Oranjestad, Aruba
It
feels hotter than 80F (27C) Day 58 on
cruise
The
ship landed early in Oranjestad, the people here speak Dutch or some kind of
Papiamento; most however speak fluent English.
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| Two Other Cruise Ships Here |
This
place is a stopover for almost any and all cruise ships. We were docked behind
2 other large cruise ships.
After
breakfast we took the short shuttle into town. And wow… the first shop we hit,
that Charmaine recommended was ‘Diamonds International’. A HUGE shop of
beautiful pieces of jewelry but with really high end prices, too. Even with the
discount Charmaine said we would get, Carol decided against buying anything. We
left the store and right next door was another jewelry store, then another, and
another and another… the whole town is filled with jewelry stores. Carol and I
did a lot of looking but she is not in the market for more jewelry.
I
remember the sales pitch on board, shop, shop, shop!
Of
course they have ‘discounts’ but even with those, it was not that cheap.
The
whole town sells, sells, and sells.
I
was overwhelmed with a town like that. It is not a mall feeling, it is worse.
There really is no town of Oranjestad if it were not for the shops.
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| Why a Blue Horse? Just For Fun |
Welcome
back to the American Dream and shopping at its finest.
While
we had, of course, stores to visit on our previous trips, this was the crown
jewel of shopping. It was overwhelming, too much. There was no coziness, there
was no romance here. It was pure, unadulterated business oriented sales, sales,
sales.
Carol
did find some bamboo t-shirts (very soft and cool) which she bought, I found
some toy jewelry to give to my grand kids, but that was about it.
We
found a tucked away restaurant for a drink and Wi-Fi and then we ran back to
the ship. The ship was an oasis compared to the hectic frenzy of the Main
Street shops of Oranjestad.
I
started packing some clothes; it takes me longer to pack than to unpack.
It’s
time to get off this floating Island they call a ship; it’s time to get back to
another reality.
We
saw that Effy now had a ‘sale’ going on, too…. 60 % off ALL jewelry.
The
entertainer for the night was Troy Thirdgill!
He was actually funny!
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