Where the Streets Have No Names

Jan. 6, 2017
This is a very difficult place to drive. The streets are not in any type of grid. They seem to have been built in a helter skelter random order and direction. Some of the potholes are just a bit smaller than our Kia Pican't-do...., which, by the way, seems to be the national car of Curaçao. The roundabouts are always a harrowing adventure and there are no to very few street signs. When they are there, they're barely legible.

Today we took a break from the beach and went back into the city centre to explore the Pietermai district which is just across a bridge from Punda. This is an area that they have tried to revitalize and it has become a nighttime destination with clubs and such. We did some strolling around and Mary found the tourist info building (these can never be passed by) as well as a bakery where she found a coconut cinnamon bun. We also stopped for lunch at the Plein Cafe Wilhelmina.

Later we thought we'd drive out and find the flamingos at Sint Michel. (This was "our" first mistake as they are on the way to Playa Porto Marie, not Sint Michel.)
So we plugged in Sint Michel on our Google Maps and off we went in the Pican't-do. We merrily bounce through the roundabouts and in no time we're at the.....airport, far away from Sint Michel( and even farther from the flamingos.

So we reprogram for Sint Michel and off we bounce in a cloud of dust. Much later after many turns and crossings we get ourselves into a separate subdivision, turn a corner and Google Maps says "Your destination is on your right." No flamingos, nothing but an empty lot. So we went to get out of the subdivision but we couldn't go out the way we came in, so after 10 minutes of driving down dead end streets and going into parking lots with seemingly no exits we got out. We continued down the road to some dead end little community, Sint Michel, when Mary said while relooking at a map, "Oh, it's not Sint Michel, It's Porto Marie." We went home.

Later we went back downtown to see the light and walked over to the Waterfront Arches and had a glass of wine and a shrimp appetizer at Scampi's, a waterfront restaurant. All is good.
























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Location:Corriweg,,Netherlands Antilles