Cruise: Nassau

There is going to be a lot of pictures in this post so I'll try to keep the ramblings to a minimum. Up early this morning to light rain and an early (8am) docking at Nassau. People were once again waiting to get off the ship until the sun came out but we headed off early with no rain but grey skies.

I had found a walking tour of Nassau so we followed that, starting in Rawson Square right outside the ship terminal with statues and pictures of all the Bahamian presidents. Across the street was Parliament square and the government buildings. It was nice to look around when it was almost tourist free!

Bahama's parliament with Queen Victoria

 Behind the government buildings was the library. We didn't go in early as it was shut but we went in later in the day. It was full of cool old books but it was a tight squeeze to move around and very very hot. I'm not sure how all the school kids in there could work!

The library

After the library we headed on a little walk up past the hospital to the Queen's staircase - a narrow little gorge with steps carved out of the stone. It was full of tropical plants and giant trees growing on the edge of vertical stone walls.

Queen's staircase at the end

Up the stairs and to the top of the hill to Fort Fincastle, built in 1793. We were able to pay a couple of dollars and go inside the fort to look at the inside and the cannons (which were never used). There was also a nice view back down to the ship.

Carnival Splendor

Fort Fincastle

At this point it had started to rain a little but we also saw some other people from the ship, so we weren't the only crazy people! We walked past the post office and some nice little churches before getting to the Governors residence. They like pink buildings here!

Governor's House 

At this point it really really started to rain and we ended up sheltering under a bridge for a while. I'm not sure why I remembered to bring an umbrella on the cruise but I'm glad I did. It was even the blue, black and gold colours of the Bahamas!

Just like home

Once the rain subsided a little we ended up at Graycliff, a large colonial mansion which is now a hotel with a cigar factory and a chocolate company. We strolled around the grounds a little, which were beautiful and got a tour of the cigar factory. It was a little strange standing and watching all the people making the cigars by hand but quite interesting none the less. We also stopped at the chocolate shop and got a box of beautiful chocolates that we saved till we got home (white chocolate passion fruit, nutella and sea salt caramel were the best).

Cigar anyone?

You want this one?

We then took a detour from the official walking tour as there was a new rum distillery in town. We got a tour (which didn't consist of much) and then of course had to try some of the product. Yum! We even got a trip behind the bar :-)

Rum, rum everywhere

Including here!

We then wandered back down to the main town, walked along a couple of beaches and through the shopping area. Apparently a lot of people do a lot of shopping here, which we weren't really interested in. It had been a busy morning so we stopped for lunch at a little cafe. I got the conch salad, which was more like a ceviche and it was amazing. Really delicious and a lot nicer than the conch fritters from Grand Turk!

So, so good and just a little spicy!

After some more wandering around the town and into a few shops (to buy rum cake and hot sauce) we headed back to the ship. It was rammed in the town as another Carnival ship (the Pride) had docked. The schedule showed that sometimes they have 6 ships there at a time and I can't imagine how crazy it would be then! We spent a couple of hours up on the top of the ship as the sun was almost out. There was also a great view of Atlantis from the ship. We could have gone there but it was very expensive. A lot of people had excursions there at the water park and were quite upset about the rain! Maybe we'll get there sometime!

Atlantis

As we headed out and back to sea it had started to get rainy and windy again but I still enjoyed the view. We also saw a turtle swimming by the boat (I had seen a dolphin the day before)!

Lighthouse and Atlantis at sail away

That evening was probably the most unsettled on the ship, in terms of motion. It wasn't bothering me much (although I could notice it) but a lot of people weren't feeling so good, including Matt so it was an early night. Not sure if anyone used the sick bags by the elevators! I did enjoy being greeted by this guy  in the cabin though.

Monkey towel

A nice day of culture to make a change from the beach! Two more sea days to get back to New York.

Happy times on the boat!