4/7/15
St. George’s, Grenada
Well, here am I writing one last time from this balcony that has
become my home for the past two days. As
I enjoy this view for the last time, I know with absolute certainty that this
is how I will always remember Grenada.
It is funny, when you travel the way I do, the fleeting memories or
views that become associated with each place you visit. Quebec will always call to mind the Plaque in
front of the Frontenac. I cannot think
of Israel but to think of Akko. Germany will
always call to mind racing down the Autobahn belting out Taylor Swift. Dominica, the hilly capital of Rosseu; Saint
Lucia, walks through Soufriere; Trinidad, that Easter dinner with the locals;
Antigua, the “quaint” capital of St. John’s; St. Kitts, the even quainter of
Basseterre where I spent so much time; and now, Grenada, this view, always and
forever.
I have nothing but time
today. I slept in (by my standards), but
I woke up around 7:30 AM to a beautiful sight: a ship in port. I would be getting my flag pin. It was 8:30 AM by the time I got out of bed
and went down to breakfast, only having my favorites from last time. Since I only had one plate, my coffee was not
yet done, but I was able to get it to go, so I brought the cup with me and headed
to the port. There it was, open, open,
open. The city was so alive. It is remarkable what a difference this one
ship can make. My first stop was for
cigars, but they looked fake, so I move don to souvenirs. The first place did not have flag pins, but
the next one did. Perfect. I got other souvenirs.
There was an emergency proposal due soon, so
I headed back to the hotel and lit up an Avo while I worked. There were issues with the Wi-Fi, so I wasn’t
able to get much done, but I enjoyed just sitting and smoking with the
beautiful view. Checkout was at noon, so
I did have a time crunch there, but, as soon as I showered, dressed, and packed,
I could return to this balcony. I did
just that, having to put aside my Rinaldo halfway through.
Once I was ready, I returned to this balcony
where I resumed this entry, which I will now close, as I need to get on with my
day, but I wanted to write from here one last time. I will write more about memories later. Oh, wait, a bit of adversity. I called the hotel in Kingstown to let them
know I’d be arriving late. They said
they didn’t have a reservation for me.
What the fuck?!? Well, the
hotels.com reservation didn’t push through for whatever reason, but there was
another hotel next door that was my second choice. I called them and they said a security guard
would be waiting. Perfect. I booked it.
Okay, now I can close.
I guess I can actually write from here one last time. After I dropped off my luggage, I headed
across town to the restaurant, which was overpriced, but the food was
delicious. Oh, wait, I stopped to get
cigars and rum first. I wasn’t sure
about the cigars, but the box of Partagas looked real. It wasn’t sealed, but it was full, and, well,
who makes fake Partagas. The cigars
looked, smelled, and felt real. I lit
one up at lunch. They were definitely
real.
After lunch, I walked up to Fort
George, which had a great lookout, and back to the hotel. I went back to my balcony, lit up an
Undercrown, and started working on my “Hero’s Journey” piece. Everything had been cleaned up, and the
chairs moved slightly, so the view was off.
No one else would have noticed it, but I did, and I just couldn’t get
that familiar view exactly right again.
Once I was done writing about the “I want” songs, I proceeded to write
this entry, which I will now close so that I can start making my way to the
airport.
Maurice Bishop International Airport, Grenada
As the sun sets literally and figuratively on my time in Grenada, I
can reflect on my time here and the memories it will leave me with a lifetime
of memories, though it will only like be two or three memories tops from each
country, though I have no doubt in my ability to recall every detail of the
trip years from now. I wrote yesterday
of the right way and the wrong way to do this trip. Now, doing this trip the right way, it has
the potential to make my list of top ten trips.
In fact, if I say “Lesser Antilles Complete” with no qualifications, if
I never need to return to the Lesser Antilles, it will certainly make the
list.
I love it here, and it seems the
perfect way to complete my travels in the Lesser Antilles. The so-called Greater Antilles just do not
have the same allure. I’m sure Cuba will
be amazing, and Haiti will be unforgettable, but it won’t be the same as these
tiny island nations. I will always
remember walking around these capitals, the contrast between how dead it is on
a holiday versus how alive it is when a ship is in port. Even on Easter, Saint Lucia was alive when
the ship came to port, or, at least, the shopping area was. It is like a souvenir shop in Vienna closing
before midnight on New Year’s Eve, not gonna happen. I will always remember that view from the
balcony where I spent so much time. I
always remember that little restaurant where I ate my breakfasts.
What memories will Saint Vincent provide? Barbados?
I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out. It is so fitting that, two years ago, I began
this Travelogue, and now, two years later, I have still recorded every trip,
and it will be my last trip to these islands in quite some time. If it weren’t for the heat, I’d want to move
here. I am all bitten up and heatstricken,
but I love it because it’s only for a week before I get back to my air
conditioned office and apartment and buy anti-itch cream for the bug
bites. The great thing is, I can
remember this trip forever from the ashtrays and coffee mugs I buy, from the flag
pins on my desk, from the cigars I bring home (well, that’s not forever), from
the pictures I take, from rereading these Travelogues.
In a little over three hours, I will be
landing in Saint Vincent. At that point,
Grenada will be nothing more than a memory, always and forever, just like the
other 46 foreign countries I have visited.
Barbados will be my 50th country, and that will be a cause
for celebration with some of Barbados’s best rum, which is also my
favorite. Alright, so how did I spend my
last few hours in Grenada? The first
thing I needed was to get an adapter or two for my electronics, since Saint
Vincent uses the same outlets as here, and I did not want to steal the adapter
from the hotel. I found one at a little
shop by the hotel and got two of them, the price being insanely cheap. Next, I went to the grocery store: water, a
diet coke, and a small nutmeg ice cream.
That restored my sanity. I headed
towards the mall in search of taxi. I
wound up leaving with shot glasses for my coworkers who requested them, spices,
and another flag pin. Technically, I
have three flag pins and have visited two Parliaments now, but I’m sure my
reader knows what I mean. Robin Williams,
if you’re listening, I meant three flag pins, one from each country, and three
Parliaments, one in each country. After
I left the mall, someone asked if I needed a taxi, as I had been asked all day,
but, when I went inside, when I actually needed the taxi, no one asked me. I had actually been wondering how I would get
the taxi. If I just shouted out, “Taxi!”
would a dozen people come rushing up to me.
He quoted a price to me that was slightly more than the price from the
airport, and the price kept going up.
Before I was done, I wound up paying double what I had paid on the way
in. I knew I was being scammed. I said that I needed to stop at the new
Parliament. Okay, the price went up a
little, but it was still less than I’d pay for a taxi from my office to LGA,
half the price of what I’d pay to go to JFK.
He had no idea where the new Parliament building was, nor did the
internet, but his cohort said it was at the “trade center,” just like the
security guard had said yesterday.
I had
a feeling this was going to be Goshen all over again. When I got in the car, the driver told me
that his cohort had given me the wrong price and that it was actually
higher. Seriously?!? I suppose that I should have stuck to my guns
at that point and insisted he honor the price or gotten out of the cab, but I
was too tired to care. We were soon at
the trade center, and one of the workers was walking out, so he stopped in the
entrance to ask her. She walked around
to my side, and we had a very interesting conversation.
I’m not sure I’ll get the quotes exactly
right, but it went something like this.
“This is the trade center, where Parliament is holding their office, but
they usually only meet during the day.”
“This building here?” “Yes.” “The green and pink one?” “Yes.”
“This is the new Parliament?”
“No, it’s just the trade center.”
“But they’re meeting here now?”
“Not right now, no.” “But, this
is where the prime minister and the legislators come to meet?” “Yes.”
“And they’re building a new Parliament?”
“Maybe.”
I thought that last
answer to be quite “quaint.” Jamaica Kincaid
would be proud. He then went to drive
in, but, apparently, he had been blocking someone who wanted to come out, and
the guy kept yelling at my driver, saying that a taxi driver should know the
proper etiquette, that if he wanted to have a conversation, he should have
pulled over. All my driver had to say
was “Okay.” He just stayed quiet,
finally asking if the other guy wanted to “start something.” Alrighty, then. Eventually, my driver just pulled around him,
a tight squeeze.
I took my pictures, and,
when I was done, I said, “Grenada,” pronouncing it “Greh-NAH-duh” before
correcting myself, “Greh-NAY-duh Complete, and let’s see what Saint Vincent has
in store.” We were soon at the airport,
and I handed him a banknote that was slightly larger than the price the cohort
had quoted. He didn’t want to give me
any change, and I didn’t feel like arguing about it. The total price was about what I’d pay to go
to LGA with tip and toll. Oh, did I
mention that I dropped my bottle of rum and that broke? I’ll have to get a new one inside.
I had over three hours before my flight, so I
went to check in with LIAT. I had to
check my bag, and I was a little concerned about leaving my bag with them so
early. Actually, I should reclaim my
sleep machine before I go through security, and a few cigars, too, I
guess. I sat down by the charger and
then headed outside, where I lit up a Jericho Hill and proceeded to write this
entry, which I will now close so that I can head to the gate. Still have two hours before we board.
Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
“Is this how I’ll always remember Saint Vincent?” I asked myself as I
looked at the view I would be experience as I worked tomorrow. It’s not much of a view at night, but who
knows how it will look in the day. What
memories will my adventures into the city hold?
I am within walking distance of Parliament and the marketplace, so I
hope to say “Windward Islands Complete” by the time I’m done with my lunch
break tomorrow. However, for a while, I
did not expect to be writing this entry here tonight.
When I closed, I wrote that there were two
hours before I had to board. That was at
7:18 PM. I did not get on the airplane
until almost 11 PM. I was seriously
concerned they might cancel the flight or skip the GND-SVD segment. Reader, getting fucked by LIAT and spending
five hours in a tiny airport with no real food might seem like a once in a
lifetime experience, something that is a “quaint” part of your trip, something
to look back on as an adventure. You’d
be right about that. However, it is
impossible to describe the panic you feel that your flight be cancelled or that
no one will be waiting for you at the hotel when you arrive.
My original readers will recall that this is
the second that this happened to me. Two
years ago, I had a similar experience at Melville Hall waiting for my DOM-SLU
flight. I have no desire for it to
happen to me a third time, ever. Okay, I
need to pause to pour myself some rum.
Yes, I got the new rum, and I’m very excited to try it.
Well, that was disappointing.
It’s very smooth, but it lacks the mouthwatering flavor of Mount
Gay. Anyway, after I closed, I went to
see if I could retrieve stuff from my bag.
The bags had already been taken away.
Reader, it was three and a half hours before my bag was on the
airplane. My flight was scheduled to
depart at 9:35 PM, keep this timing in mind.
I went through security. Wow,
this stuff is as smooth as shit. Okay,
bad simile. It’s as smooth as
water. I went to buy my rum and then
food, but they just had sandwiches that looked awful, so I got a Diet Coke,
which I had along with some chips from the grocery store. I got situated with that and plugged in to
the outlets. There was free Wi-Fi
there. I was all set, so I uploaded my
photos from the trip so far.
Meanwhile,
my friend messaged me a picture from my apartment. They were watching Lilo & Stitch (2002),
without me! I’m not sure if I was more
upset that they went out of order (we have been watching every animated Disney
film from Lion King (1994), in order, and the last one we watched was The Emperor’s
New Groove (2000), so they skipped Atlantis (2001)) or that they didn’t wait
for me to watch what is possibly the best Disney film of the 2000s decade.
After I was done with the photos, I reviewed
a couple of inspection reports, hurrying to get them out before boarding was
supposed to start at 9:05 PM. Reader, if
you’ve never flown LIAT, don’t, unless you absolutely have to. It’s the worst airline I’ve ever flown. There were two flights going out this
evening, both supposedly at 9:35 PM. One
to Port of Spain and mine to Saint Vincent.
My flight was actually coming in from Port of Spain. I heard the announcement for the flight to
Port of Spain. At 9:15 PM, I started to
get worried. Had I missed the
announcement? Was there are another
boarding area. No and no.
I found some businessmen sitting at a table
nearby. They were going to Saint
Vincent, and one of them informed me that the flight was delayed by an hour,
that it hadn’t even landed in Port of Spain yet. 10:30 PM was the new time. “Best case scenario,” one of them added. Lovely.
I logged back in and wrote two proposals. Once that was done, I was left to my
worries. First, I tried to find the
flight number for the flight that was bringing the airplane to Port of
Spain. By the time I found it, the
flight had already landed there. Okay,
that was encouraging. Once it left Port
of Spain, I tried calling my hotel to let them know I’d be an hour late. No answer.
That was less encouraging. I had
all sorts of visions having to find a hotel in Kingstown in the middle of the
night. It was Dominica all over again. I kept trying to get an update on the POS-GND
flight.
In the end, my update came not
from my computer or phone but from my ears, the unmistakable roar of the plane
landing. It was a very quick boarding
process, and it was open seating. There
was a free aisle seat in the back, right by the exit, so I could be the first
one off the plane. We were only in the
air for 25 minutes, but the plane was extremely uncomfortable. I’d have rather taken a boat up the
Grenadines to Saint Vincent, but I never really considered that option.
I was one of the first to go to Immigration,
so I didn’t have to wait on line, but I did have to wait for my bag. Once I got my bag, there was a short line for
Customs, and a taxi driver approached me as soon as I walked out. The price to my hotel was cheap. He said a number, once we were in the car,
and I asked if that was EC or US. He
could have lied and said that it was US, and I wouldn’t have argued about the
price. He said that it was EC, which
made it quite cheap. It costs more to
take a taxi across town during lunchtime in Manhattan (gotta love
Citibike).
We got to the hotel, and we
soon found the security guard. He
brought me to my room, carrying my large bag, so I gave him a small tip. There is plenty of outdoor seating all
around, and each room has a little porch with outdoor furniture (not
particularly comfortable) and an ashtray.
I’m not sure if this seat will be my second home, or if I’ll move
around. I’m not sure what memories my
time here in Saint Vincent will entail.
I changed into my pajamas and got myself set up on the porch, where I
lit up my Tuesday Ser Jacopo pipe and proceeded to write this entry, which I
will now close so that I can publish and get some sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment