St. Lucia

When you hear “mountain biking in the rainforest for four hours,” what do you think of? Do you imagine yourself riding in a van for almost two hours roundtrip while your tour guides say absolutely nothing? Do you visualize yourself riding a rusty bike up steep pavement and down a road covered in large rocks and gravel for 45 minutes through a partially developed portion of the rainforest before realizing that you’ve ended up right back where you started riding, only to abandon your bike and hike ten minutes to go swimming under a waterfall? And, when you hear “swimming under a waterfall,” do you visualize yourself standing in knee-deep water (at its deepest) under what could either be a waterfall or a person who has a hard time preventing his/her spittle from hitting you in the face? If so, then I have just the tour for you. The highlight of today’s tour was stopping briefly at a beautiful overlook showing me where I should have spent my time today. Sigh.




I am tiring of cruise ship food, by the way. They really try. They really do. But I just want to cook for myself now, and not pour a ton of oil, butter, or cream into every dish. I also want a burrito from Chipotle. Mmm, Chipotle.

After a lackluster lunch on the ship, I headed out to Castries, the capital of St. Lucia and the city to which our ship is currently attached. Amongst all the cookie cutter items in the local craft market, I found and bought a carving of a mother and child that I think will look pretty sweet in my future office. It’s not that big, but it’s unique, and very culturally sensitive. DePaul, I’m doing you proud.

My last stop before returning to the ship to eat the world’s worst avocado and tomato quesadilla (free room service is pretty sweet, yet sad when you realize that the only two items that are decent are the fruit and cheese plates), I used my Lonely Planet guidebook to help me find the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It was unlike any other church I’d been in, both in terms of it’s ceiling and brightly painted walls. It seemed…truly Caribbean. I wish I could remember the fancy terms I learned in AP Art History back in high school to discuss it further, but sadly, I cannot. Suffice it to say that it was a magnificent structure, at least on the inside; from the outside it looked as though the building would topple from a weak sneeze. It also held a unique spirit that I haven’t felt previously.

Food of the Day: Coconut plucked from the tree, smashed against a rock, and served fresh.