2023 – Day 2 in Vienna: Albertina Museum & Operahouse

After a healthy breakfast we headed to the Albertina Modern since they had an exposition on ‘Ways of Freedom: from Jackson Pollock to Maria Lassnig’. The expo shows the artistic freedom following the end of the Second World War. Figures including Pollock, Rothko, Barnett Newman and Robert Motherwell were representatives of this new freedom of art. And as I like freedom in al forms and shapes, I am fan 🙂

Next we walked to Albertinaplatz, to go and see the ‘old school’ painters Picasso, Matisse, Degas, Chagall and many more. The Albertina museum is also a part of the Habsburg residential palace and is known for hosting the most valuable collection in the world. There are the permanent exhibits in the Albertina Museum that include the Hamburg staterooms. We visited the Batliner ‘from Monet to Picasso exhibit’ . Herbert Batliner, one of the greatest art collectors and patrons of our time, passed away in 2019 and donated his art collection to the Albertina. To be able to witness that much beauty put tears to my mum’s eyes…

At the exit of the Albertina museum is where you get the best view of the magnificent Vienna Opera House. And here is a little insider tip: At the bottom of the steps is a sausage stand that sells the most sought after sausage in town. The queue at the ‘Bitzinger Würstelstand’ can be up to one hour long but trust me, it is entirely worth it. So after a trip to the museum or before you watch an opera performance, walk downstairs to the legendary sausage stand and grab a Wurst mit Kern, which is sausage and horseradish.

At the Albertinaplatz are also a few cute shops such as Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe . It is a hidden gem in Vienna and one of the few businesses that have survived the 20th century. Today, entering Jungmann & Neffe is a bit like stepping back in time. It is only when you step inside and see the grandeur of the decor will it be evident that they were suppliers to the Royal house. They are still a family owned business and sell high quality fabrics.

We ended our day with a tour of the grand Opera. I highly recommend getting a tour. Although we know it as Vienna’s Opera House it is actually called the Wiener Staatsoper and it is one of the leading opera houses in the world, next to the Scala in Milan. Since the opera is our main reason for coming to Vienna we enjoyed the 40-minute tour and already tried to find our seats for the next day’s performance of Aida. From the foyer, we walked up the grand staircase through the state rooms (Tea Salon, Marble Hall, Schwindfoyer, Gustav Mahler Hall) and then on to the magnificent auditorium (with a view of the stage).

There’s just so much history here. I didn’t know that the Vienna opera has one of the biggest stages in Europe. And for good reason… they have over 300 performances and 70 productions a season. This is crazy! It means that they might go through three stage changes a day. There are 180 000 costumes – worth 6 miles of fabric which are kept in tunnels under the city. My mum is super excited to see Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufman perform Aida tomorrow and it is a premiere. I must admit that I’m also getting excited just listening to her stories of when mummy used to work at the Munich operahouse…

2023 – A trip to Vienna

What better way to start the New Year than ticking off another item on my mother’s bucketlist. Seeing her favourite operastars perform Aida in the beautiful city of Vienna. I have bought the tickets 8 months ago and now here we are, in Vienna. A city that always makes me feel like home, not sure why…I believe that Vienna is as wonderful as Paris but with 1/3rd the crowd. Schönbrunn is as opulent as Versailles, with an added zoo. I’s a place as cosmopolitan as London but on a smaller scale. A place rich with history, music, and true tales of princesses and kings. It’s real and it’s all here in Vienna, Austria. We are ready to explore :).

The sun was out, so we decided to visit the center of town and just take in the vibe and enjoy the clean streets, the well dressed people and of course the good food. By just walking around the numerous sites, each one more majestic than the other, you can still feel the past power of Austria.Did you know that Vienna is a UNESCO world heritage site for two reasons: the Spanish horse riding school… and the coffee culture. The cappuccino was actually invented here. The oldest coffee shop, Frauenhuber, dates to 1825 and you can still grab a cup here today. The entire historic city center is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both Mozart and Beethoven once performed here so it has a long history. We just strolled through the pedestrian streets and let ourselves be impressed by these buildings full of history! Vienna is so charming, with each street being prettier than the next. Everything just feels so elegant, with architecture dating back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It simply takes your breath away. There is so much to see and to do (here goes my FOMO again) in this gorgeous city and quite frankly it is hard to fit it all in in just a few days. I particularly loved learning more about the Habsburgers and their incredible rule for 600 years. Maria Theresa was my favourite. Do you know that she had 16 children who she strategically married off to avoid war and keep the Austria empire secure. What a woman has to do for her country…

Hofburg Palace

Standing outside Hofburg Palace was when we really felt like we were in Vienna. This is the image of Vienna we all see when we think about this beautiful city. It is right next to the Austrian National Library and the Spanish Riding school so it makes sense to visit these all on the same day. You can visit the Imperial Apartments. Other highlights include The Sisi Museum, The Spanish Riding School and The Hofburg Treasury. we decided to go with the Sisi museum and I just loved it. Since I saw the movie with Romy Schneider, I have always been intrigued by the love story of the beautiful empress of Austria. And a new serie just came out with the beautiful Dominique Davenport’s and the handsome Jannie Schumann.

We were exhausted but very happy when we went back to our cute and a bit eccentric hotel Beethoven. More about hotel Beethoven later.

A 2-day trip to Antwerp between Christmas and New Year

I have a very small family, but I’m blessed to have a few good friends whom I consider as my family. So we decided to get together in Antwerp and enjoy the concert of ‘klassiek aan de Schelde’.

It was heartwarming to see my best friend Sabine together with my other BFF Wim and my mum patriarch sharing a cozy and fun dinner with plenty of laughs…

After dinner we enjoyed the ‘klassiek aan de Schelde’ and listened to the amazing music of Carmen, to Casta diva from Norma & to Puccini’s ‘O Mio Bannino Caro’. The 2 soprano’s Pumeza Matshikiza and Karen Vermeiren were wonderful, as was pianist Aaron Waynberg. All of this presented by Carl Huybrechts, who did a fantastic job…At one point Francois Glorieux came onstage for his very last time, since he decided tot say goodbye to his career, at the age of 90!!! He performed ‘ La mer’ on the piano – it was fascinating to see how he could still perform the piano and conduct an orchestra…Music is magic!

After this beautiful performance and the ‘quality time’ with my friends, it was time to go back to our Sapphire Hotel in Antwerp. This beautiful hotel is located in the building of the world’s first stock exchange , dating back to the 16th century . My dad would have had a blast here…The hotel wants to take you back to the ‘golden age’ of Antwerp where merchants from all over the world exchanged the most exotic products. We even received little sapphires (not real ones unfortunately), to exchange for some fresh homemade tea. I loved that there was art everywhere, especially in the rooms. Ours had a print of Antwerp photographer Marc Lagrange. In the lobby you can look at features collections from Essentiel Antwerp, Wouters & Hendrix and Kaai Bags. A true Antwerp vibe in the Sapphire…

After a plant-based breakfast we went to the exhibit of Anton Corbijn ‘Ikonen’. The Dutch photographer was crazy about music and became photographer almost by accident…Bowie, Jagger, Cobain, Davis and of course U2, all of them have been before the lens of Anton Corbijn. What I admire most in his photographic work is the gift and the ability that he has to lift an ordinary image into something iconic. His Russia collection from 1982 was also interesting to see, especially in today’s conflict…

After the Corbijn exhibition, we did some shopping on the Meir and took the opportunity to see the funny Burpindale Palace. Photographer Kris Desmedt and foodstylist Erik Vernieuwe have decorated the Palace on the Meir with their comical views. It starts with Napoleon’s bathtub filled with Napoleon goodies. Did you know that Napoleon was allergic to cats? All of this and so much more can you learn by touring the Burpindale Palace. I loved the hot-dog Pollock painting and the girl with the pearl from Vermeer…touring the palace gave me a bit of an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ feeling…

This was the perfect ‘2-day’ getaway between Christmas and New Year. Seeing beautiful Antwerp again, enjoying classical music, good food, a few art exhibits and some shopping …But the best of all was spending quality time with my mum and my besties…That is what life is all about, no? Being able to spend time with your loved ones….because they are the true diamonds in your life…So here is to 2023, to good health and spending quality time with the people you love!!! ❤️

Goodbye Jamaica

I must admit that I had my reservations about Jamaica. Despite being one of the most popular islands for visitors in the Caribbean, a quick search online told me that tourism in Jamaica has developed substantially since the glitterati jetted to the island in the 1950s. These days, all-inclusive resorts have become one of the major ways to visit. As you know, big all-inclusive resorts are not really my thing. So when we first arrived at the Riu Montego Bay with it’s 843 rooms, I was appalled at the factory feeling that I got. Too many people, the music was too loud, the weed smell was overwhelming and it was more of a party vibe.

Luckily we talked to Luis Suarez Ramirez, the Assistant General Manager at Riu. He did everything in his power to make our stay better and I must say that he was successful. Luis is only 24 years old, but with his experience and his vision, I’m sure that he has a fantastic career ahead. I always say, it is the people who make the hotel a place where you want to stay, at RIU the staff was ever so helpful, friendly and always with a smile. They genuinely care to make you happy and reply with their ‘Ya man’. Christina was one of the best yoga teachers I have encountered. With her soothing voice, she should really do a Podcast. The party’s and shows at the hotel, although more for young people, were phenomenal.

Back in my hotel suite, on my cell phone I find the notification to check-in for my return flight home. This is one notification I wouldn’t mind missing. So, all in all, this holiday served its purpose. I went to Jamaica to wash away the winter’s chill, to put me in a better frame of mind and to chillax on this beautiful Caribbean island. It’s hard not to grow fond of Jamaica while exploring the Island of “One Love.” It is a tiny island with a big heart.

As my airplane departs Jamaica, I feel renewed – both body and soul. I don’t even mind that I have my winter jacket tucked under my arm. And…as Bob Marley said: “Love the life you live and live the life you love’….

From Montego Bay to Negril

Today I did experience the “Wonders of Negril” organised by Sandals Montego Bay. Dalton was the tourguide and he was phenomenal! He was very knowledgeable and a walking Wikipedia for Jamaica. He knew every foreigner living on the island and told us about their personal story and showed us their beautiful homes. I learned a lot about the history and the character of Jamaica, so much that I need to come back to experience the rest of this island.

The history of Negril

Prior to the 1970s, Negril was a real rural backwater occupied mainly by local fishermen. There was no main road connecting this spot on the west coast to the rest of Jamaica, so you had to arrive by local ferry. Adventurous travellers, mainly from the US seeking to escape the modern world would make the effort to reach Negril and often stay with local families. As word got around, it became a popular place for hippies to drop out and get high. Some of those early pioneers were Vietnam vets looking for a permanent escape from a crazy world. Slowly, a number of permanent guest houses, hotels and bars took root. The road opened up access, cementing Negril’s place on the global hippy trail.

Today, Negril is something of a hybrid place – the ageing hippies are still there running some of the most popular venues in this part of the island. There are a number of modern all-inclusive resort chains sharing the beach with smaller independent guest houses. But it still maintains some of that original easy-going charm, despite the flashy vibe. There is love for everyone here in Negril. It has also become home to some of the best eco-hotels in Jamaica.

Some of the rich and famous stayed in Negril or have a house there. Richard Bogaert, Sylvester Stallone, Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Harry and Megan to just name a few…

My favourite part in Roundhill, because Ralph Lauren has 2 beautiful homes there: Rockhill and the white Orchid. Famous faces have long been a fixture at Round Hill. In the ’50s and ’60s, Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, and Claudette Colbert sunned, dipped, and dined next to the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Yul Brynner, and Ian Fleming. John and Jacqueline Kennedy honeymooned at one of the 29 ocean-facing properties on Round Hill’s 110 acres. But for the Laurens, Jamaica became more than a respite from the cold. A strong connection to the land and its people instilled a desire to give back to the island as much as it had given them. When Hurricane Gilbert ravaged the island in 1988, the Laurens partnered with the Red Cross to help with supplies of food and clothing, and in 2002, the Jamaican government recognized Ralph for his commitment to its people with an Order of Distinction in the Rank of Honorary Commander. Two years later, the country put his visage on a commemorative postage stamp, an honor previously given to Winston Churchill and Princess Diana. Here is the story

I enjoyed lunch at the Sandals hotel and walked a bit on their beach. It has been labeled one of the best beaches in the world, justifiably, with its miles and miles of white sand and calm ocean blue waters. A tiny bit like my beach in Ostend, but with more colonial charm and definitively more sun (although we had some rain that day too)

We also visited the cliffs. They are situated to the south of the beach where some of the oldest tourist properties sit. Completely different in character to the beach, the area look more than an adults-only place to me. some of the bars sit atop 15 meter cliffs that drop perilously into the bright blue Caribbean Sea. The legendary Rick’s cafe, established in 1974 and rebuilt twice after destructive hurricanes is the most famous of them all. It was very busy when I was there, but it does have the laid back atmosphere that attracted people in the beginning. If you’re feeling ‘brave’, you can join the cliff jumpers, who plunge into the cooling water below. I must admit, I did not feel that brave that day :). I was happy to drink my rum and punch at the bar while observing the craziness unfold below. The locals did every kind of flip and jump trick you can imagine. Extremely entertaining!

After watching the sunset at rick’s cafe, it was time to dream some more about the beautiful Round Hill. If you ever want to stay where Meghan and Harry stayed in Jamaica check it out here.

Rafting on the Martha Brae river

Today we went on a rafting adventure. Nooooo, no crazy wild water rafting, we chose the relaxing tour on the Martha Brae river. My friend was a little worried about her comfort, but she did not need to be. The rafts are made of bamboo and come with comfy, padded seats.

Before the tour began, we took a little stroll through “Miss Martha’s Herb Garden”, it is a presentation of Jamaican herbs famous for their medicinal and healing properties. And as Jamaican hospitality comes, we also received a welcome drink and got to take a look in the souvenir shops.

Then we could sit back and relax in our personal raft with Cleeve, our rafting captain, who skillfully navigated us through the jade-green waters of the Martha Brae river. All along the banks of the river you can find limestone. If you want, for an extra charge, the captains use it to deliver a delightful foot and leg scrub massage to their customers. Afterwards your legs and feet are supposed to feel silky smooth after rinsing off the limestone in the cool river water. Cleeve preferred to be our personal storyteller and photographer instead…

As the story goes, Martha Brae was a Taino witch who was tortured by Spanish settlers until she told them where gold was hidden along the 48-mile river that runs to the ocean. After telling them, it is said, she changed the course of the river, killing the settlers and blocking up the cave where supposedly the gold is still hidden. During the plantation and slavery era, the river was used to connect the sugar plantations in Trelawny to the port town of Falmouth. The long bamboo rafts were used to float the sugar and other crops to the harbor and ocean-going vessels bound for Europe.

The lush valley of the river that was once home to the banana and sugarcane plantations, is now mostly used for tourist riverrafting and to provide people from water. 40 million gallons of water, Cleeve tells us, are pumped from the river daily to a water treatment plant, supplying water for thousands of people. Along the river, we see local vendors selling big seashells and carved animals. Rastafarians are selling coconuts and refreshments. Locals even fish in the river, so at lunchtime you can buy some fresh fish.

Along the way is a memorial to the slaves who had been brought from Africa forced to work here between 1533 and 1807 when the Slave Trade Abolition Bill was passed in the British House of Lords in 1807.

Cleeve tells us that Martha Brae had had a number of celebrities including HRH Queen Elizabeth II, heavy weight champion Lennox Lewis, Chuck Norris, Spike Lee,, Jane Seymour of “Doctor Quinn- Medicine Woman” fame, the late Johnny Cash and world 100 meter champion Usain Bolt. Cleeve also proved to be an artist, since he carved me a jewellery bowl from the bark of the Calabash trees that grow along the river.

Of course I had to try to steer the raft and see how hard it was to guide it along the stream of the river with just one long bamboo stick. It takes a lot of skill and muscle to steer these dreamy bamboo rafts through the swift flowing river, especially in parts where they are moving against the river’s current. So after 3 minutes, I decided to just trail my hands and legs in the shimmering waters and surrender to the romance of the moment as we floated in the cool water glistening in the beautiful Caribbean sun. It was a truly rejuvenating and peaceful experience.

Hotels and Bob Marley on the island of Jamaica

Known for its beauty, its world-class beaches, its waterfalls, its rum, for being the birthplace of reggae, its weed and its laid-back lifestyle, the much-loved Caribbean island is a place that dances to its own tune.

You can visit the famous Bob Marley museum, discover a rare glowing lagoon, sample one of the world’s rarest coffee, raft on Martha Bray river, go diving or snorkelling at one of the 100 different sites, gaze at the beauty of Seven Mile Beach, party in Ricks cafe, then relax in a hammock attached to a swaying palm tree.

There are also some equally special places to stay in Jamaica, from quirky boutiques to hip, modern and fun, here are some of the nice, the cool and the sometimes unusual hotels on the beautiful island of Jamaica (in no particular order)...

– Azul Beach resort a trendy, contemporary and hip all inclusive resort with a gourmet restaurant and beautiful azul interiors.
– Zoetry Montego Bay: Tucked away in the upscale Rose Hall neighbourhood this small scale 5-star hotel brings personalized service, luxury amenities, and plush linens across its 49 suites and rooms.
– Sandy Haven Resort: a little piece of paradise on Negril beach
– The Caves: an utopia built on top of a spectacular seacave, where every room has a unique design.
– Sunset at the Palms: they received the award in 2022 for best hotel from Trip Advisor
– Charela in: a cozy, intimate hotel with bamboo decorated furniture and four-poster beds
– Jamaica Inn: This Inn in Ocho Rios is often referred to as the home of legends. The soft sophistication and gracious service has attracted the world’s biggest and brightest for generations.
– Fun holiday hotel: cheapest 3-star, but funniest ‘all inclusive resort’ in in Jamaica
– Half Moon: Montego Bay, beautiful hotel with the famous restaurant the Sugar Mill
– Gran hotel lady Hamilton : The largest hotel in Jamaica with a 1000 rooms
⁃ Round Hill: and villa’s on Treasure beach. Sit out on your private patio, to take in all the island beauty at any time of the day. The lofty ceilings, which create a spacious frame for the individually designed and effortlessly chic Ralph Lauren rooms are magnificent! Round Hill is in the running for Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards for 2023.
– The Jakes: hotel, cottages and villa’s at Treasure beach: Each property is a piece of imagination brought to life – so if you’re looking for something a little different, this is the spot for you.
– Donaldson’s Inn: owned by the same family for 3 generations, this former fishermans home became a hippy hangout in the 60s and continues until today. built right on the beach, you can come stay and never wear shoes.
– Geejam: Nestled in the rainforest at the foot of the Blue Mountains, this is the perfect spot for guests who are looking to not escape life, but inspire it.
– Rockhouse hotel: The 34-room, four-pearl Rockhouse Hotel is a lush, laid-back haven with a stunning cliffside setting in Negril. The beautiful, eco-minded design and delicious food at three dining spots are also top-notch. they have just openen a sister hotel that you can reach by boat: The skylark
– Strawberry Hills: nice decor in the tranquillity of the Bleu Mountains
– Ocean Coral Spring Resort: a new, all inclusive, instagrammable and elegant resort filled with activity, perfect for Millennials and Gen Zs
– Breathless Montego Bay: At this all-adult, 150-suite tropical oasis, guests can sway to their own rhythm, and venture to new altitudes at the stunning rooftop pool and car.
– S hotel Jamaica: a cool, contemporary and stylish all inclusive hotel located in the heart of Hip Strip
– White Sands: a bright, charming and quiet accommodation featuring a private beach and ocean front restaurant
– Hermosa Cove villa’s: an idyllic, serene and ec0-friendly accommodation where guests can enjoy kayaking and snorkelling
– Golden eye hotel: the legendary place still has a magnetic quality. Fleming created the James Bond character, sting wrote ‘Every Breath You Take’, and Bono wrote the theme song to the GoldenEye film, all whilst staying at this hotel.

I would really like to say in every one of these hotels :). But of course it is always about location, here a few tips:

– Negril: beautiful long stretches of white beaches, my favourite place
– Montego Bay: The best place for young people to party, great nightlife
– Ocho Rios: best place to stay for families with children
– Treasure Beach: where to stay in Jamaica for old fashioned relaxation
– Kingston: the capital and the cultural centre of Jamaica

And here is a nice quote from the famous Jamaican ‘Bob Marley’ when asked about a perfect woman. He replied: Who cares about perfection? Even the moon is not perfect, it is full of craters. the sea is incredibly beautiful, but salty and dark in the depths. The sky is always infinite, but often cloudy. So, everything that is beautiful isn’t perfect, it’s special. Therefore, every woman can be special to someone. Stop being “perfect”, but try to be free and live, doing what you love, not wanting to impress others!

Visit of Rose Hall

Since we can’t lay around on our bums all day long, we decided to discover some of the Jamaican history at Rose Hall. Rose Hall is a Jamaican Georgian plantation house now run as a historic house museum. It is also called the ‘Haunted house’ because of the intriguing legend of Annie Palmer…As the book says, this is is the story of a people, a legend and a legacy…

The legend of the House

Annie Palmer is known as the ‘White Witch” and she was originally from England. However, she had lived the better part of her life in Haiti. She lost her parents to yellow fever and her nanny who was a practitioner of voodoo, raised Annie and introduced her to the art of witchcraft. She married John Palmer in 1820 and moved to Jamaica. John Palmer owned Rose Hall Plantation. Annie was not an easygoing woman and the plantation housed around 2000 slaves. It was also a lucrative source of income. However, Annie could not resist wielding her black magic powers to control the people living near her.

Annie lost her husband under mysterious circumstances. She later remarried twice, however, these two men too did not survive and it is commonly believed that Annie was the main cause of these unnatural deaths. She used voodoo to scare the plantation workers and often slept with the male slaves. She later killed them. When the slave uprising of the early 1930 started, Annie’s lover Takoo killed her in bed. Annie was only 29 years old when she was killed. The legend also states that Takoo took this drastic step as Annie was supposedly attracted to Takoo’s son in law. However as Annie could not win him over she then practiced voodoo on Takoo’s child and later the child succumbed within a week.

There were rumors of mass deaths at the plantations. Annie also pushed her housekeeper out of her balcony. The poor slave broke her neck and eventually died. There are rumors about Annie’s spirit still lives in the house and she roams around the plantation till date. Her portret is painted so that you have the impression that her eyes are following you everywhere…Many seances have been conducted on the premises in order to call on the spirit of Annie. She was barely five feet tall in height, however, she still plays a vital role in the history of Jamaica. The mansion is a beautiful but it is understandable that many visitors get an eariee feeling while moving around in the house. In the basements is now a cafe, but you can see pictures of the past and if you take a look at the large traps, you get a sense of how horrible the life was for the slaves. The traps surrounded the property and were used to stop the slaves trying to run away to freedom.

Rose Hall was virtually abandoned with the decline in the sugar economy until an American entrepreneur John Rollins and former Miss USA Michele bought the estate in the 1960s and restored the great house to its old grandeur. I loved the beautiful mahogany floors, the wood paneling and wooden ceilings. The rooms were decorated with silk wallpaper printed with palms and birds, ornamented with chandeliers and furnished with European and Asian antiques. The mansion is now the historic centerpiece of the vast Rose Hall Estate, but the estate encompasses three 18-hole golf courses, the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon (with the fantastic restaurant ‘the Sugar Mill’) and the most desirable residential district of Montego Bay, Spring Farms. Also on the Rose Hall Estate, Cinnamon Hill Great House was the home of the late Johnny Cash. Johnny even wrote a song about Annie Palmer.

I love stories and if you want to learn more about the story behind the estate, you can read about it in more detail on this website: https://elsolvidatours.rezdy.com/143042/how-annie-palmer-became-known-as-the-white-witch-of-rose-hall-by-stacy-ann-gordon

A Thanksgiving trip to Jamaica

As I was looking at destinations to escape the rain in Belgium, my friend called me and asked if I had ever been to Jamaica. Jamaica has never really been on my bucket list. I did not know anything about this island, besides that it was the home of rum, reggae, Bob Marley and Usain Bolt.

So, for those like me who don’t know anything about the island, a brief history of Jamaica

Jamaica is a sunny island in the West Indies. It is the third largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba and Hispaniola (the island of Haiti and Dominican Republic). The primary language in Jamaica is English followed by Jamaican Creole.

The first Jamaicans were the Taino Indians who settled in Jamaica around 600 AD. They were stone–age peoples who had migrated to Jamaica from the northern coast of South America. After living continuously in Jamaica for almost 900 years, the Tainos were wiped out within 50 years of the Spanish conquest in 1494, due to exploitation by the Spanish settlers, starvation and a lack of resistance to European diseases. Many Tainos fiercely resisted the Spanish occupation of their land and some even committed suicide rather than serve as slaves.

The Arawak language spoken by the Tainos survives in many words such as ‘hammock’, ‘hurricane’, ‘tobacco’, ‘barbeque’ and ‘canoe’. The word Jamaica actually derives from the Arawak word Xaymaca, meaning “Land of wood and water”.

The Spanish Period

Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot on the island when he claimed it for Spain on May 3rd, 1494, during his second voyage to the New World. Jamaica was settled by the Spanish in 1510 and the indigenous Taino people were forced into slavery and eventually exterminated. In the early years of the 16th century the practice of importing slaves from West Africa to work in Jamaica began.

Jamaica’s first town was built by the Spanish in Saint Ann’s Bay and was called Sevilla Nueva. In 1538 the Spanish moved the capital of Jamaica to Spanish Town. Jamaica was, however, never heavily populated by the Spanish, for they found no gold on the island. Instead, plantations were established to supply food for the Spanish ships that sailed between Europe and the Americas. Spain remained in control of Jamaica for more than 150 years and the legacy of this period can still be seen in the historic buildings of Spanish Town and in the many Spanish names assigned to Jamaican rivers, mountains and towns.

The British Period and the Pirates of the Caribbean

In 1655 British naval forces captured Jamaica from the Spanish. The British went on to retain control of Jamaica for over 300 years. The British took advantage of Jamaica’s strategic location in the centre of the Caribbean to challenge the Spanish dominance of the region and to disrupt their lucrative trade in gold and silver. While many of the first English settlers in Jamaica were land owners, others were pirates who operated with the consent of the British. Buccaneers like Sir Henry Morgan joined with mercenaries and adventurers to attack the Spanish galleons that carried gold and silver from Central and South America to Spain. Their headquarters at Port Royal soon became rich with stolen Spanish gold and was known in the seventeenth century as the “wickedest city in the world”.

In 1962, Jamaica became independent. Now Jamaica is very multicultural. Asians, including East Indians, are the second largest group of Jamaicans after African descendants. There are many white Jamaicans whose families were English settlers. For all these reasons the Jamaican motto is “Out of Many, One People”.

Why Marrakech should be on your bucket list

Marrakech is a shock to every sense you have. The loud warblings of the call to prayer and the persistent beckonings of the men who run shops in the souks constantly strike your ears.The pungent smell of incenses cover up a lingering smell of leather bags and donkeys who dutifully pull carts through the medina day and night. Marrakech is, to put it lightly, a place you experience with every one of your senses.

But Marrakech is also a city that is beautiful in moments of raw emotion — something worth embracing. Never have I felt okay with getting lost as I did in the winding streets of Marrakech, it was just part of the experience. (Although my mother might not agree) It’s a city that beckons you to truly be immersed in another country’s tradition. Hot mint tea in a riad, rooftop views with sizzling tajin, bartering over a pair of shoes, taking a left hand turn in hopes it will return you to your riad, all of this and more. But it’s not all hustle and bustle; there’s an abundance of green space in the city’s tropical gardens, palm groves and golf courses, framed by the majestic Atlas Mountains and azure blue skies. And then there is the Agafay desert…

So, when you first arrive in Marrakesh, brace yourself for a sensory overload; you will instantly be surrounded by intoxicating smells, the most vibrant colors and a cacophony of sounds that welcome you into the city and pave the way for an amazing experience.

Once a watering hole and a trading and resting spot for caravans along the Saharan routes, Marrakesh is now the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco and a trendy destination combining old and new, appealing to every taste and budget.

Go and see Marrakesh! I hope that you will get awed by the vibrant colors, the smells and the tradition. What was supposed to be a romantic holiday with my boyfriend, turned out to be a crazy and memorable adventure with my mum. And truly? I would not have wanted to do this trip with anyone else!!!! My mother is amazing and I will never forget how courageous she was during the entire holiday!!!