Of all the places we visited on this Cruise, Aruba was probably the biggest disappointment. I don't know if I just woke in a poor mood, the pushiness of other passengers was getting to me, or if I'd just built the idea of ARUBA up so much in my head that it just couldn't measure up.
But, we went on an excursion, people pushed and stepped over and on others, until we were all finally loaded on busses going where we were going....
This is in front of the first stop we paid to see. The Natrual Bridge that has fallen in and is no longer a
Natural Bridge.
Then the small Natrual Bridge that is just forming not far away.
The water was blue and green and very deep there on the North side of the island. For most of the time spent by the water it was very scenic and of course, the oceans are always beautiful.
And this place next to the natural bridge .... boy..... I needed to use the restroom. There is a 50 cent charge to use the restroom. I asked for change to use the restroom. I was told that I had to buy something to get change. Keith bought a Snickers to get change. Asked for coin change and was told no. Thankfully, the customer in front of us was paying with change. Keith got 4 quarters from her and I went to the restroom. Question: How do you pay to go to the bathroom if no one will give you change to pay to go to the bathroom? It is a quandry and did nothing to enhance my day.
So, off my grumpy self went to see the granite boulders. They are an oddity as I didn't hear any reason for the boulder 'farm' to be there.... and there were a lot of them, and they were huge!
It was just these huge granite boulders sitting in the middle of nowhere.
The most interesting part of the day was the 'living fence' that many, many of the homes had. They not only keep the livestock and (jokingly) wives in, they keep the predators out.
Then our tour took us to an empty (except of course the store part) aloe vera factory where they had some really, really expensive (4 oz sunscreen w/ aloe for $18) aloe vera products.
and
our last stop - they were going to drop us at the beach
But it I just wasn't intersted.
So the driver took all but about 10 back to the shopping district just a block from the ship - and dropped us off. My day did not get any better there either....
We went into Tanzanite International to look at a small pair of stud earrings for Tetee - that is her birthstone. So I waited as Keith wandered outside. A saleslady finally came to me and while I was trying to tell her what I wanted - she walked off. Just walked away .... So Keith came in and she waited on him - and when I started trying to explain, again, she walked away .... again.... and after all that to remember - Tanzanite is not from Aruba - it is from Tanzania - and only 1 mountain in Tanzania at that!
I didn't need earrings that bad - so we went on back to the ship and dropped our bags and went to the Horizon Court Buffet, where the service is great and NO ONE walks off when you are talking to them.
This was our last stop and a rather crappy way to end our cruise.
I literally feel ripped off by this particular tour.
But
The Cowboy/Saints game did a great job of cheering me up!
It was a great game and I rooted for the Saints
They got wooped - but they played really hard.
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