some excellent restaurants at night.
I mentioned that we'd see more of Mr Jones, and we did, on Wednesday (after a minor miscalculation resulted in the car having a passing argument with a non-moving low-rise concrete obstacle), and again on Friday to hand over the excess payment.
Then we had to go home. Never mind that on the flight back, there was a lack of non-vegetarian meals by the time ours came around. Or the weather here is rubbish.
Barbados is a fantastic island. There may be a Caribbean stereotype of islanders lazing in the sun, getting nothing done, but it's only half-true. The islanders may laze in the sun, but things do get done. Things may not get done at a great pace, but they're done on time, usually quite satisfactorially, and if they say it'll be done, it gets done.
Beautiful sandy beaches, clear water perfect for swimming in, lush vegetation, lovely scenery, I could go on, but I think you get the idea by now. Oh, and did I mention the generally warm (but not stifling) sunny weather and stunning sunsets?
We ate well, particularly in the evenings, when we sampled some of the islands best restaurants: highlights for me were Josef's at St Lawrence Gap and particularly The Cliff. Our hotel's own restaurant also merits a mention, we did dine there three nights out of seven after all!
As may have already been reported, we were staying at Villa Nova: a sumptuous retreat, away from it all, up in the hills above St George's Valley. I'd say more, but there's not much that I can sum up in words, other than it's the best hotel I've ever stayed in, and am likely to for some time to come. We'll be back, it may just take a while to get there.
They say all roads lead to Rome.
Well, in Barbados, this is probably partly true, but the fact of the matter is that, in Barbados, all roads lead everywhere, eventually. Do not rely on any of the following whilst driving in Barbados:
Road markings.
Road signs.
Distance markers.
Maps.
There are only three reliable means of navigation: your watch, the sun, and bus stops. The former two are rather self-explanatory. The latter is rather an ingeneous system: all bus stops are marked in one of two ways: "Into City" or "Out or City" (the "City" being Bridgetown). You will get lost, many times, but will eventually figure your way around the endless rat-runs and warrens of variable quality roads (at its best, the road surface is just about passable; at its worst, it makes Manhattan roads seem like billiard tables). Don't worry about it; you'll get there eventually. At least the local drivers are relatively sane; driving in Barbados is very much like driving in England, except with better weather.
It all starts in Le Meridien hotel, North Terminal, Gatwick Airport - a fantastic idea, a hotel with a direct covered walkway into the terminal building itself. Our flight was from South Terminal, at around 10am the following morning, so we'd stayed overnight. There's a very efficient monorail transit system thingy between the two terminals, so first thing Saturday morning saw us hopping on it and heading back 'down South' for check-in, some indignant and useless baggage handlers for our over-sized suitcase (BAA handlers, the poor dears, aren't allowed to handle bags over 32kg in weight, lest they strain their ever-so-delicate little backs).
A pleasant enough flight ensued, arriving on time at Grantley Adams International Airport in the south-east corner of Barbados, and our holiday was in full swing. After locating the pick-up sent by our hotel, we were on our way.
The remainder of Saturday (we got to the hotel at around 4pm), and all of Sunday, were lazy, lounging round the hotel and pool and getting to know the place, and the dinner menu.
Monday, Mr Jones of Jones Garage (we'd be seeing more of him later in the week...) arrived to arrange our hire car, and now in posession of a grey-import ex-Japanese white Toyota Corolla, we set out to explore the island. Aside from an afternoon in Bridgetown, we explored mainly the coastal areas, finding beaches during the day, and some excellent restaurants at night.
I mentioned that we'd see more of Mr Jones, and we did, on Wednesday (after a minor miscalculation resulted in the car having a passing argument with a non-moving low-rise concrete obstacle), and again on Friday to hand over the excess payment.
Then we had to go home. Never mind that on the flight back, there was a lack of non-vegetarian meals by the time ours came around. Or the weather here is rubbish.
Barbados is a fantastic island. There may be a Caribbean stereotype of islanders lazing in the sun, getting nothing done, but it's only half-true. The islanders may laze in the sun, but things do get done. Things may not get done at a great pace, but they're done on time, usually quite satisfactorially, and if they say it'll be done, it gets done.
Beautiful sandy beaches, clear water perfect for swimming in, lush vegetation, lovely scenery, I could go on, but I think you get the idea by now. Oh, and did I mention the generally warm (but not stifling) sunny weather and stunning sunsets?
We ate well, particularly in the evenings, when we sampled some of the islands best restaurants: highlights for me were Josef's at St Lawrence Gap and particularly The Cliff. Our hotel's own restaurant also merits a mention, we did dine there three nights out of seven after all!
As may have already been reported, we were staying at Villa Nova: a sumptuous retreat, away from it all, up in the hills above St George's Valley. I'd say more, but there's not much that I can sum up in words, other than it's the best hotel I've ever stayed in, and am likely to for some time to come. We'll be back, it may just take a while to get there.
They say all roads lead to Rome.
Well, in Barbados, this is probably partly true, but the fact of the matter is that, in Barbados, all roads lead everywhere, eventually. Do not rely on any of the following whilst driving in Barbados:
Road markings.
Road signs.
Distance markers.
Maps.
There are only three reliable means of navigation: your watch, the sun, and bus stops. The former two are rather self-explanatory. The latter is rather an ingeneous system: all bus stops are marked in one of two ways: "Into City" or "Out or City" (the "City" being Bridgetown). You will get lost, many times, but will eventually figure your way around the endless rat-runs and warrens of variable quality roads (at its best, the road surface is just about passable; at its worst, it makes Manhattan roads seem like billiard tables). Don't worry about it; you'll get there eventually. At least the local drivers are relatively sane; driving in Barbados is very much like driving in England, except with better weather.
