November 26, 2024

BARBUDA - Paradise Found!!!

So I had never heard of this island, but Cousin Cathy had done her research and was on it! The adventure starts with a 90 minute ferry ride at 9 am, from Antigua, which we just got into and cleared customs at 8 am. The ferry is $100 / round trip - so I was expecting something nice. The Express Ferry was filling up quickly when we climbed on board. There was upper deck seating, but was toasty in the sun, so we quickly found open seats, inside in the air conditioning of the front cabin. The seats were comfy, while not luxurious. The ride over was very rocky at times, some passengers got pretty green, but we felt ok. Time went by pretty quickly in anticipation.  

We arrived at a parking lot that had lots of trucks & vans in to pick up passengers and cargo, but nowhere was a taxi to be found. It's Sunday morning, 10:30 am, they are all in Church! It rained heavily, the night before, and the compacted sand roads don't drain - the island is level. Roads seem impassible for regular cars. We spot a big guy, in a Nobu shirt, picking up supplies from Ferry and we ask him to take us with him to restaurant, since we have a reservation at 12. He calls restaurant and they say they will send a free shuttle to get the 5 of us, in 15 minutes. Needless to say, our surroundings are giving us pause. Then our Shuttle pulls up!

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You can't judge Paradise by the pathway there!!

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WOW !!!! The food was spectacular and the beach a slice of Heaven! At least how I picture Heaven.

Turns out Robert DeNiro owns part of this Paradise, and he has a home right inside the NOBU property, and he just happened to fly in yesterday to greet us! While we may have only seen the red roof of his house and a picture of his private plane from our shuttle driver, we did see the 2 helicopters, that flew into his property, as we were dining and promptly decided when we come back again, that is how we will arrive!

Footnote - Barbuda is home to a Frigate Bird Colony that my fellow resident and friend, Basia went to and took these pictures, while we dined. Barbuda is also known for its pink sand beach, which you can faintly see on this shoreline photo. The ferry ride back was severely rocking and rolling, people were getting sick to the left and right of us and running for the outside to vomit overboard. Thankfully, we were chill, loving life and holding onto our yummy lunches!

SHIP SHENANIGANS - CLUE PARTY

By Pat Patrick • September 16, 2026
It's never a dull Sea Day on the Odyssey! We have such creative residents, that are always coming up with new ideas to entertain ourselves and have a good time. This plot was the calculating of Eddie and Michelle - a Game of Clue! The rules were simple - find the party venue at 8:30 pm, come dressed as a character, weapon or room from the game and solve the mystery of who stole the Ship's bell.

TERRACOTTA ARMY - XI'AN, CHINA

By Pat Patrick • September 16, 2026
In March of 1974, some local farmers outside Xi'An, China are digging a well and accidentally hit one of the great archaeological sites in the World! They were paid one day's wages for the find, roughly 4 USD! The Terracotta Army was dubbed the 8th Wonder of the World by France's President in 1980 when he came to visit and wanted to meet the farmers, the oldest was then, 89 years old.

XI'AN, CHINA - WALLED CITY

By Pat Patrick • September 15, 2026
Xi'An, China has been on my must do list , for awhile. The story of the Terracotta Army has fascinated me, since I first heard it. What I didn't know too much about, was the actual City of Xi'An and the walled inner City that remains today. It was built from 1370 to 1378 during the Ming dynasty on top of the older Tang dynasty foundations. There are 9 miles of City walls, they are 39' high, 45' to 50' wide at the top and 55' to 60' at the base. There are four main gate towers and the only draw bridge restored is at the South Gate. There are 98 ramparts, watchtowers, battlements and a wide surrounding moat. It one of the oldest and best preserved fortifications in China .