The Wandering Scotsman Is Behind Bars Again In Barbados
I had committed no crime but I the Wandering Scotsman was behind bars in Barbados once again. Fortunately the bars I’m taking about are those of a rum shop down at Oistins Fish Fry here in Barbados where I was buying some bottles of Ice-cold Heineken lager.
I have personally never committed any crimes against society so I don’t know how it feels to have my liberty taken away and be sent to prison to be kept behind real bars. I can only imagine how bad it feels not to have the choice to head to the beach when I want, to go to the rum shop for a few ice cold drinks or have some romance with the wife.
I feel that most of the criminals that are in prison if they thought about the consequences of being caught for their crimes and sent to prison and how it truly feels to have your freedom taken away, they would stay on the righteous path.
I know there are those that think crime pays and it is a short cut to lots of cash, forget it! Crime only leads to misery for those that are the victim and eventually your day will come when you pay for your crimes and face justice. For those of you that are in prison yes the ice cold Heineken tasted real good, you don’t know what your missing, but I suppose you maybe do!
Beach Girls Make the World Go Round In Barbados
Another day at the beach in Barbados for this Scottish beach bum and what can I possible do, apart from head to a beautiful beach? The sun is shining and there was a nice wee breeze in the air, which made it perfect conditions for heading to the beach, and that I did! Whilst there I indulged in my favourite pastime watching the world go bye at the beach.
Today at Rockley Beach there were the usual suspects, by that I mean the real beach bums on the prowl for girls, the grannies and granddads escaping the cold weather in their home countries, there were the usual sprinkling of couples in love as well as a few that looked like they had fallen out of love a long time ago and were going through the motions. I couldn’t help but notice there was quite a number of single girls on there own, who of course always catch the attention of the professional beach bums! There didn’t seem to be any single guys at the beach, apart from the working guys.
I must admit there was quite an array of beautiful looking girls at the beach today from all over the world, Europeans, Americans, African, Asian and of course the best looking girls, the Bajans, I had to say that didn’t I! Beach girls sure do make the world go round and there sure are plenty of them in Barbados!
Sunday Should Be a Day Of Rest
Sunday has became a day of total rest for me and it is the one day of the week where I make sure I set aside quality time to spend with the family. I wont spend time shopping at the supermarket, I refuse to do household chores and I sure as heck wont do any business related work, in fact I even wrote this article on Saturday! I have six other days of the week to do everything that I need to do!
It hasn’t always been like this, before I moved to Barbados, whether it was when I was back home in Scotland or living in London, Sunday would be just like any other day of the week, in fact there was virtually no difference. I had allowed myself to forget the important things in life, and that is spending quality time with your family and loved ones, taking time out to rest and recuperate, forgetting about your normal day today routines and having a little bit of fun.
I can even remember way back in time when I was a wee kid living in Scotland and virtually every single shop would be closed for the day on a Sunday, it would seem like world had stopped. Things sure have changed nowadays you will be hard pushed to find a shop that stays shut on a Sunday. Somehow big business, commercialism and profits became the most important factor, they rule world.
I for one have learned my lessons about what is important in life and that the pursuit of happiness isn’t all about working myself into an early grave and trying to make money. In fact I would say that after having a total day of rest on a Sunday, I’m more refreshed and my mind is more focussed to move forward with my business related ventures, when my working week begins again on the Monday.
I must admit living on a beautiful island like Barbados sure makes it easy to relax and enjoy yourself on a Sunday and spend some quality time with your family.
A Wee Bit of Fame Has Arrived For the Wandering Scotsman
I was at Rockley Beach yesterday afternoon relaxing in the water enjoying my favourite pastime, which is of course taking things real easy at the beach. I fear I may becoming a beach bum, but only a part time one!
Out of the blue a young American girl appeared from somewhere and started talking to me, she asked me if I was the Wandering Scotsman from The Barbados Blog, I was a wee bit shocked that anybody read it! Yet alone somebody recognised me from it.
My first thoughts were oh no! it was a hairy girl coming to seek some revenge for my opinion on hairy girls, The Hairy Legged Woman of Barbados and Hairy Woman At Carlisle Bay, Ban Them All!, I was trying to look at her legs to see if they were hairy, but they were covered by the water. What could I do, but say I was the one!
Fortunately she was a fan of The Barbados Blog and was enjoying my words of wisdom about life in Barbados and that one day she hoped to visit Scotland as her great grandma was originally from the Inverness area, I know it well.
She told me that she had only recently discovered my blog and was now hooked on it now that she had found it. I would like to thank the Barbados Free Press for the kind words they wrote about me, As Others See Us – A Scotsman Documents Barbados, which has helped people like American Girl to find my blog.
For me the Barbados Free Press dares to tread where the local press seems for some reason scared to go here in Barbados. I have personally been reading the Barbados Free Press for a number of years and what I truly like about them, is that they say it the way it is and that they don’t let the mainstream press, the government or powerful individuals stop them from dealing with subjects that others would rather were not printed.
I better get use to dealing with my wee bit of fame, because The Barbados blog is on the way to becoming a major force in the Blogging world. I think I need to get a better picture put on my About page, because it just doesn’t make me look my best.
For My Friends Back Home In Scotland
I was having another real tough day at the beach in Barbados enjoying the warm sunshine, the Caribbean Sea and the white sands of Rockley beach. When for some reason I started thinking about my leaving party when I left Scotland at the end of May just before I headed to London on route to Barbados.
I received many gifts and in the picture above you can see my tartan beach towel, which I received from my friends, I would like to assure all of them it is getting put to good use!
The Caribbean Sea Is Just the Place For Me
I started my Christmas shopping today and I can’t believe that it is almost upon us once again. I spent about 1 hour shopping, I’m going to slowly work my way into it, and then I headed to the beach for some rest and relaxation.
This above picture is a reminder to all my friends and family back home in Scotland that I’m alive, fit and healthy and enjoying life in Barbados.
A wee dip in the Caribbean Sea is the perfect remedy for cooling off from the hot Barbados sun. It really is as inviting as it looks!
5 Simple Steps To Improve Tourism In Barbados
I keep reading in the local newspapers about how the tourism minister isn’t too worried about cutting back on flights from certain airlines in the UK and USA, I however think that he must be privately worried about the posiblity of a big decline in tourist numbers over the next few years.
The world is in a recession and believe me the UK is going to be hurting real bad in the not too distant future, possible even worse than things are in the USA at the present time. When I first moved here at the end of June, the exchange rate was $4.00 BDS to £1.00 GBP; it is now around $2.80 BDS. If that doesn’t have a massive effect on the amount of UK tourists coming to Barbados on holiday or buying properties, I’m not a handsome looking guy!
The British and Americans are the two biggest visitors to Barbados and if both countries are suffering, it is bound to have a big effect on how people spend their money. It won’t just affect Barbados it will obviously affect every country that is a major tourist destination.
I keep hearing that Barbados is a top end tourist destination and to certain extent it is. But it is also has huge amounts of people coming to the island that aren’t rich; you get plenty of normal hard working people. You will find thousands of them staying in the hotels along the Gap and around that area, hotels full of them. I could just imagine how big an effect it would have on the moderately priced hotels, the many bars and restaurants if the lower end of the market took a big hit.
I also keep reading about all the efforts that are being made to attract more tourists to visit Barbados and that is the way to go. I wonder if they are targeting places other than in USA and Canada. Are the tourism authorities making efforts in emerging countries, which are starting to have real spending power such as Russia, China and some of the Middle Eastern countries. Having worked in tourism for a period of time I know the importance and the huge growth in tourists from these regions. Sometimes you need to look way outside of the box for the way forward.
Before I moved to Barbados I had been here numerous times on holiday and was well aware of how beautiful an island it was, that it had some of the best beaches in the world, amazing food and friendly people, even though you have to wonder who trains some of the people in the service and tourism sector, some of them haven’t got a clue. You need to take a look at the USA and Canada and you will see a massive difference as to how people treat tourists and customers!
The Government spends millions of dollars every years tying to attract tourists to come to Barbados, I personally feel that more should be done to make them want to come back again and go home and recommend the island to all their friends, family and rave about it online.
I came up with 5 Simple Steps To Improve Things for Tourism
1. Do something about the state of the roads, you want tourists to come here and spend lots of money hiring cars. The potholes that you find on virtually every single road are real scary and since I got here they seem to be getting worse. It doesn’t give a good impression of a well-run country does it?
2. Erect proper sign posts to all the tourist attractions and beaches; there is nothing worse than driving around aimlessly trying to find somewhere. Do you think tourists find it fun to drive around lost trying to find places?
3. Encourage and give incentives for people to start quality and innovative tourist attractions, I personally feel there is a severe lack of quality places to go and visit in Barbados. I read the other day that there are more tourist attractions in Jamaica than the whole of the Caribbean put together! Don’t get me wrong there are some amazing places to visit in Barbados, such as Harrisons Cave and the various historic sites, the many beaches, however there needs to be more. I heard there is a 10 pin bowling alley in the pipe line, that is gong to make so much money, it will be rammed at night with people looking for something different and fun to do.
4. Improve customer service within the tourism sector all over the island, in the hotels, bars, restaurants, tourist attractions etc, in fact everywhere that serves or deals with people. I have heard numerous people complain about the attitudes and bad manners of people working in the service industry in Barbados. It isn’t a problem that is unique to Barbados, for I see the same thing happening to a certain extent back home in Scotland and throughout the UK. The Americans and Canadians are masters of customer service; they really know the importance of properly training staff and installing the correct attitude into their staff.
5. Do something about the litter problem in Barbados, especially on the beaches, rid the island of all those rusty cars that are all over the place and do something about all those overgrown building plots, that are a haven for bugs and vermin.
I feel if the above 5 simple steps could take Barbados on to a whole new level as a tourist destination and the island will reap the benefits. If David Thomson PM is reading this, it isn’t a failure to listen to the common man and the words of wisdom that he has to offer. I feel my simple steps will also benefit not only the tourists but the good citizens of Barbados as well.
We Need Some Santa Cops In Barbados
While I was having a wee break from working yesterday afternoon, I spent a few moments aimlessly surfing the net, and came across a fun article about cops in the Philippines getting right into the Christmas spirit, which can be read right here, Santa Cops in the Philippines
It got me thinking wouldn’t it be a fun thing for the cops in Barbados to all wear Christmas hats and put a smile on their faces during the festive season. Now wouldn’t that be an amazing thing to witness a Bajan policeman handing out candy to children in the street or helping old ladies across the street, as the saying goes, “there is a first time for everything”.
I’m sure the police in Barbados have all got a sense of humour and would be more than willing to get into the Christmas spirit by wearing nice little colourful hats and become extra nice for a few weeks!
Loving the Boardwalk In Barbados
What an amazing wee walk I had yesterday along the boardwalk that stretches for roughly 1.2 km along the coastline between Rockley Beach and to beside the Sierra Hotel in Hastings. I had read about it in the newspaper a few weeks ago and thought I just have to pay it a visit and I wasn’t disappointed.
I would like to give praise to who ever came up with the idea to build this fantastic boardwalk, they have real vision. As anybody that has even been to Barbados will be well aware that it is a truly beautiful island with some amazing beaches and the Caribbean Sea makes me want to jump in it every time I see it.
So you can imagine how much I enjoyed the walk along the boardwalk looking at the clear blue Caribbean Sea and the almost cloudless blue skies. I must admit I had to take my trainers off and come off the boardwalk and walk in the water, I just love the feel of the water on my feet. I remember doing a similar thing back home in Scotland earlier this year and my feet turned blue from the coldness of the water in the North Sea.
The Boardwalk is a great wee walk that I hope gets used by locals and tourists alike in Barbados. I personally think it is a wonderful stroll for lovers to enjoy and if the beautiful scenery doesn’t help to create some romance when you get home, you have problems!
Real Words of Wisdom
Just recently when I was searching for some information online and for some inexplicable reason I came across a few Buddhist quotes, which I felt that had a ring of truth to them, in fact they perfectly summed up life. They are most certainly wise words.
I don’t really know too much about what Buddhism is about or what it has to offer, but I have heard that it encourages people to find meaning in there life and that it enlightens minds.
I have discovered 3 well-known Buddhist quotes that I feel offer something that we as human beings can truly learn from.
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
By Gautam Buddha
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