ABCDE Travel sunday, october 24, 2010
SAMPLEIT Pocketbook
issues At this Puerto Rican boutique, it’s all in the bag. F3
Navigator Don’t scratch that rental car—or else. F2 Bed Check A B&B suite that’s not quite honeymoon sweet. F2
Coming and Going The autumn of French discontent. F3 CHAT Monday at NOON at
washingtonpost.com/travel
IMPULSIVE TRAVELER
Deep in the
heart of Texas A prairie resort minus the scratchy cactus and the armadilloes. F6
THECARIBBEAN F EZ
Just 90 miles offshore, the embargoed yet inviting isle calls out to a sailing family. But there are provisions to consider.
BY MEGAN ROSENFELD I Special to The Washington Post
t was probably my stepdaughter, Doony, who had the idea, but the proposition was greeted so enthusiastically by other members of the family that it would be hard for her to claim exclusive ownership at this point. ¶ “Why don’t we sail to Cuba?” she said. And we answered, “Why not?” ¶ True, Washington and Havana are officially on the outs, but the journey seemed so inviting. We are, after all, practically
neighbors: Cuba is only 90 miles from Key West, Fla., and our boat was only two days’ sail from there, in West Palm Beach.We just ignored the blog that said: “You’ll be bucking both the current and the prevailing winds. It makes for a very tough passage.” ¶ It should be noted that of our crew of six — five adults between 22 and 69 and one 31/2
-year-old—all except for
meare hardy sailors with saltwater coursing through their veins, and stomachs of steel. My husband, a.k.a. the Captain, has done five transatlantics, including one last year with our daughter, Marina. Doony and her husband, Jamie, have both been sailing since they were tots. Although I knew I would be out of my element (some would say out of my mind), I wanted to join the crew anyway, to share an adventure with family and to see Cuba.
cuba continued on F5
Untracked Barbados Island life and beauty along a railway-turned-trail
BY NANCY TREJOS From the top of a hill in Barba-
dos, I could see the Caribbean waves breaking over the rocks and the reefs. The water was so tur- quoise, the sand so white. I could have stood there for hours, staring out to sea. Butthatwouldhavebeenavoid-
ing the problem staring me in the face. Ihadtoget off that hill. Ithadn’t
beenaneasyclimbup,andtheway down looked even more daunting. I turned to my companion, Bruce Rudder, a 59-year-old Bajan (or Barbadian) farmer. He pointed to a narrow path of white clay, stud- ded with roots and branches, that led to the beach below. A very long, very steep path. My heart lurched, and I gave
him a panicked look. But Bruce had spent his entire
life hiking this terrain. “There’s no other way,” he assured me. “Trust me. I will get you down.” Weweresix hours into the Colin
Hudson Great Train Hike, the highlight of the local hiking calen- dar. Bajans are passionate about hiking, thanks to the lateHudson, an environmentalist who in 1983 beganleadingmorning, afternoon and evening hikes on the island every Sunday. Hudson died in 2004, but the weekly hikes remain popular with locals and tourists alike. “He was a great innovator and a
TOP: FAMILY PHOTO; ABOVE: IAN DAGNALL/ALAMY
The cafes in the plaza ofHavana’s 18th-century cathedral embody the faded beauty Americans imagine when they think of Cuba.
great environmentalist,” said Wil- liam Gollop, head of the Barbados National Trust, which now runs the hikes. “This is a great memori-
barbados continued on F4 CHRIS ALLEYNE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
With views such as this one, it’s no wonder that Bajans are passionate about hiking. Consett Bay in St. John parish is one of the spectacular vistas on the ColinHudson Great TrainHike.
Cuba AHOY
!
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164