Heroes' Day on Grand Cayman...
Jan. 25th, 2010 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoJan 25 2010
Today I visited Grand Cayman, the largest of the Cayman Islands. Arriving and looking at the island, it looks nothing like Antigua or St Lucia or the other volcano-created island we visited; it's flat. Very flat. Our guide, George Webster, said that the natives never build near the beach, since the beach is dangerous: hurricanes hit the beach first. The foreigners who come buy beach property, and the beaches are ringed with mansions and famous hotels: the Marriott, the Hilton. The locals live inland, in neat, square houses that remind me of those I saw in suburbs of London, England, except that their traditional lawns are of pale sand with flowers. They sweep or rake it daily.
Like Barbados, the island is British in style and flavour. Our tour guide was bitter about Gordon Brown. He said that in 2004 there was a hurricane that destroyed 95% of the buildings on the island. Queen Elizabeth promised money to rebuild, but Gordon Brown stopped it from being sent, saying that the island was full of people laundering money. The Cayman Islands had to defend themselves against the charges - and still haven't received the promised aid.
Like the Isle of Man, Grand Cayman is a tax haven: there have been no taxes there since 1505. So it reminded me a little of the Isle of Man, with neat buildings along a bay, and an esplanade, and information in inscriptions along the waterfront. Though the Isle of Man eschews connection with the UK, while Grand Cayman seems to cherish it.
Today was Heroes' Day in Grand Cayman, with most of the local population in the main square with bands and awards being given out. As I passed by, a girl was getting an award for Christian Leadership. It was a bank holiday, but that didn't discourage all the tourist shops from being open.
1. Leaving the Crown Princess by tender.
2. Telephones in George Town.
3. One of many beautiful beaches.
4. I went to a dolphin show. Most of my photos, I'm afraid, show water splashing where a dolphin has just proudly disappeared under the water after a triumphant double somersalt or a high jump. Those dolphins are just too quick for me.
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maaseru didn't want to see that show, because it makes her uncomfortable: dolphins, she said, are sentient. I see the point. But I'm not sure where sentience (never mind intelligence) begins and ends, or how to measure it, or how to treat it when we find it. All things are holy.
5. We went to Hell. I bought and mailed a postcard there, toexplodedteabag. It said, "I've been to Hell and back." Not true - at the point I wrote the postcard, I was still there, sitting at a picnic bench.
I wrote:
The rocks of Hell look like this:
If you look closely, you can see the Devil standing in the middle of all that. I think it looks like Mordor. Apparently it was originally white rock, but has weather to charcoal grey and black over the centuries. George said it was volcanic rock that had been pushed up from the sea bed during an earthquake.
6. ... Like a chicken needs a bicycle.
There are wild chickens all over the island, wandering a pecking, as chickens do.
7. I'd just been to Hell, so then I had lunch in the Paradise Restaurant.
I had turtle soup:
I didn't ask, but I wondered if it was really turtle meat, or if it was the name of an old Cayman recipe. It was delicious, spiced by a gorgeous view of the sea and a fresh breeze. It could have been chicken. Or not.
Remember what I said about chickens wandering everywhere? They wandered through the restaurant, too.
I had dessert elsewhere - a pina colada ice cream cone in a place that advertised its ice cream as Grand Cayman's greatest tradition. I like a tradition like that. I ate it on an upstairs balcony, overlooking the sea.
8. Red flowers on the main street.
6. Our ship, the Crown Princess, seen from George Town.
Today I visited Grand Cayman, the largest of the Cayman Islands. Arriving and looking at the island, it looks nothing like Antigua or St Lucia or the other volcano-created island we visited; it's flat. Very flat. Our guide, George Webster, said that the natives never build near the beach, since the beach is dangerous: hurricanes hit the beach first. The foreigners who come buy beach property, and the beaches are ringed with mansions and famous hotels: the Marriott, the Hilton. The locals live inland, in neat, square houses that remind me of those I saw in suburbs of London, England, except that their traditional lawns are of pale sand with flowers. They sweep or rake it daily.
Like Barbados, the island is British in style and flavour. Our tour guide was bitter about Gordon Brown. He said that in 2004 there was a hurricane that destroyed 95% of the buildings on the island. Queen Elizabeth promised money to rebuild, but Gordon Brown stopped it from being sent, saying that the island was full of people laundering money. The Cayman Islands had to defend themselves against the charges - and still haven't received the promised aid.
Like the Isle of Man, Grand Cayman is a tax haven: there have been no taxes there since 1505. So it reminded me a little of the Isle of Man, with neat buildings along a bay, and an esplanade, and information in inscriptions along the waterfront. Though the Isle of Man eschews connection with the UK, while Grand Cayman seems to cherish it.
Today was Heroes' Day in Grand Cayman, with most of the local population in the main square with bands and awards being given out. As I passed by, a girl was getting an award for Christian Leadership. It was a bank holiday, but that didn't discourage all the tourist shops from being open.
1. Leaving the Crown Princess by tender.
2. Telephones in George Town.
3. One of many beautiful beaches.
4. I went to a dolphin show. Most of my photos, I'm afraid, show water splashing where a dolphin has just proudly disappeared under the water after a triumphant double somersalt or a high jump. Those dolphins are just too quick for me.
maaseru didn't want to see that show, because it makes her uncomfortable: dolphins, she said, are sentient. I see the point. But I'm not sure where sentience (never mind intelligence) begins and ends, or how to measure it, or how to treat it when we find it. All things are holy.5. We went to Hell. I bought and mailed a postcard there, to
explodedteabag. It said, "I've been to Hell and back." Not true - at the point I wrote the postcard, I was still there, sitting at a picnic bench.I wrote:
This postcard is in honour of Dean Winchester, and John Constantine, and Captain Jack Sparrow. Funny how many of my heroes have been here.
The rocks of Hell look like this:
If you look closely, you can see the Devil standing in the middle of all that. I think it looks like Mordor. Apparently it was originally white rock, but has weather to charcoal grey and black over the centuries. George said it was volcanic rock that had been pushed up from the sea bed during an earthquake.
6. ... Like a chicken needs a bicycle.
There are wild chickens all over the island, wandering a pecking, as chickens do.
7. I'd just been to Hell, so then I had lunch in the Paradise Restaurant.
I had turtle soup:
I didn't ask, but I wondered if it was really turtle meat, or if it was the name of an old Cayman recipe. It was delicious, spiced by a gorgeous view of the sea and a fresh breeze. It could have been chicken. Or not.
Remember what I said about chickens wandering everywhere? They wandered through the restaurant, too.
I had dessert elsewhere - a pina colada ice cream cone in a place that advertised its ice cream as Grand Cayman's greatest tradition. I like a tradition like that. I ate it on an upstairs balcony, overlooking the sea.
8. Red flowers on the main street.
6. Our ship, the Crown Princess, seen from George Town.
