We have rented an AirBnB for 2 weeks on the South Coast of Barbados. I’ll set up my mobile office – working from the villa – and then it will be the Thanksgiving holiday.

Most of the fancy resorts in Barbados are on the West Coast – or Platinum Coast as they call it. They have manicured lawns, high gates, guards, and gourmet dining that comes included with your room.

We are going more local and on the South Coast, which real Bajans live. We found a home comprised of 3 villas – we have the top floor. Our next door neighbors are the Coconut Court Hotel on one side and local townsfolks on the other. After the cocoon of Petit St. Vincent, we admit to being a little nervous.

The villa is lovely.  We have amazing views from our giant terrace.

But . . . only air-conditioning in the bedrooms (thankfully there are 2 so one can be an office).  We are hoping we made a good decision! 

But the living room is actually quite pleasant with ocean breezes, except in the very heat of the day (or if there is no wind). 

And you really can’t beat the view.

Exhausted and hot from our journey, we retreat to the bedroom to cool down and emerge in the dark to hear sirens going off all around – which turn out to be teeny tiny tree frogs outside our windows. 

Having no supplies – and no yellow flag to raise – we strike out to search for bottled water and found a convenience store that had seen better days. But the people inside were very merrily singing Dolly Parton’s “I Believe in Santa Claus” at the top of their lungs with a Caribbean accent. This was going to be an interesting place.

We also spied an Italian restaurant across the street, so clutching our giant 1L bottles of water, we wandered in. The hostess took one look at us and said, “You must be from Craggy Nook.” We nodded sheepishly. She said, “Right this way, and let me guess, you would like bottled water?” : )

Well, it turned out that this place – Bozu – was the BEST and most authentic Italian food we had had outside of Italy! Upscale, amazing menu, and delicious – who would have thought, right here in Hastings, Barbados?

Now that we can find water and have good Italian across the street, we think we will survive – even if we’re a little hot.  Little did we know what was to happen next . . . .