By: Marcia Abramson
I was on the balcony of my stateroom as our ship sailed into the harbor and it seemed as if I could actually touch the pastel colonial buildings on either side. They brought back memories of Amsterdam and its narrow streets and charming 17th and 18th century Dutch homes lining the city's main canal. Curacao definitely has captured more of Holland than any of the other islands of the Netherland Antilles for me.
Since my daughter Jill and I had spent many family vacations at the beaches of Curacao and Bonaire, two of the Dutch ABC Islands, we chose not to take advantage of the many shore excursions. One tour concentrated on the wonders of Curacao including the salt flats, flamingoes, grottos filled with stalactites, stalagmites and a petroglyph trail. The other was a two and a half hour trip on the semi-submarine, the Seaworld Explorer, to watch divers five feet below the surface of the water hand feed hungry fish and view some of the delicate colonies of coral that took thousands of years to create. Another option was to take a trolley train tour through colorful Williamstadt to view the unforgettable Floating Market on Sha Caprilleskade where Venezuelan fishermen and farmers come to sell their fish and vegetables from their boats.
We decided to leave the ship, walk to town over the floating pontoon bridge which spans the main entrance to the port. The antique swinging bridge was still as charming as we remembered it and seemed to be waiting for us to cross to the main shopping district. The main street is Breedestraat which begins at the foot of the swinging bridge and has shops on every side street. There is no sales tax here and the quality merchandise from all over the world is duty free. A familiar sight was the Yellow House where we had purchased perfume and cosmetics what seemed like eons ago. We made our usual contribution to the economy of the Island which is dependent upon the tourist's dollar and oil refineries before heading off to revisit the Mikve Israel Emmanuel Synagogue. This is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere. It is a true antique built in 1634 and is one of the island's most exquisite buildings with a history that dates back to the early part of the 15th century when the first Jewish immigrants arrived from Portugal and Spain and are mostly Sephardim.
Upon entering the building, we saw the magnificent mahogany walls and benches with the four huge candelabra again reminiscent of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. The sand on the floor was still there which surprised Jill on her first visit as a young child. She commented, then that the floor of a temple should be clean without sand from the beach or the backyard sand box. On this visit we also stopped into the Rabbi's House next door which houses a museum with a grand display of antique Judaica including Old Torah scrolls and Hanukkah lamps. There is also the 300-year-old mikvah, the ceremonial cleansing bath, an exceptional building.
The Scharloo district was a fascinating stroll for us featuring old
European style homes in this Jewish quarter. We did not have time, unfortunately, to spend a reflective moment at Beth Haim Cemetery where there are more than 2,500 graves in the Jewish burial ground which was started in the 17th century and is one of the largest in the Americas.
Then back to the Queen Emma Swinging Bridge to return to our ship. This bridge opens more than 20 times a day to allow ships to pass into and out of the harbor. A ship was coming and we were caught in the middle and wondered what was to become of us and the other walkers. We were happy to find that they waited for us to get across before the opening started. There is a free local ferry which runs along a diagonal route inside the Annabaai Bay from the bridge.
We brushed up on Papiamento, the language composed of a native Creole dialect, before the end of our cruise in the Radisson Aruba Resort Hotel for an extra day. Actually Dutch is the official language of Curacao. However, Papiamento has a smattering of Dutch, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, many African languages and Arawak and is heard everywhere representing all the early inhabitants of the Netherland Antilles. But have no fear just about everybody speaks English.
Copyright by Marcia Abramson
E-mail: mascribe@aol.com
