distillery tour |
Steps – 6.489
Port of Spain is a large city in the context of the area. The population of the urban area is about 50,000 with the surrounding area of about 500,000. The urban population has been decreasing from 94,000 in 1960.
We are docked in what on first glance is a
container port, and it is, but there is also a modern-ish cruise ship terminal
with attached Raddison and Hyatt hotels. The port itself isn’t too developed
unfortunately…basically we are dying for a port beer somewhere…so far, we’ve
had zero opportunities.
a tank of molasses for rum |
bottling bitters |
the last to go but some tours were late returning to the boat. Like yesterday in Grenada, there are no large tour busses on the island of Trinidad, likely due to the very hilly and windy nature of the island. So, 17 of us
coopering rum barrels |
piled into a 22-seater van – 2 seats on one side and 1 seat on the other. Much more comfortable than yesterday’s 2 and 2 in the same size van.
rum museum...didn't visit |
These vans are also used for public transportation. The size of the busses/vans means the groups will be small…nice.
Did you know…Trinidad and Tobago is made up of
2 islands…Trinidad AND the
much smaller Tobago and is very close to South
America.
parliament building
The main attraction on today’s tour is theQueen's Royal College
House of
Angostura, Trinidad’s premier rum distillery and where the famous Angostura bitters
hail from. We learn the distillery’s history and how the bitters are bottled. There
was NO sampling on this tour. Apparently, since covid there’s been no sampling,
but we walked away with a gift bag filled with 2 airplane bottles of rum and 3
tiny bottles of chocolate, orange, and traditional
bitters. We had hoped for a
bit of a shopping opportunity, but all there was to buy was booze. The distillery’s
gift shop was basically a liquor store, selling not just rum and bitters, but also
other brandedrainbow eucalyptus
booze. We also learn that only 5 people in the world know the secret
recipe to Angostura bitters, they are like a royal family and never fly on the
same plane…dramatic!performing arts centre
This tour was very much history focused, which was
interesting but as far as uses for bitters in cocktails and cooking the guide kept
directing us to their web site. Since my Covid foray into cocktail making I’ve
tried to wrap my head on bitters…I was hoping to today. I experiment, but never
find I can tell the difference in a cocktail with or without bitters
gift bag
Did you know…that the name Angostura comes from a town in
Venezuela on the Angostura River where a doctor invented bitters to use in his
medical practice. His sons moved to Trinidad and continued the business.up close rainbow bark
Next, we did a panoramic tour of the city where we saw and
learned about banks, parliament, schools, churches, and the train station which
is now home to the vans we are travelling in today as trains no longer run. We ended
up at the city’s 200-year-old botanical garden. This is also where the president
lives. Here we followed our guide as she described native and acquired trees
and flowers. We saw a very cool tree, the rainbow eucalyptus…with its colourful
bark. She also showed us a Brazil nut tree with pods the size of a baseball
where the nuts are inside - each pod holds 10 to 25 Brazil nuts, which are
technically seeds…fascinating!
Brazil nut pod
Lastly, we wound our way up one of the city’s many hills (it’s
built into a mountain) to a look out. Here we saw all of downtown, the harbour
with our ship, the cricket pitch. There were a few stalls at the lookout
selling fruit, ice cream, and other souvenirs. Seemed like the perfect place
for a bus beer, but nope.
Well… We didn’t have time before all abord at 2:30 (earlier
than usual, but we have to make it to Brazil on the 21st) for more
than a port beer, and there was no port pub, so a local Trinidadian beer was
not in the cards for us. This meant we were back onhillside homes
from the lookout
board for plenty of time
before lunch closed. We watched sail away from the comfort of our balcony enjoying
a rum and coke made with the Angostura rum from today’s gift bag.
Venezeula another historic building
About a half an hour after we left Trinidad, we sailed close
to Venezuela. No where inhabited, but Venezuelan land, nonetheless.
Tonight, there was no show, just “Christmas Vacation” in
the theatre. I have no interest in watching the movie, but I sure do know they have
popcorn. A little bed-time popcorn…YUM!
Making it to Trinidad and Tobago today, took us to 75
countries and dependent territories
visited!!!and yet another
1 comment:
Well you know I like a good nut!! lol. And Brazil nuts are my favorite. They look huge!
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