Monday, 29 November 2021

St Barts: High Heat, Humidity, and Expense

Since I am approaching the end of the cruise in three days, I have decided to skip ahead to the two ports we will be visiting in the Caribbean. I will return to the days at sea I've omitted once I have reported on my visits to these two ports, St Barts and San Juan.

This morning, Riviera sails into the beautiful harbor of St Barts in the Lesser Antilles, or Leeward Islands, one of a small group of islands known as the French West Indies. As I mentioned earlier St Barts (or St Barth) is a shortened form of the island's full name, St Barthelmy, named by Christopher Columbus for his brother Bartolomo in 1493. During its four centuries of European Rule, St Barts and its neighboring islets, has been claimed by the Spanish, the French, the Swedish (hence the name of its main city, Gustavia, for King Gustav), and the French again. The verdant green hills and red rooftops of Gustavia provide a dramatic contrast to the deep blue of the surrounding sea

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The island, from Riviera's position at anchor in the harbor, seems like paradise indeed. But after a somewhat rough tendering to shore and exposure to its very high temperature and humidity, this visitor from Tucson finds it more like baking hell. The shore excursions offered today are primarily beach trips, water sports, boat rides, and ATV rides in the hills--all of little interest to me. So I plan to spend the morning wandering Gustavia's two parallel streets and window shopping at the expensive boutiques. But the heavy air is so unbearable, my t-shirt and shorts are so quickly soaked through with perspiration, and all the boutiques and restaurants are really high-priced, that after a two-hour walk through town, I call it quits and head back to the ship.

                                                          

After lunch and a peaceful afternoon, I watch from the upper decks as Riviera slips out of the harbor into the night. When it gets dark, the ship's blue lights give the pool deck a dreamy and romantic glow. Tonight I have dinner in the Polo Grill: a different kind of escargot preparation in a green sauce, lobster bisque (with added chunks of lobster and a large swig of Drambuie), a well-aged Angus NY strip steak perfectly prepared as medium rare, with Bernaise sauce on the side, accompanied by haricots vert almandine. I am too full for dessert; even though the multi-layer chocolate cake is tempting, I resist and head for dreamland.