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Dominica


The ship berthed at Dominica.... right in the middle of the town. It was refreshingly un dutyfree .... still lots of market stalls selling touristy stuff - the usual shirts, hats, baskets, but noone really hassling - quite a laid back vibe - even if you loitered looking at bits and pieces.

We wandered through the supermarket where I purchased some Dominican sardines, for my world collection pf sardine tins - but nothing much else caught our eye - a lot of the goods were waitrose... it just shows how global we are now -there was very little in that supermarket I couldnt find at home ... especially in Leeds.

The centre of the town is quite contained. It has the standard over the top cathedral and usual mishmash of ramshackle and done up buildings just sat side by side.  There are more swish looking appartments nearer the edge of town looming in the distance. There were alot more of the ramshackles.... its a continuation of the colonial style... mostly wooden with verandahs at first floor level.

We went in the local museum . It was small but had a varied collection of eclectic artefacts - most of which not very clearly labeled..and there were no staff to ask... but it was still interesting - I like a local museum I think in a way it says much more about the area than big corporate showy places do.  It had a nicevenrandah with a nice oppotunity for a ship photograph...

We stopped for a drink in the Ruins Roots cafe - which as the name suggests was set in a ruined building made watertight with a lot of corrugated iron. It was colourful, aimed at visitors - Bob Marley blasting out - fulm of local bric a brac and some defo not so local ... giraffes and gorillas... you could buy a marijuana rum pubch for $20 dollars.  We gave it a miss🤣, local coffee and beer was enough for us.

More wandering around the markets - the market square here dates back to the days it was used to buy and sell slaves and also was used for public executions.  Today its just death by caribbean shirts....I was looking for banana ketchup but I think I've missed my chance🥴. 

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