Fun in the Sun

Today, Kevin and I actually got a chance to be out in the sun and enjoy beautiful Barbados. We started out by heading to the beach around 10am. The water was so nice and the cool breeze made the 80-ish degree weather even more heavenly. We hung out on the beach for a couple of hours. I almost lost my sunglasses after being hit by a wave whilst out in the ocean, but luckily, Kevin was able to rescue them!

After eating lunch outside, we showered and changed, and headed off to Bridgetown for a little sight-seeing. We read about the oldest Jewish synagogue in the Americas, and it happens to be about 10 minutes from us, so we decided to venture out and see it. Just a little background on the synagogue - It was created during the Portuguese inquisition, by Jews who fled from Europe and ended up in Barbados in the late 1600s. Why Barbados? It was because everywhere else was being colonized by all the European countries. By the 1700s, there were 800 Jews in Barbados, which at that time, accounted for 8% of the population. Not bad! The temple was abandoned, as the Jewish population here dwindled to nothing, but was restored in 1987. It was so neat to see the restored temple, complete with Torah ark and everlasting light. We also toured the museum which is where I learned many of the interesting facts above. Yes folks, the teacher has become the student.

Anyway, I am including the pictures we took today of all of the adventures described above. On tomorrow's menu: Andromeda Gardens, Chalky Hill Pottery, Barbados Wildlife Reserve, and a BBQ on the beach for dinner. This is a little ambitious, so we'll see how far we get!