My day in Nassau started off with the kind of demonic Caribbean storm you see in movies and pray won't occur while you're on holiday. Great. We spent most of the morning peeking out of the balcony and wondering whether the lapse in rain was permanent and if not, whether we'd make it to the large shelter in time if we ran really fast.
We darted outside about midday and to our intense relief, the rain and lightning stopped for good. The sky turned cornflower blue again, and I was stunned at the difference. Nassau was not, in fact, a grey dump but rather a charming city, populated by pastel dollhouse-like buildings and straw-roofed bars.
After manoeuvring through the straw market, the first thing we did was grab a Bahamian Mama at a roadside bar. Obviously.
A nice stroll along the street revealed endless souvenir shops and bars. None of us were particularly interested in t-shirts with dirty messages or personalised shot glasses, though a pirate shop did manage to lure us in. I mean, who could resist an invitation from old Blackbeard himself?
We caught a taxi down to the famous Atlantis Paradise Resort. If you're a gazillionaire and/or Beyonce, you might fancy a night in the resort's Bridge Suite - at $25,000, it's the most expensive hotel room in the world. It was all rather glamorous, but as non-guests we were limited to the casino and shops. Basically, you're only allowed to access the places they can make money from you. Fair enough.
I won $15 on a machine in the casino, so who's complaining? My dad, granddad and I managed to sneak into the beautiful pond area, which is inhabited by various beautiful ocean-dwellers. They were soon joined by a children's snorkelling class, who were awed by the fish, stingrays, and sharks.
They had the coolest water park, complete with a slide that shoots you through shark-infested waters. This sounds like a terrifyingly brilliant experience, but we didn't get to go in the park.
When it comes to travelling, I'm more of an off-the-beaten-track than luxury holiday type person. But I have to admit, I did get a little bit carried away by the opulence and grandeur of Atlantis. The hotel itself was absolutely beautiful.
But for all the casinos and exclusive hotels, my favourite part of Nassau was provided by good ol' Mother Nature. And corny though it may be, whether we're in elite resorts or sleeping in shacks on an Indian beach, the sun and the sky and the sea will always be there.
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