Welcome to Barbados

Looking back at Barbados today in my posh travel sketchbook from Stillman & Birn and as a mucky pup, as always I ''blotted my copybook'' see if you can see where? 

Just underneath the tiny tree frog you can see a splodge of green:) 

Visiting Barbados was like visiting mini UK in a heatwave! Bridgetown, the capital has many very British looking buildings and churches like the parliament building in my sketch. I already blogged about my visit here being the start of my Urban Sketching, sitting opposite this building, sipping coffee and trying to hide my very modest sketch. 

The little coloured ''chattel houses'' top left were everywhere and as we zoomed around the island in a mini-moke they really stuck in my memory. The curious name comes from the fact that they are like all chattels (possessions) you can take them everywhere you go. A little like the tiny house trend, you can transport them to wherever you like. Barbados was the end of the romanticism of beach weddings for me, there was one nearly every half an hour! The steel drum music would start and the next bride would be wheeled out in her big meringue crinoline, sweating profusely while tourists stood around in their bathers sipping cocktails, naaaa not for me! 

Barbados has some very interesting flora and fauna! In bed at night we could hear a mobile phone ringing constantly, we kept checking our phones but not a call in sight. In desperation we opened the curtains to find this tiny tree frog, about the size of a thumbnail chirping away. Such loud noises from such a tiny creature, we also saw many of the Barbados black bellied sheep running around. 

Keeping up with the in crowd, we sipped Banks beer in St Lawrence the gap and also toured some of the spectacular beaches for a the sum of one dollar! 

We met a lovely Czech couple on the first night whose trip was always accompanied by disaster; the booked tours which were cancelled or paid for trips that were cut short, their only success was to join us on our one dollar bus trip. They'd paid extra for Priority VIP check-in at the airport and were waiting alone at the VIP check in long after our huge queue was processed, that’s why the suitcase is there. 

Finally, those two lovely children who were swimming on the beach while I was sketching, every wave that came in was a ''big wave'' although they were tiny little ripples. Awww sweet!