Once upon a time in the 1990s traveling on my own meant that a potentially lonely road awaited me. These days, solo travel does not necessarily have to be that way and the "wish" that "you could see this place" could actually come true...at least digitally.

While away in Curacao I spent a lot of time on my own, which is in many ways refreshing but on occasion I found myself wishing my friends could "see this place."

So we made it happen, it was fun and we called it Sunsets With Seb.

Labels: Beach, Caribbean, Chat, Curacao, Google Chat, Islands, Netherland Antillies, Playa Piscador, Sebastien Tobler, Sunsets, West Punt

The physical structure of Curacao is such that the coasts are quite rocky, therefore you will not be able to find a long stretch of sandy beach like in California or Mexico for example. Instead you will find that beaches here are smaller and because of the island's rocky coast, you will often find beaches that are in alcoves or lagoons often encircled by rocky cliffs.

In fact, Curacao's physical structure was the only benefit the island had to the Dutch. The northern coast of Curacao is very rough and does not provide a safe port for ships. The south however is calmer and the way the port of Willemstad is set up, it was easy to defend against pirates and other invading naval forces. If you look at the image below, the Xs mark where the forts are set up and the blue line is where the warehouses were set up. This unique port was perfect for defense and so the Dutch used Willemstad as logistical hub to store and drop off goods.

Labels: Beach, Curacao, Islands, navy, Netherland Antillies, Outdoors, Rocky Cliffs, Willemstad

I was interviewed by Addison Schonland yesterday evening about DC as a destination.

http://iagblog.podomatic.com/entry/2009-07-23T16_45_23-07_00

Labels: Culture, DC, Monments, Podcast, Sebastien Tobler, UpTake, Washington

Very Cramped!

Labels: Aruba, Caribbean, Curacao, flight, Netherland Antillies, plane, puddle jumper

I walked into the lobby of my big box hotel reluctantly. The first unmistakable sign of reluctance creased its way onto my forehead as the doorman recited his scripted greeting, which I returned with a halfhearted "Thank you." Electro-lounge music filled the large entrance, the kind that was way past its 'cool' expiration date and is now on rotation in one of many locations around the world. It clashed heavily with the ringing and chiming of the slot machines across the way in the casino, followed enthusiastically by the occasional roar of excitement from the craps table.

I wished for a blessing and I took my chances "Excuse me, how far is the beach from the hotel?" I ask the front desk person. "Oh we have a beach sir! A private one."

A wave of relief washed over me...

"It is upstairs on the second floor"

...followed by a wall of confusion.

My rebuttal would have put a Harvard Law scholar to shame "Uhhhhhh...?"

"Yes Sir, take the elevator to the second floor, take a right, walk all the way down and it is on your right, next to the swimming pool."

It was either his enthusiastic look about a beach on the second floor combined with a welcoming Dutch-Antillean accent or the fact that we were indeed on the ground floor (I verified this with him mind you) which led me to one conclusion; go to sleep, just trust the guy he [obviously] knows what he is talking about - just figure it out tomorrow.

So there she was. Less than one hundred meters in length, white sand and an infinity edge; my first fake beach complete with starfish. My first day in Curacao turned out to be quite surprising.



I swam over to the infinity edge to watch the large ships enter the port of Willamstad and found it to be quite calming after all. I had never been on a fake beach before but the idea of being in the busy part of town and to be looking south towards Venezuela from an infinity edge beach became soothing. At the end of the day it is better than begging a friend for access to their rooftop pool in Washington, DC overlooking downtown.

As I stared out at the real thing, I felt a nagging feeling. I needed to find a real beach and Curacao has a lot of them. A lot of amazing ones, the adventure is on.

Labels: Beach, Caribbean, Curacao, man made beach, Netherland Antillies, Renaissance, Resorts, Willemstad

This was the "small" order.
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Labels: Blues, Caribbean, Curacao, dinner, Food, Islands, lobster, Netherland Antillies, Ocean, plantains, Willemstad

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Labels: Blues, Caribbean, Curacao, dinner, Food, Islands, lobster, Netherland Antillies, Ocean, plantains, Willemstad

Labels: capitol, Caribbean, City, colorful, Culture, Curacao, dutch, Emma Bridge, history, Netherland Antillies, Pontoon Bridge, Port, Port Town, Willemstad

As I travel around the island of Curacao I can't help but listen to Little Joy's Next Time Around as I find myself lost amongst very old and colorful Dutch buildings. My favorite line:

Labels: Caribbean, Curacao, Indy, Little Joy, Music, Music Videos, Netherland Antillies, Rock and Roll, Songs, Travel Songs