My 40th birthday in Barbados

How is it that I'm celebrating my birthday in Barbados? That's a legitimate question. Well, Corona threw a wrench in our plans this year, like it surely did for many others. Our trip to Spain Valencia fell into the water because of it. But that doesn't mean we're staying home, of course. We spontaneously got the chance to fly to Barbados, and to top it off, for my 40th birthday. YES!

The only requirement was a negative corona test. We did as we were told, went to our family doctor, and requested a negative test, which we promptly received. The next day, we got the result by email, and that was the starting signal for our trip.

Chur to Zurich Airport

So we packed our bags and left Chur very early in the morning by train to Zurich, to the airport. The journey there was already very relaxing. We sat in the still-closed dining car and therefore had it to ourselves. Upon arriving at the airport, we first had breakfast and then checked in our luggage. They would be sent directly from Zurich to Barbados, the woman told us. Perfect!

We move on to the security check-in, of course forgetting to take out our laptops again, so it takes us twice as long there. Until we finally get to the gate, where the first temperature check is already waiting for us. Yay... our oldest was a bit bothered by it, otherwise everyone else doesn't really care.

Toronto (Canada)

Our flight to Toronto is a dream. We're on a Dreamliner (Boeing 787-9), designed for 290 people. In our cabin (there are 4 cabins in total), there's only one other woman. We have so much space as a result. For the next 9 hours, there will be more crew members on board than passengers. Convenient! The service is also excellent. We're being waited on hand and foot, and the time is flying by with movies and snacks.

Having arrived in Canada, we learn what border protection truly means. Entering the country, which we stubbornly try to do and finally succeed, was not easy at all. Fortunately, we have our tickets to Barbados for the next day and can credibly assure them that we will be moving on. REALLY! We don't want to go to Canada... NO! We want to celebrate my 40th birthday in Barbados. Period.
After a good two hours and a lot of paperwork, we finally entered the land of limited opportunities and could continue to our hotel. However, we weren't allowed to bring our sandwiches into the country. WHAT? 🙂 (Ed. note: Days later, at the hotel, we actually met a Swiss man who wasn't allowed to leave the airport.)

The airport hotel is two metro stops away from the terminal. Our kids are screaming, „Look, there comes the gondola!“ So we take the gondola, uhm... metro, and off we go. Even though everyone on the plane got plenty of sleep, we're tired and exhausted and fall asleep here at 6 PM.

Toronto to Barbados

The onward flight to Barbados involves some temperature checks again, but otherwise goes smoothly. Leaving Canada seems relatively easy. The flight takes a short 5 hours and everyone is looking forward to the island. Upon arrival, there's another temperature check and we get to show our COVID test for the first time. We are divided into good (negative) and bad (positive) people and are allowed to follow the line of good people, crazy world 🙂

Even here in Barbados, entry takes a good hour, despite having visas and hotel confirmations. Different countries, different customs. However, we are warmly welcomed and taken to our hotel, where we then stand at reception about two hours after landing in jeans and long clothes at 31 degrees Celsius, armed with our first rum punch. Yummy!

The Crane Resort

I've had to disinfect my hands once or twice in Switzerland, but here I've already done it 50 times. But it doesn't matter, that's what rum is for, and as we sip our first glass, we learn that we have to go into quarantine for now. Bingo. But we knew that, and that's why we also brought the Crane booked. Here you simply have to quarantine for a week and can then have a second test done. However, since we didn't want to quarantine for a whole week, we quickly booked a second test for the next day and were „free to go“ exactly 48 hours after arrival. The test must of course be negative.
Guests who do not ask are quarantined for 7 days. Yes yes, that's how the world works right now.

Quarantine at the Crane, by the way, means you can only use two of the seven restaurants and get your meals delivered to your room for free. All other guests have to pay $15 for room service. Also, we're only allowed to use one single pool, not the other three. That's a REAL shame.

By the way, you can also get delicious Swiss ketchup here. Who wants Swiss chocolate or cheese when they can get the original and typical Swiss ketchup here. Was it Columbus who passed that on, or what? 🙂

My 40th birthday in Barbados

Just in time for my birthday (www.141080.com <- my old domain for this page here *lol*), So, for the first time, we're going to the restaurant for breakfast and notice that while the view here is significantly better, room service is quite pleasant, especially with the kids. The food is super delicious and there's a lavish and healthy breakfast. Oh yeah, they even take our temperature here again. Very caring. You really don't need to go to the doctor for preventive care here. Top-notch!

After breakfast, feeling refreshed, we head to the beach. An elevator takes us down the cliffs to Crane Beach. Here we enjoy the day with sunshine, playing with the kids, splashing in the sea, and a wonderful view of the cliffs on which the resort was built in 1887. In the afternoon, we went for a wellness treatment and had coffee with a great panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean.

We'll let the evening wind down comfortably in our room with a fine dinner. Since we kept our quarantine room because the suite is so nice, we can continue to use room service.

Conclusion

Here in Barbados, people are taking great care of us. In general, traveling these days is much more relaxed than people told us. Everyone is helpful and friendly. Barbados and Crane are also great for celebrating a birthday, so I'm starting the next 40 years happy and relaxed 😉

Thank you all for the numerous congratulations in so many ways!

Here are a few more snapshots from our trip.