Bridgetown on your own, Barbados (Cruise with the Royal Clipper in the Caribbean)

At the end of the first week of our cruise, we docked again in Barbados. Most passengers disembarked, but some stayed with us for a second week on the ship.

So we were quite relaxed in the morning as the hustle and bustle of departure spread, and we strolled to downtown Bridgetown after breakfast.

At the promenade, we initially walked along the water.

In the centrally located large “National Heroes Square”, there was an exhibition about famous individuals from Barbados known for their political or social engagement.

The singer Rihanna, who was born in Bridgetown, was also represented here.

Directly at the square are the parliamentary buildings, whose architecture still shows traces of past colonial times.

In the square and throughout the city, we saw Christmas trees adorned with elaborate decorations.

They were set up by the Commonwealth Society and dedicated to various countries of the world (not just the Commonwealth) or organizations.

We continued our walk through a residential area with many small houses, which were in varying states of preservation.

Finally, we arrived at Brownes Beach, a beach near Bridgetown.

By now, it was very hot, and we only walked briefly through the sand along the water before retreating to the shade of the streets.

At the beach, we also met a young Italian woman who had been on the Royal Clipper the previous week and had dined with us one evening.

She recommended a visit to the “Barbados Museum & Historical Society”, which we set out for next.

Before our visit there, we made a stop at the “George Washington Café”, where we had coffee and fruit smoothies and used the Wi-Fi. The café was located right next to the horse racing track, where no race was taking place that day.

In the historical museum, we looked at the exhibition on the animal and aquatic life of and around Barbados, which was somewhat outdated.

The next section about the country's history and slavery was also not entirely new, but still quite informative.

The museum is located in the former British military prison, so there were old prison cells and a very small exhibition section on the military that we only glanced at.

A more modern and detailed exhibition about Africa was set up, after which we briefly tried out the interactive exhibits for children before we set out again.

On the way back, we walked through “Queen's Park”, whose name presumably harks back to Queen Victoria.

When we returned to the center, it started to rain, so we visited some of the shops in more detail.

We walked back along the promenade to the ship and saw a heron hunting for prey and many crabs on the way to the sea.