Our time in Curacao was my favorite of the cruise. After a good night's sleep, NOT falling out of the bathroom and enjoying a good meal from the breakfast buffet we were off to our shore excursion. Today we were on a motorcoach tour of the country and two hours of swimming. Getting off the ship, the first sight you'll notice are these colorful buildings. Colors, colors everywhere.
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We had the best tour guide, Solimare, was very knowledgable about her country and made the experience fun. The first thing she said was "You have to laugh at everything I say." She and the driver, Elam, played off each other so well that we couldn't help but giggle.

One of the first facts she pointed out was all the houses were just as colorful as the first buildings we saw.
Twice a year everyone repaints and patches their home because almost all of them are made of limestone.

No wonder they were so vibrant!
Another fact I found absolutely amazing was Curacao's population.
Women outnumber the men
FIVE TO ONE! Solimare teased that Elam liked this because he has a girlfriend over there, one of that way, etc.

He then told us he has
eight children---all
girls!

Curacao is a part of Holland and by the fifth grade all students are fluent in Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamentu which is a combination of Dutch, Portugese, Spanish, English, African and Indian.
We had one stop on the ride and given the opportunity to tour the Curacao Liqueur distillery.

(Surprisingly the whole place was only as big as One Man's Dream.) We also got to sample their product.

The flavors were chocolate, coffee, rum raisin and the original Curacao Liqueur (that comes in blue, red, orange, clear and green) is orange flavored. We also learned that the alcohol they use to make the liqueur is imported.........from
CANADA.
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Lastly we arrived at Mambo Beach for fun in the sun. This was a private beach resort beach and everything was very white.

Quite a contrast to the atmosphere of the remainder of the island. We were given a free drink but the only beer I recognized was Amstel so that 's what we had. There were many small shops in a plaza if you didn't swim. I browsed but a.)nothing interested me and b.)nothing I would pay those prices for.
Unfortunately our shore excursion time had ended and we were back at the port before we knew it. I noticed a trend of when walking back to the ship you pass through a shopping area. Curacao was no different here. This time there were vendor tents where the locals had brought in some of their wares. One tent was selling Curacao Liqueur and....yep, more free samples.

My friends bought a few minibottles because we were told the chocolate and rum raisin were good in ice cream.

(Might as well check it out. ) My daughter and I spent..........one whole dollar on a postcard for her godmother.

Yep, blowing wads of money on souvenirs is not my thing I guess. I was listening more to my stomach saying, "You need to eat, fool!"

(Pretty sure it was a Mr. T voice)