November 30, 2012 Barbados Independence Day

Today Barbados celebrates the 46^th anniversary of their independence from Britain. There were decorations

and banners throughout the island

and people have been practicing for their individual parts in the celebration.

Being a small island, the ceremonies and presentations all took place at the garrison a couple of kilometers from our place. The festivities all seemed to take place in the morning and were over by noon – no fireworks or special parties in the afternoon or evening that we know of. However, every evening seems to be a party around here.

Tom and I decided that we would spend the day checking out Bridgetown, the capital.

It is also the sea port and only large city in Barbados. We caught the city bus into Speightstown (pronounced spice town) first. It is very small and mostly closed because of the holiday so we caught a Zed R down to Bridgetown.

Bridgetown is a typical Caribbean city with tiny street side carts with venders hawking their wares to larger stores and boutique areas. There is also the canal area where the sightseeing boats and tour cruises for snorkeling and diving have set up shop. It’s a pretty area. All over the island there are lovely city parks. After checking on excursions and buses to the various we were interested in seeing, we headed home. It was only about 6 kilometers so we decided to walk it. Good exercise but, with all the walking around town, we were pretty tired by the time we got home. It was a good fact finding day and we are anxious to explore some of the treasures of Barbados.