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Cuba, the Caribbean Islands,
and Central America in 2001

Barbados

Bec
2004-09-17 17:44:41

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Jolly Roger
I came here for a week of rest and recuperation from the stress running the "Société Québecoise d'Initiatives Pétroličres" that I had founded eight years before. I needed a break and spent most of the time lost in science fiction books beside the swimming pool of my hotel. I forgot the name of the hotel but I do remember the Jolly Roger behind me in this old photo.

Actually, there were two "Jolly Roger" two masted schooners that sailed daily with a full complement of fun loving pirates for a few hours of drinking and dancing in the sun.

Bridgetown
Fun cruises still leave the Careenage but now they use modern catamarans like this one.

Looking at this happy bunch I can see that the open bar is as popular as ever but I remember with nostalgia the days when sex was a sport like tennis.

Some landmarks were still there but Bridgetown had grown considerably since my last visit. Here is Broad Street with colonial style Dacosta's Mall and the modern Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) building.

Canadian banks are found everywhere in the Caribbean. Bank of Nova Scotia leads with 143 branches followed by the Royal Bank of Canada with 109 branches and the CIBC with 58 for a total of 310 out of the 482 foreign bank branches.

And here is another fine colonial relic marked "Barbados Mutual Life Assurance Society" on the corner of Broad and Prince Alfred streets.

It is now being restored after being occupied by a branch the Barclays Bank whose founders, David and Alexander Barclay made a fortune in the slave trade before they expanded their London financing business to Jamaica in 1836.

Lively pedestrian Swan Street is lined with shops and thick with street vendors working the crowd (watch your wallet).

Barbados is endowed with many fine beaches that have been well developed for tourism, particularly ...