"SUMMER IN THE CITY"

Okay, okay. It's not technically summer - like we have anything to go by down here. We've been known to check the calendar to confirm what year it is. But "Summer in the City" is the song title that best conjures up the Saturday morning hustle and bustle of Grenada's capital city. The lyrics are in my head as I put this blog entry together. You're lucky you can't hear me humming.

About 35,000 people, roughly one third of the island population, live in and around St.George’s. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan damaged or destroyed 90% of the buildings on the island. The rebuilding and regrowth is amazing, although Grenadians are quick to point out that there is still much to be done.

St. George’s is built around a horseshoe-shaped

commercial harbour called The Carenage.

This waterfront area is lined with businesses, shops and restaurants.

The local fishing fleet ties up here in The Carenage……

…… and it’s not unusual to be find fresh fillets for sale – truly fresh catch of the day.

   This is looking west across the harbour toward Fort George up on the hill.

Between the grey and red groups of office buildings at waterside, there’s a road that veers left and then right through a tunnel cut through the lower hillside.

The Sendall Tunnel was considered an engineering marvel

when it was built in 1894.

It joins The Carenage to the Esplanade

on the west side of downtown St. George’s.

Once through the tunnel, our bus travels

along the Esplanade to the city terminal.

All the local buses come through this terminus,

so you can transfer to any bus right here.

Just across the street, looking left, you can’t miss the KFC sign, but the locals seem to ignore it. Just one more reason to like the Grenadians.

The KFC chain is on many of the bigger island cities down here,

but we have yet to see any golden arches. Hallelujah.

Oh man!?!. Geoff tells me we saw the McD thing in St. Martin.

Selective memory rules.

Then we head up the first cross street, and 'up' is the operative word.

The downtown core of St. George’s is built within an old volcano crater, making for some steep ups and downs and some strenuous walking.

The next street to the right takes us to the crowded market in the centre of the city.

You’ll have to use your imagination to hear St. George’s market.

In addition to the music that blares from every stall and every storefront, and echoes from every vehicle, horns are honking continuously. A tour guide recently told us that 95% of the honking is just to say hello to a friend. The other 5% means, “Good morning. Get out of the way. Please."

And there are loud voices everywhere – vendors, each with the sweetest mangoes, the bunchiest bananas, the spiciest spices. "Hello my lovely. Buy from me, I have the best."

You can get just about everything you need here at the market.

The expected local produce ……

….. the unrefrigerated eggs ……

…… and live crabs.

This young fellow was using twine to tie the claws. The crabs were moving pretty slowly though, if at all.

And wow!!! Hot boys!

Oh wait. It’s only a fast food truck.

We also found the unexpected for sale.

With a computer, a loaded hard drive, and empty DVDs, this entreprenuer has set up shop. Name your title – it’s yours for $20EC. That’s just over seven US dollars.

Right across from the central open-air market is a big North American-style grocery store, an obvious example of the contrasts in the city.

And in the next block ……

…… is the Scotiabank on Halifax Street - a little 'connection moment' for our Canadian friends and family. The incline taking you up Halifax Street gets steeper than it looks. At the top of the hill……

…… Halifax Street becomes Young Street. When we took this picture, we didn’t really see the dirt and graffiti. St. George’s is like any big city, I guess, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Continue down Young Street and you end up back at The Carenage.

We’re signing off with a few more pictures of city scenes that caught our eye, ending with a common sight in any city.