There are lots of bikes (and man-powered tricycles) and motorcycles in Parintins but not many cars.

Parintins

Thursday, February 11

Parintins is a town of about 100,000 people and is only accessible by boat or plane.  It is on the right bank of the Amazon on an island that was created by the river.  The city was founded in 1793 and does not offer much to see or do.  We walked around for about and hour and a half and saw the church of St.  Mary of Carmel, which has a huge cemetery behind it.  The city is not very pretty, and the sidewalks are made of crumbling and broken concrete or are very prettily inset with tiles.  We asked Emerson, one of our dining room stewards, to take a picture of our table 39 at dinner tonight.  We’ve gotten to know each other well and asked to stay together for the return trip.  Kay and Bob are from Wilkes-Barre PA.  Kay went to Vassar with Jackie Kennedy (who wasn’t very friendly) and Bob was in the bakery business.  Midge and Gerry are from Mount Hope, Ontario (near Toronto).  Gerry was in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  He worked in security and they spent three years in Trinidad.  Cate and Colleen are also from the Toronto area and are retired mental health nurses.  Our waiters are Jessie and Emerson, and are often singing as they serve our dinners in a very efficient manner.  ...One last thing - why do you suppose the Coca-Cola sign in the above photo is blue?  We’ll let you know in a few days when we return here on our journey back to Fort Lauderdale.

Barbara finally remembered to carry her umbrella with her today, so of course we had sunny, hot and humid weather.

© Jay 2020