Background from Lectures
- Get rum punch don’t miss it (unfortunately, we did this pass through)
- capital is Port of Spain, where we will dock.
- Originally a Spanish contact: Columbus arrives in 1498. Named after Holy Trinity
- It had a wide open port; Spanish governor lived of bribes
- 1797 and Sir Ralph Abercromby, with fleet of 18 ships, takes Trinidad
- Be sure you know what dollar they are talking about- $TT 1 is $US.15.
- Taxi is $10. Walk to town.. right to hyatt, then right to downtown. You will go to Independence Sq
- Chinese, Portuguese, and India(ns) were brought in as indentured workers.
- More than 147K Indians brought to Trinidad
- 40% are descendants of Indians
- 38% are african
- The Red House is the Parliament.
- Queens Park Savannah… take cab to get there Was an old sugar plantation. North is Royal Botanic Gardens
- Magnificent 7 are mansions across from the savannah
- Best tour is Trinidad Highlights and Scenic Drive.Winding drive.
- Stop and get sweets: Chip Chip.. Coconut and mixed with fresh sugar
- If you like hot and spicy, try Tamarind Balls… lots of red pepper.
- Maracas Beach. gorgeous beach. You should have a “bake and shark” Get it at Richard’s.
- Carnival Feb 15-16.
- Steel pans, calypso, soca, and limbo all started in Trinidad
Our Experience
Our tour was mid-day. I had an hour so I walked into town early in the morning. What a change since I was here last, some 15 years ago! Then it was a a few several story buildings but mostly a ramshackle downtown. Now, thanks in part to government spending for a series of hemispheric and world-wide meetings, and thanks in part to rising gas and oil revenues, there were many new high rise buildings. The most conspicuous was a new hotel and convention complex, built for the dignitaries, and the twin towers of a government complex. (In fact, I think it is a key observation that the biggest buildings in any of the towns we visited were government buildings.)
Here’s another picture from the road leading over the mountains. The Royal Princess can be seen just to the right of the larger buildings. Well maybe you can see it.
I really enjoyed that walk. I went down the main boulevard of town, which was nice, and then went to the left toward the parks. I visited a park, saw a church and the Red House (The Parliament) and visited the national library. This is the Red House, which is under renovation.
Our tour was a bus tour that drove past the city’s highlights and then went to the House of Angostura distillery, which makes a variety of famous Trinidadian spirits, including the famous “Bitters.”
The tour part went to some of the places I had walked to and it went to the new performing arts center. I don’t think I got a good shot of that, but it is brand new, made of stainless steel, and looks like the Sydney Opera House.
We went past the Magnificent 7, but they are mainly tourist hype.
Then we drove into the mountains to the distillery, The House of Angostura. We toured the room where the Bitters is made. The Bitters is made of a number of spices and plant derivatives. It’s ingredients are a trade secret. However, the order was of cloves and/or nutmeg (probably the latter, since I think cloves is from the far east, not indigenous to Venezuela). It also had a citrus element and something very close to vanilla. It probably also contains ginger. When they have ground all the ingredients together, water and alcohol (44.7%) to make the final product, which is then aged for a few months. The result is delicious and is supposed to cure all kinds of stomach ailments.
It is used as a flavoring in other drinks and in cooking. It is not meant to be drunk straight.
Angostura makes many other spirits. A picture of their product line:
When we got back to the ship we didn’t have time to go out again. Too bad. Well, we’ll catch other sights when we return.
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