During a recent trip to Aruba I felt a little adventuresome so I made a side trip to Curacao. Its not easy getting up early when your on vacation, but I managed to wake early and flying via DAE took the 8 am flight from Aruba. The short flight had me on Curacao in no time. At the suggestion of a friend I took a cab to Willemstad and arrived at 9 a.m. at the Hotel Avila for their very fine breakfast buffet. From there I walked downtown into this seaport city to explore and enjoy the sites and sounds that have been common since the days of Christopher Columbus. Shopping in the local stores was interesting, merchants have their goods priced to sell and all found them to be quite friendly, never pushy. I ended up buying 3 very nice mens short sleeve shirts for a total of $ 25. As far as day tripping-island hoping this was a very easy journey to make. I found the folks on Curacao to be very friendly, with a true Carribean flair of its own. Lunch was at Bistro Le Clochard at Fort Rif, although good-it was too pricey, and there are so many other places to eat, The city itself is very interesting-in that is divided by the bay, and you can cross from side to side by the walking bridge or free boat ride. Although I did get to visit some beaches south of the city, I never went up the northern coast. A must see next time would be the seaquarium. On the plane ride back to Aruba I was congratulating myself for surely saving money on those shirts vs. what I’d have paid in Aruba-then I remembered-the plane ride round trip was $ 170 ! I was back & thru Aruba customs by 5;30 p.m. Whew-what a day !