Michael Powell's Blog, page 58

The Savonet Museum

The former Savonet Plantation is found within the bounds of Curaçao’s Christoffel National Park. In 2010, the landhuis (plantation house) was converted into an excellent museum which touches on the history of the island and life on a colonial-era Dutch plantation.

The museum starts off with artifacts left by the Arowak Indians, who inhabited the island before the arrival of the Europeans, in 1499. However, the great majority of exhibits at the Savonet concentrate on the history of the planta...

Grote Knip – Our First Beach in Curaçao

We pulled our car into the parking lot and, for a few stunned seconds, sat there in silence. The scene before our eyes was just too much to process. This was it! The perfect beach, the one which your mind envisions hopefully whenever you set off for the ocean. This was our first beach in Curaçao, chosen basically at random, and we had found the perfect one. Was it luck? Or… we allowed ourselves to hope… would all Curaçao’s beaches turn out to be this spectacular?

The Grote Knip is found on t...

The Floating Market

Along the banks of the Waaigat, a fleet of small, wooden ships is stationed, each carrying a load of fruits and vegetables from nearby Venezuela. This is Willemstad’s Floating Market, where Curaçaoans have been purchasing their produce for about a hundred years.

Curaçao is a beautiful island, but its arid climate isn’t conducive to fruit orchards or fields of vegetables. Luckily, the harvests of the mainland are not far-off. Sailors from Venezuela’s coastal towns long ago recognized the mark...

The Queen Emma Bridge

Two bridges connect Punda to Otrobanda. For cars, there’s the towering Queen Juliana Bridge, the tallest in the Caribbean, rising 56 meters above the Saint Anna Bay. And for pedestrians, there’s the Queen Emma Bridge, with a total height of about zero meters. The Queen Emma, you see, is a floating bridge.

On first learning about Willemstad’s floating bridge, my first thought was, “Well, that makes sense. There’s no reason to force traffic up and over the water. I wonder why more bridges don’...

The Mikvé Israel-Emanuel: The Oldest Synagogue in the Americas

When you think of “Curaçao,” you’re likely to think of things like “scuba diving,” “liquor,” “beaches,” “cruise ships” and “historic Jewish community.” Wait… what was that last one?! It’s unexpected, but this little island has the oldest Jewish congregation in the Western Hemisphere, with a history that dates to 1651. And Willemstad’s Mikvé Israel-Emanuel is the New World’s oldest synagogue.

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The Netherlands has a long history of religious tolerance. In the 17th century, when most European co...

A Local Lunch at Plasa Bieu

There’s no getting around the fact: Willemstad is a cruise ship city. Nearly every day, another massive ship is in port, and thousands of one-day visitors cram into the old town. It’s a financial windfall for many businesses, but it comes with downsides for locals and local-wannabes like us. For example, there’s an over-abundance of restaurants aimed at tourists, with kitschy decor and high prices. Luckily, other options exist, and we’ve already found a great one at Plasa Bieu.

Plasa Bieu, o...

Fort Amsterdam and the Fortkerk

Colonial-era Willemstad was protected from marauding pirates and enemy navies with an extensive set of eight forts, six of which have survived intact into the present day. The oldest and most important is Fort Amsterdam, found at the entrance to Saint Anna Bay.

The Dutch West India Company constructed Fort Amsterdam in 1635, immediately after the Netherlands had taken Curaçao from the Spanish. The territory’s colonial masters lived safely within its confines and, throughout the centuries, Fo...

First Impressions of Willemstad

Willemstad is the capital of Curaçao and by far its largest city, with about 98% of the island’s total population. In many respects, Willemstad is Curaçao. And for the next 91 days, it’s also our home.

Willemstad was founded by the Dutch West India Company in 1634, immediately after the Netherlands took over Curaçao from Spain. The city has preserved much of its colonial architecture and style, prompting UNESCO to name it a world heritage site in 1997.

The location for Willemstad was chosen...

Bon Bini, Curaçao

Our new 91 day adventure has begun, and this time we’re turning our attention to Curaçao, a Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela. I could pretend that we were drawn by the island’s history or its enchanting culture… but, really, we wanted something that was going to be low-key and a lot of fun. And for that, we could have hardly chosen a better destination than Curaçao.

Curaçao is one of the three so-called ABC Islands, larger than both its neighbors, Aruba to the west, and Bonaire to...

Hasta Pronto, Valencia

Pack the bags, turn off the lights, shut the door, hail a taxi, shed a tear… and say goodbye! After five years of constant travel, we’ve become quite adept at the Departure Dance. But this time, there was a twist. Valencia has long been our adopted home, and this year we finally made it official by buying an apartment. We know we’ll be back soon, and that makes this departure a lot less melancholy.

Why did Jürgen and I choose to settle in Valencia? It’s something that people frequently ask u...