personal-blog

My Heart Told Me I Had To Return

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:33:44 +0100

After Staying in England for only 4 weeks my heart told me I had to return to, what I now classed as my home, Barbados. So for the next 3 years I spent most of my time in Barbados, coming back to the UK for only a month at a time.

Long Beach Hotel welcomed me with open arms, guests and staff treated me like family, especially the "Terrible Threesome" (I know you know who you are) but for those that don't the threesome are Teresa, Connie and Pat, all USA ex-pats. These 3 ladies conceived and organised one of the craziest nights ever held at the Long Beach Hotel - 50s night. Bajans will know that Long Beach Hotel was a small family run hotel with only 24 rooms, so on normal days there would be a handful of guests and some local people all hanging around the pool, bar and restaurant but on the 50s night there were hundreds and hundreds of people dancing, drinking and partying. What a night that was, I still have the video recorded by Connie's husband Ron, sadly no longer with us, except in our hearts and memories.

During the 3 years I was in Barbados my sister, who had also lost her heart to the island, get married there. Again Long Beach Hotel pulled out all the stops and made her day a very special one. Years later after her divorce she emigrated from England to live in Barbados, where she still lives with her daughter, her husband and 2 lovely grandchildren.

Since those early years I have visited the island on many occasions and still class it as my home. Every time I leave the island I leave my heart there, ready for me to pick it up again once I land.

If you have never visited Barbados I would recommend trying it, you will either love it or hate it, I am sure it will steal your heart.

Return or No Return

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 15:38:18 +0100

Those people who know me know the answer I posed at the end of my last blog, those that dont, I can tell you the answer was YES.

After returning back to England I left home at 7 am on Monday morning to go to work, which was a 99 miles drive there and 99 miles back. For that week and the next, driving all those miles, all I could think was "why oh why" am I doing all of this when I had the opportunity to go and live in a Tropical Island. So I made a decision which was going to change my life for ever, I called Randy and asked him if it was ok for me to come over for a 6 months stay.

Eight weeks after returning home I was now walking down the steps of an aeroplane and walking across the tarmac at Barbados airport. Outside was Randy to meet me, we jumped in his car and as we were driving I realised I didnt know where I was staying but Randy assured me all that was taken care of. We arrived at a house in Brittons Cross Roads and an elderly lady (aunt Joyce) was standing at her gate waiting for me. That first evening was spent with aunt Joyce, getting to know each other, as we were going to be living together for 6 months it was important she was able to trust and like me. Randy had already agreed monetary terms with Aunt Joyce, $50 bds a month (approximaitely £15), this was for room, food and she also did my laundry (by hand). This lady was a wonderful woman and I cant thank her enough for looking after me for all those months.

As Randy was the "in house" taxi driver for Long Beach he would pick me up each morning and take me over to the hotel. I'm sure you may wonder why I wanted to go to the same hotel day in day out, well at first it was a place I felt comfortable.

Moving from England to Barbados was a major cultural shock for me and living there was totally different from that of a vacation. Randy realised this and always made sure he was able to protect me. As I have said he would pick me up each morning, drop me at the hotel, then pick me up in the evening no matter what time i was ready. All I needed to do was page him and enter a certain code, so he knew it was me, and wait for him to arrive.

In Barbados time means nothing, so if you are told a time this doesnt mean things will happen at that time. An example of this was most mornings sat waiting at Aunt Joyce's for Randy to turn up, usually an hour later than arranged. After a few weeks of this, one morning I decided to spend longer in bed as I knew Randy wouldn't be there on time. Suddenly aunt Joyce knocked on my door explaining that Randy was in his car outside waiting, yes you have guessed the only morning I wasnt ready on time he was there at the specified time. I had the quickest shower ever, then running down the path half dressed. What was even more amazing was that aunt Joyce lived on a one way street, it was rush hour, and a line of cars were behind Randy all the drivers sat patiently waiting for me to get ready. That would not happen in England, the noise of the horns would be deafening but here in Barbados all was quiet.

After a few weeks of my daily visits to Long Beach, all the staff knew me by name and I was treated as part of "the family" to such an extent I was invited to the staff christmas party. That night I stood in amazement at all the staff dancing, in a way I had never seen in England, but I was apprehensive to join in having never danced like that in my life, so decided then and there to learn how it was done. The next day I was sat at the bar watching the barman dance to the music on the radio and asked him to teach me. He gave me a quick lesson then invited me out to Harbour Lights, to put into practice what he had just taught me. From that moment it was all downhill for me as I had found the "nightlife" so much so I was going out every night to different bars and clubs. Of course Randy was always there to pick me up at whatever time I was ready to go home, in fact I remeber one night he picked me up outside Harbour Lights at 2am but I didnt get home till 7am. Where had I been for 5 hours, I'm sorry but even to this day I dont know, I slept in the car while Randy did whatever he needed to do.

After a few months of Randy driving me here, there and everywhere I told him to stop wrapping me in cotton wool and let me explore for myself. Over the 6 months I did visit other hotels and beaches but always ended up back at Long Beach and on one occasion I was sat at the bar and the restaurant manager (who I will call T) asked if I had ever worked behind a bar. Having watched the barmen for months I told her I could help out if she was really desparate and from that moment I ended up with a number of shifts every week. So my sitting on a beach or by a pool vacation turned into a "working" one but was well worth all the effort.

It may seem as if I was living the good life on an idyllic island with no cares or worries but there were times when things didnt go as I would of wished. I had been confronted by a local guy who told me that as I walked along the road from the hotel late at night he could come along and kill me, my answer to him was that he could only kill me once but I would die in the knowledge that Randy would make sure he died a thousand times. I was also banned from Long Beach Hotel twice, usually because the owners believed I was involved with drugs in some way, which was totally untrue but for those 6 months I had the best time in my life, meeting and making friends with locals and visitors, most who are still friends 20 years on.

So that was my 6 month adventure over now back to "sunny" England, or was it?.........to be continued.......

One Year On

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:50:08 +0100

One Year on

After, eventually, a wonderful time last year in Barbados, its my vacation time again. So really there was no other place I wanted to go except back to Barbados.

Strangely though, my sister and her family asked me what date I was going on vacation. I told her the date and suprisingly their dates were the same, so they asked if they could join me. Rather than a “package deal” we decided to book flights and accommodation seperately. I had to go back to the same hotel as last year, so my sister booked it in her name.

We arrived in Barbados, jumped into a taxi and within minutes were at Long Beach Hotel. While booking in, I ask the receptionist if the “in house taxi” driver was around. He was out but would come to the room so we could book the island tour I had raved about last year. About an hour or so later we heard a knock on the hotel door, my sister answered it, it was Randy. He asked my sister how he could help, then when he saw me he shouted out my name asking how I was and who these people were? You may not think anything about this but as he is my best friend and has been for nearly 20 years, I can tell you he never remembers names though is very good at faces.

For the next two weeks we all had a fabulous time and got to know Randy very well, he even invited us to his mothers for a meal. On that holiday we did a lot of touring in our hire car but always made sure we got back to the hotel for the early evening happy hour. One occasion on our way back from a day in the country we drove through Oistins, we saw a sign for “Grannies”. As we drove past the gap we looked and saw a large single story building, all lit up, it looked a nice place to eat. We decided that tomorrow we would go there for dinner, as one of the barmen at the hotel had told us it was a good place to go for “local food”. The next day we were talking to some American guests at the hotel, they asked where we were going to eat that night. We told them all about Grannies, saying it looked a nice restaurant and invited them to join us, unfortunately, well for us fortunately, they had booked another restaurant. Anyone who either lives in Barbados or has visited and been to Grannies will understand why it was fortunate, for those who have never been, Grannies is a small takeaway restaurant. That night we drove down the road heading for Grannies, as we got closer we noticed that the building which was, all lit up last night, was in darkness. It's closed was the cry from everyone in the car, so we turned around and as we turned one of us noticed a group of local people queuing at a shop with a sign above saying “Grannies”. We did stop and buy some food, then sat in the car and ate it. The food was very tasty and at least half the price of a “normal” restaurant, we laughed all the way back to the hotel, glad that the American couple had declined our offer to join us.

Randy also got us into a few situations I didnt expect, once as we were taking him home he asked to stop at a bar in Bay Street. As the car stopped, he jumped out and ran into a building, shouting as he ran, to follow him. We walked up the stairs and were greeted by, the only way I can explain is a “big mamma” (no disrespect to the lady) but boy she was big. The room was very dark except for light on the other side of the room at the bar. As we walked over to the bar all I could hear was “hey look white men” Randy had disappeared so we headed for the bar, as we were leaning on the bar, I felt a hand on my behind. I turned to my brother-in-law, looked at him and asked if that was him, he was going to ask the same question. It turned out it was a young "lady", so we decided to lean on the bar with our backs to it and wait for her to return for another feel. Appartently Randy had taken us to a bar frequented by “ladies of the night”, some of you may say “so what” but as this was my first and last time in a place like that, it was not a place I was used to. After that evening I dont think Randy could do anything else, over the years, that could shock me.

So this second visit was coming to an end, a wonderful time had by all. On the penultimate day Randy came over to me and asked why didnt I stay for longer, my explanation was very simple, it was a wonderful idea and I would love to do it but I had a job, car and other commitments back in England.

Will I go for a longer period in Barbados or stay in England....... to be continued......

Long Beach Hotel

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:41:25 +0100

First Visit

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:08:21 +0100

This is my personal view of Barbados, you may not agree with this view but hopefully you will enjoy it.

I have been visiting Barbados for nearly 20 years, sometimes staying for long periods. My first vist was a late package holiday, you know the ones, where your told the destination but not the hotel/apartment. I have to admit it was fairly inexpensive but to be honest once I arrived I felt as if "I was robbed". The accommodation on first sight was not the best I had stayed at on other vacations, I thought give yourself a good night sleep and am sure all will be well in the morning.

Little did I know that things would get worse, even before getting to bed, as I turned down the sheets I was greeted by a cockroach (luckily it was dead). Imagine what was running through my head as I tried sleeping.

Morning arrived, lets get out of this place and go to the beach, oops seems I forgot to pack my hiking boots. Nobody happened to mention its a good 20 minutes walk from my apartment to the beach, is this a "tropical Caribbean island" well not one I had imagined.

I'm sure your wondering after this first experience, why did he go back for more, year after year, well because my experience was going to be turned totally on its head......

I knew I needed to change accommodation but as this was my first time on the island, I didn't know many hotels to exchange to, but luckily I remembered a friend telling my of their experience a year earlier.

I contacted the hotel, (here is some other information for you all landline calls to other land lines are free), now thats a bargain. Anyway back to my experience, I contacted the hotel hoping against hope that they had vacancies. They did, hooray, so that afternoon I ordered a taxi and drove from the West Coast all the way over to the South East coast. It was approximaitely 5.30pm and getting dark. Oh yes more information, it gets dark early all year round in the caribbean, so it was getting dark as I arrived. The taxi dropped me off at this small hotel, which looked a little run down but in better condition than the apartments I had just left. I checked in and was taken to my room by the manager. As I entered the room, the curtains were closed, the maid was just opening them. Well as the curtains opened I realised that now I was in "paradise", the sky was a reddish colour but still lit up the beach below my window. I stood at the window for what seemed like hours taking in the view, palm trees, sea, sand and the noice of the waves lapping the shore.

After my experience at the first apartment, I checked the beds, the crockery and fridge. All seemed good, everywhere was nice and clean, I unpacked then headed straight for the bar. The barman was very friendly, in fact so friendly i stayed from around 6pm till over 11pm and i'm sure he bought most of the drinks after hearing about my time on the west coast. Oh its time for the bar to close, in fact it should of closed over and hour ago, so I need to stumble all the way to my room (wow must be at least 50 strides) and to bed.

I awoke, the sun shining through the window. After breakfast, its baggies (shorts) on and down to the beach. Although the sea was a little rough it was wonderful diving through the waves, then a group of local boys arrived. They were soon in the sea and chatting to me, asking lots of questions about where I come from etc. For the rest of my vacation most of them became friends and are still friends to this day.

It was noon as i climbed my way up the steps to the hotel. Hmmm I hear a bell, I wonder what thats for? I head to the bar and the same barman is on duty. As I reach the bar there is a Rum & Coke sat on the bar, I ask the barman for a drink and he points at the rum & coke and says "I guess you haven't changed your drink since last night have you?" From that moment I never needed to order a drink from him or any of the other barmen, I guess he had told them what I drink and everytime I arrived at the bar a drink would appear. Oh by the way I did buy them, they weren't free!!

On that lunchtime, I was sitting at the bar, a local man came and sat next to me. He introduced himself as the "in house" taxi driver and if I needed a taxi to contact him. I did use he a few times on the holiday, dinner trips etc, he also signed me up for an island tour. That tour was one of the best I had ever had.

We left the hotel at around 9am, picked up another couple at another hotel, then toured the whole of the island. Randy (taxi driver) gave the best running commentary and information, stopped at a number of rum shops (well its thirsty work sitting listening and looking at the views) for a "soda". At the end of the day he dropped the couple at their hotel and asked if I was hungry, yes I was, he announced he was taking me to "the whole in the wall" for chicken. We arrived at some back street in Bridgetown. I looked around for a restaurant, Randy got out of the car and i followed him to a whole in the wall, full of locals eating plates of chicken. The crowd opened, and I was ushered to one of two tables, as I sat down a plate, knife and fork appeared. The ckicken arrived and was one of the best cooked chicken I have ever tasted. Randy then decided we needed a swim, so we drove to Brighton Beach on Spring Garden Highway. After a swim we arrived back at the hotel just after 9pm, the most wonderful experience of the island of Barbados in 12 hours.

From that time Barbados had got her "hooks" in me and I would never vacation anywhere else in the world. As I board the aeroplane "I leave my heart on the steps" only to pick it up again when I return.