Sunrise today was at 6:04am. No, I didn't make it up to see it. I had intended to, setting the clock for 5:30am before I settled down to write my blog posts last night, but by the time I finished and posted them, and then took care of my evening ablutions, it was midnight. I simply can't make it on 5 hours of sleep, so I shut off the alarm at that time, deciding to sleep until I woke up naturally. As it turned out, there may not have been a sunrise anyway...
Well, it wasn't natural, but it also wasn't until 7:30am when we were awakened. At that time the ship's thrusters started spinning the ship into position at the Pointe Seraphine dock in St. Lucia. Unlike Antigua, St. Lucia is a "dock backwards" port...at least at this dock. At the freight dock across the harbor, the ship generally pulls in. But we were lucky today, and got the "good" dock. There is a Silversea ($$$$) ship at the other dock. But, anyway, back to spinning into position...the use of the thrusters to turn this ship nearly rattles those of us on the back of the ship out of bed- and we're up on Deck 14! There is no sleeping through that racket.
G dressed and headed out as soon as the ship was cleared by the local authorities; I wanted to take a shower. So he took one of our two way radios with him. When I was ready, I stepped into the hallway and "called" him (I can't do it from our inside cabin). He had just reboarded the ship after going ashore just long enough to talk with some of the boat operators selling tours in the terminal. We went to the dining room for breakfast, and while we were sitting there, windowside, we could see the sun go behind a cloud and it started to rain. Pity those poor passengers lined up on the dock waiting for their shore excursions groups to leave. They were as drenched as we were yesterday.
Still, the rain didn't last, and after breakfast we walked off the ship to look for wifi in the terminal. It was there last year, and it was free, from the Ti Cafe. Well, no longer. Now they require a $10 purchase...from each of us. $20 to use wifi? I don't think so! The Alliance Francaise in the pyramid shaped building right near the port used to have all day wifi for $7, so we started to walk down there. A taxi driver along the way told us it was closed (Sunday), but that we could find wifi across from the fish market in a park-like area. It sounded promising, and so we walked down that way. We no sooner got there than the skies opened up once again...for a couple of minutes. Luckily, we ducked under cover at one of the picnic tables there. G was able to get the signal, but it was weak. When the rain stopped, he started walking toward where it seemed strongest...and that led us to the most delightful morning imaginable.
There was a small bar (and when I say bar, I mean a tiny house with a covered patio attached) called Mombasa. The gate around it was still closed, but a man inside welcomed us to open it and come in. We did, and asked when they opened. He said late today, but we were welcome to sit down and use the wifi. We ordered two Piton beers and proceeded to get caught up with home security cameras, emails, news and weather back home. It was cool and shaded and quiet and, if not fast, it was faster than on the ship. While we sat there, several of the neighbors stopped by and sat down to talk with us. The owner, Don, apologized for not having any food available yet; his wife Daphne, who was also there, didn't generally start preparing the fish of the day until later. No problem; we just sat there enjoying the cool breeze, the cover when it again rained, the wifi and the conversation. When we went to leave, Daphne told us we were most welcome back anytime.
What a great start to the day!
We walked back to the ship and ate a late lunch in the buffet. I have often said that I'm not a fan of Princess' lunch buffets, and miss the fact that the dining room is no longer open for lunch on port days, but there is a decent enough salad bar, and today they even had basil oil there to top off my salad. G found lots he liked to eat, and we sat there for awhile enjoying the views from Deck 15. Afterwards, he wanted to use a hot tub. I want to go walking on Deck 19 (so much to look at today), but wanted to first get today's posts started. I waited until too late last night, and barely finished them before I fell asleep.
Photo 1: Pointe Seraphine, Castries, St. Lucia from Deck 15 of the Emerald Princess
Photo 2: Mambosa bar, home of Don and Daphne and decent wifi
Photo 3: I don't know my birds, but I think it's a heron, seen while walking back to the ship.