It's 2011. Many new adventures, challenges and successes await and I am excited for all of them. Here I sit in the studio - smack dab in the middle of Canadian winter - and all I can think about is the beautiful beach of Barbados. You see, my family and I went on a ten day southern Caribbean cruise over Christmas and New Years, and the intoxicating beauty of the islands and friendliness of the locals has completely taken me over. Returning to a big city covered in blankets of snow is a shock to say the least. It's time to reflect and share the most inspiring moments of the trip.
On December 24 we flew from Toronto to San Juan Puerto Rico and despite some very close calls with the airline we managed to JUST make it to the ship. At 8:30 pm we were on the balcony of our stateroom as the Celebrity Millenium set sail for Christmas Day at Sea. Our first stop was St. Maarten where we went on a jet ski tour around the island. Very adventurous and fun!
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| Setting sail on the Celebrity Millennium |
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| Main lobby of the Celebrity Millennium |
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| Bazant family in Phillipsburg St. Maarten after riding the Rhino Jet Skis |
The next port was St. Lucia where we enjoyed at relaxing day at the beach and I went for an exploratory walk around the sleepy little town. I don't gamble much, but that night I won $80 on the slots at the ship casino!
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| St. Lucia |
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| Lara Bazant and husband Chris Hatzopoulos on the beach at St. Lucia |
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| St. Lucia beach house |
Barbados was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. My husband Chris and I decided to skip the regular beach day and go on a snorkeling and swim with sea turtles expedition instead. What an amazing experience! We boarded a catamaran run by the friendliest dudes you will ever meet. The sounds of Bob Marley bounced over the speakers as we sailed our way through turquoise blue waters to an old shipwreck covered in coral and sea life. After snorkeling we made our way over to another gorgeous beach where we swam with huge non-captive sea turtles. Our guide threw fish for the turtles to eat and they swam right up to us! So peaceful - the way they wave their appendages and bob their heads! After that it was a party on board the catamaran as we anchored near shore and drank free flowing rum punch out on the deck. I will never forget how blue the water was that day. Breathtaking.
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| Barbados Port Authority |
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| Barbados Catamaran |
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| The beach at Bridgetown Barbados |
Next stop: Grenada. First the whole family took a walk around the local spice market. This is where I found a man carving tiki shaped pendants. I bought five - I couldn't resist! It was the first authentic artisan I found on the trip and I was so happy to support the local economy because the locals in Grenada are not so well off. Why is it in the poorest of places I always find the most genuine people? I loved the people of Grenada - kind, gentle, compassionate and friendly, with a good sense of humor to boot! We enjoyed the beach in Grenada so much that the whole family got sunburned. An abundance of aloe was applied that evening.
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| Lara Bazant sources local artisan beads in St. George's, Grenada |
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| Spice market in St. George's, Grenada |
Scarborough, Tobago came next and we followed the same pattern as Grenada - visiting the town then the beach. The town had some great photo opportunities.
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| House: St. George's, Grenada |
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| Street vendor: St. George's, Grenada |
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| Vegetable market: St. George's, Grenada |
Shortly after we arrived at the beach in Tobago it started raining. Luckily we snagged a table at a local beach restaurant just before it started to pour. This particular establishment happened to be hosting what looked like a caribbean senior citizens luncheon and it was so fun to watch them dance to the bassy music and enjoy their fried shrimp! On the way back to the ship I discovered another local artisan who carved earrings out of bark and turtle shell. Just as we were about to get back on board I spotted a dolphin! I've never seen a dolphin out of captivity before and it simply blew me away. First I saw the fin, then as I kept my eyes on it, the body emerged, and then the face. It only lasted a few seconds, but I will never forget it. It was some kind of lucky omen. No one else caught it but me.
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| Senoir Citizens luncheon at Pigeon Point Beach in Tobago |
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| Lara Bazant sources beads from local artisan in Scarborough, Tobago |
Spending December 31st on the island of Dominica ended the year on a perfect note. I had been told that Dominica has a fascinating rainforest, so I joined an excursion that went deep into the lush green hills to practice yoga. A little van carried a few of us up up through the tiny dirt roads into a remote hut in the middle of the rainforest. We were amongst active volcanoes and bubbling hot springs. Our yoga instructor was a native of Dominica who had recently returned after living many years in London, England and training in India. The practice that morning involved opening our awareness to our connection with nature. We worked in pairs and alone through gentle poses with the pitter patter of rain in the background.
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| Rooftops of Roseau, Dominica |
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| Rain forest waterfall and hot springs in Dominica |
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| Yoga hut at the Shangrila in Roseau, Dominica |
Yoga was finished by 11:00 am so there was plenty of time to explore the island. First my mother and I bought creole spice and drinking chocolate from local vendors. We found an artisan who carved wood pendants and I spoke to him for awhile about his craft and how business has been lately. He felt inspired from the designs on my shirt and started carving shapes similar to them right away. Afterward I met up with Chris who had been walking around the port town (Rousseau) and encouraged me to go back with him and take photos. Boy, was I glad I did. The town is filled with history and culture - and it shows in the brightly painted colors of the rooftops and doorways.
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| Lara Bazant and local artisan in Roseau, Dominica |
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| Roseau, Dominica |
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| Roseau, Dominica |
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| Roseau, Dominica |
New Year's eve on the boat was a spectacular event which made me feel like a movie star! After another flawless formal dinner we danced the night away to a kick-ass live band and rang in 2011 in style with 2000 people from all over the world out on the multi level pool deck.
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| Lara Bazant - New Year's Eve in Celebrity Millennium formal dining room |
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| New Year's Eve on Celebrity Millennium pool deck |
January 1st was a day at sea and I finally took a well-deserved rest.
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| New Year's Day in Celebrity Millennium stateroom |
That night the dining staff performed a magnificent procession on spiral stairwell with baked alaska, and the talented Celebrity Cruise singer/dancers performed a broadway review in the theater. I was particularly impressed with an excerpt they did from Phantom of the Opera in which two couples sang simultaneous duets of "Music of the Night" and "All I ask of You". Having studied musical theater I am quite familiar with the Weber canon and I have never seen that rendition before. It was flawless and beautiful.
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| New Year's Day in Celebrity Millennium theater |
January 2 was our last port - St. Thomas. After realizing that "downtown" consisted almost purely of tourist trap diamond shops, we took a local taxi driver up on his offer to give us a tour of the island. Luckily I was able to find a vendor from which I was able to purchase authentic caribbean larimar.
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| Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas |
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| Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas |
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| Lara Bazant sources authentic Caribbean Larimar from local vendor in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas |
After viewing the vistas of St. Thomas we stopped at a beach where we met some very tame ducks and marveled at the color of the water. It was a color we knew we wouldn't be seeing again for quite some time.
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| Sapphire beach, St. Thomas |
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| Sapphire beach, St. Thomas |
That night we sat on the deck and watched the sun set over the island as the ship pulled away from its last port and headed back to San Juan.
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| Rainbow in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas |
But the trip wasn't over just yet! My Dad was smart and booked us on a tour of old San Juan since we had time to kill before going to the airport. San Juan is definitely a place I'd like to visit again. We walked through the remains of a fort that the Spanish used to keep pirates out, then explored the old city - fashioned with European architechture and tiny streets. It was here that I found my biggest score - a bead store filled with authentic Puerto Rican artisan glass and ceramic beads!!! People, you are going to LOVE what I create with these unique baubles. I`ll definitely planning to expand the Bellavia collection, then we'll see what comes next.
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| Old city of San Juan, Puerto Rico |
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| Fort San Felipe del Morro, San Juan |
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| Fort San Felipe del Morro, San Juan |
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| Cobblestone streets in the old city of San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Also, I should mention that I made a pair of silver earrings that I deemed "ultra durable" and put them to the test on this trip. I wore them every day on the beach - while swimming in the ocean and snorkeling as well, and they are still shiny and good as new!! The brushed finish that I used seems to really do the trick. Once I get some decent photos taken of these puppies, they'll be up on my website for you all to get some. You won't want to go on a beach vacation without them!
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| Lara Bazant wearing durable silver earrings while swimming and snorkeling in Barbados |
So I've returned to Toronto and am desperately trying to adjust to the weather change, but my heart is still at sea. Sailing the ocean blue, awaiting my next adventure.
