When we booked our tickets to Curaçao, I needed to check first where it is exactly located! Well, Curaçao is a small island justabove Venezuela. So I'm going for the second time this year to Carribean :)
Until 2010 Curaçao was part of the netherland Antilles, and after its disolution it became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but Spanish and English are also very popular. Curaçao has also its local dialect Papiamentu, which is a mix of these three langauges, as well as of some Portugues.
The biggest higlight of Curaçao is the very well preserved colonial city centre of its capital - Willemstad, which is also our destination.
The Historic Area of Willemstad with its unique architecture is a UNESCO World heritage Site. It was established by the Dutch in the 17th century, and it developed continuously over the following centuries. Punda is the oldest part of the city, and the three other historic urban districts - Otrobanda, Pietermaai and Scharloo date from the 18th century. The architecture of Punda was reminds mostly of the Dutch design, whereas the other areas were influenced also by Carribean style.
What attracts the most attention are very colourful buildings. Until early nineteenth century the predominant colour of all the buildings was white, however as of 1817 white was prohibited, and red, yellow, green and blue started to appear in Willemstad. Approximately 90% of buildings within the historic are belong to private owners.
Apatr from historic centre, main attractions of Curaçao are of course beaches. The island is also an excellent spot for scuba diving, and apparently surfing.
Direct flights from Europe to Curaçao depart only from Amsterdam, and so we also flew from Amsterdam Schipchol. We bought some last minute offer, comprising flight and hotel. We left Europe on 23 December, just in time to spend Christmas in an exotic way in Curaçao :) It was the second time in my life that I did not spend this day in Poland, and I have to admit I missed a bit this beautiful atmosphere and Polish traditional food. Here though I could enjoy some great seafood what compensated a bit the fact that it wasn't the Polish Christmas.
Our hotel was located just on the beach, but also very close to the city centre. It was rather an oldish building, however with private beach and swimming pool, what made our stay very pleasant on hot sunny days :)
Until 2010 Curaçao was part of the netherland Antilles, and after its disolution it became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but Spanish and English are also very popular. Curaçao has also its local dialect Papiamentu, which is a mix of these three langauges, as well as of some Portugues.
The biggest higlight of Curaçao is the very well preserved colonial city centre of its capital - Willemstad, which is also our destination.
The Historic Area of Willemstad with its unique architecture is a UNESCO World heritage Site. It was established by the Dutch in the 17th century, and it developed continuously over the following centuries. Punda is the oldest part of the city, and the three other historic urban districts - Otrobanda, Pietermaai and Scharloo date from the 18th century. The architecture of Punda was reminds mostly of the Dutch design, whereas the other areas were influenced also by Carribean style.
What attracts the most attention are very colourful buildings. Until early nineteenth century the predominant colour of all the buildings was white, however as of 1817 white was prohibited, and red, yellow, green and blue started to appear in Willemstad. Approximately 90% of buildings within the historic are belong to private owners.
Apatr from historic centre, main attractions of Curaçao are of course beaches. The island is also an excellent spot for scuba diving, and apparently surfing.
Direct flights from Europe to Curaçao depart only from Amsterdam, and so we also flew from Amsterdam Schipchol. We bought some last minute offer, comprising flight and hotel. We left Europe on 23 December, just in time to spend Christmas in an exotic way in Curaçao :) It was the second time in my life that I did not spend this day in Poland, and I have to admit I missed a bit this beautiful atmosphere and Polish traditional food. Here though I could enjoy some great seafood what compensated a bit the fact that it wasn't the Polish Christmas.
Our hotel was located just on the beach, but also very close to the city centre. It was rather an oldish building, however with private beach and swimming pool, what made our stay very pleasant on hot sunny days :)
After spending our mornings on the beach or swimming pool, we were usually heading to the city centre, not only for sightseeing, but also for food - as meals were not included in our package. While getting to Punda, we were crossing the Queen Emma Bridge. It's a pontoon bridge, which opens up several times per day in order to allow passage to the ships and boats.
Ships... Nearly every day the port of Curaçao was hosting a huge liner and every day the city was flooded with the tourists who stopped in Curaçao during their cruise in the Carribean. The city's casinos and expensive shops were all theirs!
Influences of its fomer ruler are visible not only in the architecture reminding us Amsterdam, in Dutch language heard on the streets, but also the local currency - guilder. We also met several Dutch people who decided to come to the island and open their business. Well, weather is definitly much better here than in Holland ;-)
Local street art
