CARIBBEAN - CURAÇAO : CURAÇAO TOTE
by Barbara Kingstone



Okay, I admit it. I have a handbag fetish. And I don’t discriminate. Shoulder bags, clutches, totes, satchels, orange, yellow, pink, black brown ..... doesn’t matter. If the shape or fabrication shouts "buy me", I can’t resist. So in a world where everyone seems to be on a kamikaze speedway, I’ll take time to find out about an intriguing number that happens to make my brain release all sorts of endorphins.

There I was at the Hilton spa in Curaçao, the small island located in the southwestern Caribbean between Aruba and Bonaire, having just had a scalp massage (this certainly did not make for a great hair moment), foot reflexology (the perfect preparation for my ailing retail therapy) and a shoulder and back massage by the talented Cynthia (gratefully unknotted from computer stress), when I spotted IT. It was being carried by a stylish Curaçaon dressed in a white silk sundress, black-trimmed natural straw hat, great strappy sandals and The Bag. What caught my attention was the combination of colours. It may have been last season’s Fendi but who cares. The grey, white and black fabric with the back to back ‘Fs’ and a burnt orange leather strap attached to those famous gold coloured brass hinges did it.

With un-Canadian chutzpah, I brazenly asked the innocent bystander where she had purchased that chic, small zippered shoulder pouch. As it happened, Marjorie had bought it in Willemstad’s Punda area, where all great shopping on this island, happens. And as luck would have it, her friend Melba manages the boutique. Out came her cell phone. "Do you have any left," she asked, and yes, Melba had just one which she promised to put aside. However, with the influx of tourists from the cruise ship that had just docked, she would try to hold onto it as long as she could. At this point I asked Marjorie, who was with her daughter Nerissa, how long it would take to get into town. "Why do you need a cab. I’m going to take you," she said with authority. Stunned by this unexpected kind gesture, my head did a swivel enough to give me whiplash and negate the back massage.

During the drive the former model and mother of 18 year-old Nerissa explained that she goes to the spa everyday for the prescribed water exercise for a post-operative back injury. And Nerissa goes along just to make sure all is well.

Like most busy cities, no matter the size and this one with 140,000 population, parking is still a problem. However, nothing deterred my new friend as she stopped to let me off in a non-legal spot with the ticket monster lurking across the street. I mentioned that she needn’t worry about me. I had found my paradise.

"Go with Barbara," she suggested to Nerissa, "and tell Melba I’ll be there as soon as I find parking." Again, I couldn’t believe this virtual stranger’s attitude. "It’s just the way we Curaçaons are," she shrugged as I rushed out of the car for the viewing of my Fendi only to find shoulder-to-shoulder shoppers grabbing the half price sale, duty free products, off the shelf. The cruise-travelling, discount-hungry locusts had preceded me. But true to Melba’s word, hidden away on the bottom shelve, along with a larger but similar bag, was what I had come for. I bought both not wanting to break up the set. My reasoning has no logic.

Assuming I would be cabbing it back to the resort, when I asked how and where I could hail one, I again received a startled look from Marjorie. "I’m taking you back but first I’m going to show you our city."

Forget the wooden clogs. Curaçao may be Dutch (it was captured in 1634) in spirit, and an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with Dutch as the official language (most speak the local language Papiamentu and English), having steep, tall, narrow gabled houses, the similarity ends since these are all Crayola-coloured to go with the azure blue water and clear, cloudless sky.

Our first stop was coral stone and sea sand mixed ochre-coloured Fort Amsterdam, a fort within a fort. The most prominent building in the square is the Dutch Reform Church where the large brass chandeliers and the mahogany benches must have been built for those suffering homesickness, so reminiscent in design and décor of those in Holland. It’s also the site of the Governor’s Palace.

From there it was an easy drive past the Queen Emma Bridge, known as the "swinging old lady", a floating pontoon bridge which links the two sides of Willemstad – Punda, the main shopping area, and Otrobanda ("the other side").

Looking across, there’s a stunning typical-designed mint-green and white trimmed building, Villa Maria, once a private residence, now a cultural centre. The renowned Floating Market where vendors and their products come from Venezuela, just 50 km (30 miles) north, is where most locals and restaurateurs buy their produce. At night, the stalls are cleared but owners’ houseboats line the sides of Scharloo Harbor. Under the canopies, bananas swing from hooks, lemons, limes are creatively displayed in baskets along with various vegetables and other products. Further along, fishers are hawking their daily catch, many still wiggling.

One can’t mention this island without noting that Mikve Israel-Emanuel, the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere, established in 1732, is located in Willemstad. The original sand floor came from the Sinai: now it’s replenished with local sand. The four huge chandeliers, still not electrified in this Sephardic synagogue, are lit with candles. "Our synagogue ties for first place with Fort Amsterdam as the most popular sightseeing attraction," said Rene Maduro whose ancestors came in the fifteenth century from Spain.

Another anomaly is the Plaza Hotel Curaçao, the only hotel in the world that has Marine Collision Insurance since it sits on the Schottegat Harbour, almost within arms-reach of the 162 passing ships each year.

I shall always remember Willemstad for its history, the fact that UNESCO has named it as a World Heritage Site, my new friends, Marjorie and Nerissa, and my fabulous Fendi finds.


Photo: courtesy Mermaid Boat trips, Curaçao
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