Aruba

Yesterday we were in Curaçao -- a very pretty place. 

It's Dutch and therefore far more orderly than many of the other islands out here. That Dutch heritage implies that things will be "squared away." However, I was talking to a local, a recent immigrant from Holland, who said the clocks were not always on time. If you have an apppointment for 9 AM, you might be seen at 10 or maybe the next day. He was a plumber and used to turning up on time and he said he's been surprised that his clients are not ready for him when he shows up. Given that, we landed on time, stayed our required limit, and the pilot was ready to show us out of the harbor on time. And, we were on time for the 11:30 PM fireworks.

The port area looks exactly like the picture on the bottom of the license place. 

Today we are in Aruba. I'm not sure if I'm going ashore or not...been here many times, and there is "stuff" to be done before we land in Ft. Lauderdale in 2 more days. To that end, I'm doing laundry while most everyone is ashore and therefore the machines are available. The Prinsendam is one of the few ships that has FREE laundry facilities...but there's a catch. The directions are written in Swedish, and difficult to understand.

After 25 days we are finally getting used to the quirky machines, but most of us will be happy to get back to our own laundry facilities at home. Travel is always interesting!