Curacao a Caribbean Treasure
Walk ... on ancient cobblestones past homes and shops that date back to the 1500s. Walk alongside water, or on top of water. This Caribbean city, the largest in the Netherlands Antilles, straddles an ocean-shipping channel laid out like a busy Amsterdam canal. When freighters are passing through, a miniature ferry carries pedestrians back and forth between the twin banks of the colonial Old Town. A floating pontoon bridge is hauled into place the rest of the time, allowing strollers easy access to both halves of downtown. Elites here speak Dutch or English, essential for a private-banking industry that caters to an international clientele. Papiamento, a Dutch Creole, is the language of the street. Growing populations of immigrant Haitians, Colombians and Venezuelans contribute to a spicy ethnic stew. With one of the oldest Jewish communities on earth, Willemstad boasts two synagogues, one founded by Sephardic refugees who arrived here from Spain in the 1650s, the other, "new" congregation dates back to the 1930s arrival of European Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.
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