Barbados - That Monkey is a Thief!

Well, I think I now know as much about Barbados as one can learn in just a few short hours. I've been all over the island. They joke here that they have many parishes, but the lady's on top; as they're almost all saints and the northern parish is St. Lucy. 

I was here once on a cruise as a child (it was called The Song of Norway), but all I remember is driving on the wrong side of the road and then going into a cave where my mom got scared and had to leave early. 

Now, I see Barbados from a more adult perspective. The overwhelming factor to me is the sugar cane. It's everywhere. I know for a fact that all the cane fields they have here still can't support the rum industry; they have to import it. Nevertheless, it seems like wherever we went, cane was growing or had just been cut. I'm originally from the midwest, and even our corn situation doesn't compare.

So, today, we visited some gorgeous beaches (above) and ate local food (below). 

Other highlights included a stunning abbey, St. Nicholas Abbey, which is not a real abbey, but a sugar plantation. They make rum there and it was one of the most scenic spots I've seen anywhere -- filmic, even -- a perfect destination wedding venue. I held a cockatiel and talked to some parrots. Good times. Also, we visited some "rum shops," which are basically tiny bars. They were cool, and extremely varied. I went to three, and I don't think I could tell you what the "rum shop" thing is all about yet. They were so different. 

There was also a scenic outlook point where I encountered a whole new entrepreneurial combination: Jewelry store and monkey. There was a jewelry store with a live monkey at the front. You could play with the monkey for free, but there was a donation box (I donated). This is the first time I've ever touched a monkey. It was rather like playing with a kitten. They play-bite and play-wrestle. That said, everyone was warned to keep their valuables put away; that monkey ("Tasy") is a thief! Also, there was this weather station:

Accurate.

We had a fabulous dinner at Daphne's and then a totally bizarre drink at Oistin's, a string of rum shops around a stage with no band on it and a bunch of picnic tables where there were at least 300 local people congregating for their Friday night out. I felt old. It was like showing up at MTV's Spring Break and not knowing anyone. Or something.

I learned a lot today. Let's just say that at one point, a baroness was explaining to me the merits of "one, two, three, EXUDE" as a photography technique and leave it at that. Barbados is awesome.