As this turbulent year of 2022 is coming to an end, our holiday cruise visited two of the Dutch ABC islands. On tte 30th we stopped in Aruba and today we are moored in 🇨🇼Curaçao to ring in 2023 in a few hours time.
Aruba was a wholesale disappointment of a rather run down nature that has not yet recovered from the Covid pandemic impact. Empty storefronts and abandoned restaurants ar interspersed with high end brand shops like Lois Vuiton, Zara, Rolex and others. Other than walking our 10k steps, there is little of note to report. Instead of lingering, we returned aboard for a spirited game of Gin Rummy.
Quite the opposite can fortunately be said about Curaçao which is colorful, bustling and quite charming. Our visit of the capital city of Willemstad was entirely conducted on foot. After we left the port area and it’s commercial shops behind, the colonial Dutch spirit was visible everywhere.
As you can see from the picture above, the city is connected with the port area by pontoon bridge. All in all, Curacao delivered a charming day of discovery ahead of turning the page on 2022.
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