Travel Tales Part III - Three Sevens Equal a Trinidadian Interlude
It is still November 16th and our Grenadian "rescue team" had gone so far as to canvas a number of exhausted and confused tourists, who just wanted to get to Grenada. Most of us looked like the proverbial "deer caught in the headlights" by now. The Grenadian gentlemen, enusred us that they would find us suitable accomodation, that we could afford. In short order, with the help of an airport representative and the Port-of-Spain telephone directory, they had narrowed downd the choices of digs, but it seemed very unlikely that LIAT would ever reimburse us if we opted not to stay at the Belair.
Several couples/families were quite distraught by now, as their luggage never made it from Barbados. I felt a bit smug by this stage, because I had been travelling only with carry-on bags, packed to the brim, mind you, and I was sitting on them! Some travellers opted to wait all night at the airport. Other passengers/families were Caribbean nationals and had family or friends in Port of Spain, so were making tracks to spend their time with them.
By now I had this notion that I had met Mr. "Denzel Brynner" som
ewhere before (OK, really, there is no resemblance to Denzel, but he is taller and darker than Yul, and for that matter, taller than most Grenadian men, at least those that I have seen!) He just looked so dang familiar, but perhaps in my hypoglycemic state I was blurring a bunch of movies into one big, messed-up scenario in my head? Perhaps "The King and I" meets "Deja Vu?" Well, in my confused state, I blurted that I thought he reminded me of someone I knew from St. Kitts - to which he replied that this seemed unlikely unless I was there in the early '90's, when he had actually lived there for a while. Turns out we know a lot of the same people. OK, he knows them better than I do, but still ... what are the odds? Only catch is that we were never actually on that island at the same time. OK, now we have left the movies and have definitely proceeded into the "Twilight Zone."
So once the Grenadian Good Samaritans were satisfied that everyone was sorted and calm, 7 of us (there is that number again) proceeded to our respective hotels. We all shared a taxi to St. Ann's. Never having been to Trinidad, all I have heard of St. Ann's is that it is notable for being the district where some prominent politicians have their homes and that there are some good restaurants around the area. And I was beyond hungry by now. I thought this might all work out after all - If St. Ann's is good enough for the prime minister, I figure it was good enough for me. So, the Brit with two other travellers went to the Hilton, and a Swiss-American couple and I went to the Normandie with "Denzel Brynner." What a great choice! The Hilton, from the outside looks like any American hotel, set amid a nice tropical garden, mind you. The Normandie, is an older boutique hotel -- not really trendy but very, very quaint, with a very Spanish/Moorish/Indo-Caribbean vibe, in the heart of this great part of the city! Wow! Reminded me of Rome, high on a hill, with some narrow cobbled side streets, lots of crazy traffic, big open spaces juxtaposed with all kinds of tropical greenery and a mish-mash of architecture. Fabulous!
At the hotel, "Denzel Brynner" suggests the four of us meet for dinner and he would take us to one of his favorite restaurants. So around 7:00pm (are ya keeping track of the digits? I didn't notice until I began writing this) we walked down through the streets of St. Ann's to an Indian restaurant, which was so authentic, that for a minute, I couldn't quite remember where I was. By the way, I was wearing a lovely black and white skirt which would have looked even more smashing if I was wearing those cute Italian cork and patent leather numbers on my feet instead of the black (at least they were leather) flip-flops. After all, Denzel Brynner has to be at least 6 feet tall or more, and here I stand at barely 5’2’’ in my bare, flip-flopped feet! From a distance, we could have passed for parent and child! But, I digress. The meal was fantastic. The conversation was better than that -- and I had to pinch myself to see if this was all real! A perfect ending to a harrowing day! At dinner, Mr. D.B. suggested that we all forgo the morning flight to Grenada the next day and take the 2:30pm flight instead. This way, we could take our time, see a bit of Port of Spain by day, have a decent breakfast, do a little shopping. The Swiss-Yankees and I were fearful that the flight might be full ... so, since we had "guaranteed seats" on the 7:20am flight we decided to leave it at that. Didn't want to risk a repeat of this day.
The Good Samaritan stayed behind and we caught the morning flight.The next morning, our pre-arranged taxi from the previous evening did not show up to take the three of us to the airport. No need to panic - the Brit who stayed at the Hilton had already made arrangements for another cab and came to pick us up! Then, when we got to Grenada, he drove us all to our respective hotels.
The two "Good Samaritans" provided an early introduction to what Grenadian hospitality is all about. And I feel so fortunate that they were there that day to assist so many stranded travellers. Things could have been so much worse. So, I guess my ticket angel in St. Kitts was right, LIAT flight #777 was indeed my lucky number!Naturally, on my arrival in Grenada, Saturday morning, it was raining. By the time I reached my hotel, we are talking torrential rain ... for hours ... rain ... thunder ... winds ... more rain ... all day. I thought hurricane season was over! Denzel didn't mention that it was raining for the past 2 days in Grenada and that the forecast called for at least 2 more days like this. If he had, I would have taken his advice and stayed in Trinidada at least until the afternoon flight!
So, I spent most of my long-awaited first day in Grenada, sleeping in my room instead of snoozing on the beach, while I recalled that it had been a picture perfect day in Trinidad. Thankfully, by Sunday morning it was bright and sunny and we never saw rain again until the morning that I was leaving Grenada. I did see "Denzel Brynner" again a few days later and he indicated that the 2:30pm flight from POS to GND, in fact, left on time and landed early that Saturday. And the two travellers that went to the Hilton with our British Grenadian were also on that flight with him. AND there were seats to spare!
Moral of the story: when a handsome, intelligent, gentleman-stranger suggests to a gal that she should chill-out and take a later flight - the gal should listen to him! After all, the ticket angel had already made sure that I had drawn "three sevens" even before I left St. Kitts!
Several couples/families were quite distraught by now, as their luggage never made it from Barbados. I felt a bit smug by this stage, because I had been travelling only with carry-on bags, packed to the brim, mind you, and I was sitting on them! Some travellers opted to wait all night at the airport. Other passengers/families were Caribbean nationals and had family or friends in Port of Spain, so were making tracks to spend their time with them.
By now I had this notion that I had met Mr. "Denzel Brynner" som
ewhere before (OK, really, there is no resemblance to Denzel, but he is taller and darker than Yul, and for that matter, taller than most Grenadian men, at least those that I have seen!) He just looked so dang familiar, but perhaps in my hypoglycemic state I was blurring a bunch of movies into one big, messed-up scenario in my head? Perhaps "The King and I" meets "Deja Vu?" Well, in my confused state, I blurted that I thought he reminded me of someone I knew from St. Kitts - to which he replied that this seemed unlikely unless I was there in the early '90's, when he had actually lived there for a while. Turns out we know a lot of the same people. OK, he knows them better than I do, but still ... what are the odds? Only catch is that we were never actually on that island at the same time. OK, now we have left the movies and have definitely proceeded into the "Twilight Zone."So once the Grenadian Good Samaritans were satisfied that everyone was sorted and calm, 7 of us (there is that number again) proceeded to our respective hotels. We all shared a taxi to St. Ann's. Never having been to Trinidad, all I have heard of St. Ann's is that it is notable for being the district where some prominent politicians have their homes and that there are some good restaurants around the area. And I was beyond hungry by now. I thought this might all work out after all - If St. Ann's is good enough for the prime minister, I figure it was good enough for me. So, the Brit with two other travellers went to the Hilton, and a Swiss-American couple and I went to the Normandie with "Denzel Brynner." What a great choice! The Hilton, from the outside looks like any American hotel, set amid a nice tropical garden, mind you. The Normandie, is an older boutique hotel -- not really trendy but very, very quaint, with a very Spanish/Moorish/Indo-Caribbean vibe, in the heart of this great part of the city! Wow! Reminded me of Rome, high on a hill, with some narrow cobbled side streets, lots of crazy traffic, big open spaces juxtaposed with all kinds of tropical greenery and a mish-mash of architecture. Fabulous!
At the hotel, "Denzel Brynner" suggests the four of us meet for dinner and he would take us to one of his favorite restaurants. So around 7:00pm (are ya keeping track of the digits? I didn't notice until I began writing this) we walked down through the streets of St. Ann's to an Indian restaurant, which was so authentic, that for a minute, I couldn't quite remember where I was. By the way, I was wearing a lovely black and white skirt which would have looked even more smashing if I was wearing those cute Italian cork and patent leather numbers on my feet instead of the black (at least they were leather) flip-flops. After all, Denzel Brynner has to be at least 6 feet tall or more, and here I stand at barely 5’2’’ in my bare, flip-flopped feet! From a distance, we could have passed for parent and child! But, I digress. The meal was fantastic. The conversation was better than that -- and I had to pinch myself to see if this was all real! A perfect ending to a harrowing day! At dinner, Mr. D.B. suggested that we all forgo the morning flight to Grenada the next day and take the 2:30pm flight instead. This way, we could take our time, see a bit of Port of Spain by day, have a decent breakfast, do a little shopping. The Swiss-Yankees and I were fearful that the flight might be full ... so, since we had "guaranteed seats" on the 7:20am flight we decided to leave it at that. Didn't want to risk a repeat of this day.
The Good Samaritan stayed behind and we caught the morning flight.The next morning, our pre-arranged taxi from the previous evening did not show up to take the three of us to the airport. No need to panic - the Brit who stayed at the Hilton had already made arrangements for another cab and came to pick us up! Then, when we got to Grenada, he drove us all to our respective hotels.
The two "Good Samaritans" provided an early introduction to what Grenadian hospitality is all about. And I feel so fortunate that they were there that day to assist so many stranded travellers. Things could have been so much worse. So, I guess my ticket angel in St. Kitts was right, LIAT flight #777 was indeed my lucky number!Naturally, on my arrival in Grenada, Saturday morning, it was raining. By the time I reached my hotel, we are talking torrential rain ... for hours ... rain ... thunder ... winds ... more rain ... all day. I thought hurricane season was over! Denzel didn't mention that it was raining for the past 2 days in Grenada and that the forecast called for at least 2 more days like this. If he had, I would have taken his advice and stayed in Trinidada at least until the afternoon flight!
So, I spent most of my long-awaited first day in Grenada, sleeping in my room instead of snoozing on the beach, while I recalled that it had been a picture perfect day in Trinidad. Thankfully, by Sunday morning it was bright and sunny and we never saw rain again until the morning that I was leaving Grenada. I did see "Denzel Brynner" again a few days later and he indicated that the 2:30pm flight from POS to GND, in fact, left on time and landed early that Saturday. And the two travellers that went to the Hilton with our British Grenadian were also on that flight with him. AND there were seats to spare!
Moral of the story: when a handsome, intelligent, gentleman-stranger suggests to a gal that she should chill-out and take a later flight - the gal should listen to him! After all, the ticket angel had already made sure that I had drawn "three sevens" even before I left St. Kitts!
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