Beaches, Bargains and British
Written: Feb 28 '00 (Updated May 28 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great weather, reasonable prices, English speaking
Cons: give me a minute, maybe I'll think of one
|
|
|
| friskycelery's Full Review: Barbados |
My goal is to visit all the islands in the tropical part of the world at least once. I've been to Barbados a couple of times, always in the December - January time frame, so my comments on prices and weather may not apply at other times of the year.
Rockley Beach
Rockley Beach, Christchurch, on the southwest end of the island, is a very pleasant area to base yourself during your stay. The beach here is broad white sand, and is very popular with year round residents. There is a breakwater towards one end of the beach, on the other side of which exists schools of bright fish and colonies of interesting coral. You can rent snorkel equipment (and boogie boards and beach chairs) right on the beach.
Across the street from the beach is a small shopping area called "Quayside Center". This has a couple of pretty good, very inexpensive restaurants, along with a book store, a convenience store, some souvenir shops, and a one hour photo place.
Starting about a block away from the beach is a very pretty residential district. A number of countries have their consulates in this area, including Germany, Brazil, and China. (Probably not considered a hardship posting!) If you are a gardener, a walk down these lanes is a must. Orchids growing wild in the crooks of trees, bouganvillia twenty feet high, oh my. It made the heart of this Michigan girl go pitty pat.
This part of Barbados also has a number of studio apartments available for rent by the week. This can be a real savings from staying in a hotel. You still get daily maid service, but you also get a kitchen with a refrigerator and a cook top. This saves you from having to eat breakfast out every day, and it gives you a place to keep the beer cold.
Dining
Eating out in Barbados is a rather uneven experience. Here are my observations (last time visited was December 1999)
1. Bert's Bar. Across the street from Rockley Beach, Bert's is connected to a guest house. The namesake bar is pleasant, rather tame, and boasts slot machines and cable TV. When you get a craving for USDA beef, come here. The steak is good, it comes to you sizzling on a hot plate, and it costs about US$12. Not bad.
2. Pizzaman Doc. This is a chain of pizza places on the island, and it's pretty good.
3. The cappuchino stand at Quayside Center. It's about the same price as you'd pay in the states, but boy is it good.
4. Waterfront Cafe. This is on the waterfront in the capitol, Bridgetown. Get a seat outside, if you can. The food is pretty good, but I thought it was a bit expensive.
5. Nelson's. Upstairs across the street from the Cave Shepherd's department store in downtown Bridgetown. Ambiance is great, especially if you can snag a seat on the balcony overlooking Broad Street, the town's main thoroughfare. The food is mediocre, and the service matches it.
6. Chefette. This is a chain of fast food restaurants, but the chicken is good and you can't beat the price. I don't like curry, but folks who do tell me the rotis are good too.
A couple of notes: The Bajan dollar is worth about US$0.50. The worst place to change money is at the airport in the States. Your hotel may give you a better rate than the bank. Most places will take credit cards for purchases, and this may get you the best rate of all.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
friskycelery
|
|
Location: Holly, MI
Reviews written: 98
Trusted by: 47 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.