Andy Palacio

Andy Palacio is a garifuna musician from Belize who is rapidly becoming a world music star. You can download a couple of albums at http://andypalacio.calabashmusic.com/ for the usual 99-cents-per-track (US).

More Photographs

There are more photographs on Flickr which cam be reached by going to

http://pix.karleklund.net

and then looking for the "Tag" representing the subject you are interested in. Otherwise the photos are just put up in Flickr in the order in which I had them when I found time to upload them.

Museum

On the ground floor of the Carnagie Library Building is the museum of the National Trust. The Trust maintains the archeological collections of Dr. Earle Kirby, shown in the portrait.





Only a small part of the collection can be shown, but that includes some interesting pieces.







Other pictures, taken when the collection was in other locations, can be found by going to Flickr at
http://pix.karleklund.net and searching on the tag "museum"

Return

One more block on Back Street brings us to the Adventist Church, which was built in the 18th century by the Scotch Presbyterians. Making two turns to the right we return on Middle Street.




Next to the North River and Heritage Square is the "Nice Foods" restaurant, a good, and popular, place to get local cuisine for lunch.



Middle street is usually crowded with cusomers of the many retail stores and push carts.



Above Bonadie's Supermarket is a place where you can rent tome on a computer with internet connections. You can even look at this blog!



Where the street terminates at the market you can turn around the jailhouse and return to Bay Street. Taxis are available in front of the Administration Building.

Back Street East

Further east on Back Street is the Carnagie Library Building, now occupied by the National Trust and the Alliance Francais. The museum of the National Trust will be descibed in another blog.




The library building is surrounded by an attractive park.



Also on back street is the new Post Ofice



The main street leading inland goes through Frenches' Gate and becomes the Windward Highway. A short distance up is the Craft Cooperative,



And the Peace Memorial Building ("Peace 'Mo")

Back Street West

The hospital and Botanic Gardens are to the west of the cathedrals, but it makes a long walk; so we'll return along Back Street.





The western extention of Back Street is primarily small scale retail.



The center of Back Street is marked by the court and Parliament House.




It is a striking example of colonial architecture.




Behind the courthouse is the prison. And a movie theater.

Catholic Cathedral







When I get back I'll add more to this blog because my references are in St. Vincent and I am in Massachusetts. In the meantime enjoy the eccentric architecture





Catholic Cathedral

Anglican Cathedral (b)

The more noticeable memorial plaques are for politicians or other prominent citizens




And are in a variety of styles.




The church grounds constitute a graveyard that is still in use.




One of the more interesting artifacts is the stained glass window of the "Red Angel". It was commissioned for a royal palace, but Queen Victoria was "not amused" by an angel not dressed in white. After a tenure in the royal storeroom it was presented to St. Vincent.

Anglican Cathedral (a)

Across Back Street is the Anglican Cathedral. The Church of England is the state church of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.



The interior architecture is plain, but there is some opulence in the details. The sancuary walls are covered with memorial plaques.



The chandelire is striking. Below it, now covered by a carpet runner, is the memorial to the british officer credited with killing Chatoyer, the carib chief who is now the first National Hero of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.




There is an interesting lectern and other decorative pieces of liturgical furniture.



Includinf a baptismal font.

Methodist Church

As we reach the end of the block on West Middle Street we find the Kingstown Methodist Church.



The church itself is built in a very severe style




An extra meeing hall and service space was recently added



The interior has a unique lectern.





The steeple blew off and was not replaced.

Middle Street West

Leaving the center along Bay Street west we pass other stores until we reach the first street to the right. We can turn under the arches along the newly built Ace Hardware whose architect paid tribute to the traditional Kingstown style.




We walk one block and turn left onto middle street. On the left we pass the Public Library. This will be housed in its own building in a few years. It has a contemporary engraving of a Brunias painting among other works of art.



Middle street west retains some examples of colonial era urban architecture, some worse for wear




After a block turn right to back street to view the major churches.




This is a typical style of an urban house. It has a store or warehouse on the ground floor with living quarters above it. The living quarters typically jut over the sidewalk and are supported by arches. The structure is clear in this example because it was mired in litigation and the termites ate all the wooden parts.

Bay Street (West)

Since it costs less to sell on the street than it does in the market (street vending is no longer exactly legal, therefore it is free) there are still lots of street vendors. Most of the vendors with wagons or stands are selling drygoods. The vendors with vegetables from their own or neighborhood gardens usually have a dropcloth on the ground.



In front of the market is a small area containing the "Iron Man", a metal statue on a plinth that records the war dead since World War I.




The block to the west of the market has a supermarket and hardware stores.




On the Bay side of Bay Street is the Bus Terminal and the meat and fish markets.

Bay St (Center)

This area, the center of Bay Street in the east-west direction, can be considered the urban center of St. Vincent, The Administration (or Finance) Building has the Prime Minister's Ofice and other units of the government. It is modern and built on filled land.




The Police Station and Immigration office is classical Victorian Colonial Architecture. If you are staying long you'll get your visa renewed there.



The market builring is quite new. The ground floor is the food market (see below), the first floor has stalls for dry goods, the third floor has some botiques and the top floor a restaurant.



A displsy of vegetables, mostly imported.