I recently returned from a fabulously relaxing week in Aruba...I'm a huge fan of the Caribbean but this was my first visit to Aruba...Aruba is located about 15 miles just off the coast of Venezuela and about 40 minutes from the Equator...
Besides completely going "off the technological grid" for a week with my family...and enjoying all the great things about a great beach vacation...
long beach walks, afternoon pina coladas, reading great books under a palapa, paddleboarding, fresh coconut and fish daily
we also got a rare treat to visit a private island where we snorkeled with a variety of amazing and colorful fish...but especially these extra large blue parrot fish...
We went to dinner one evening at Papiamento Restaurant and I smile just thinking about it...what a treat! The 126 year old Aruban "cunucu" house surrounds a pool and is filled with wonderful European antiques. The garden is lush and rambles with several "secret spots" as well as "out-buildings" that house a wine cellar, bathrooms, a bar and special dining spaces...
The sexiest Brazilian music (my fave) was playing live when we entered through a romantically lit path..the entire garden and home is surrounded by a stone wall...
and this is what I saw upon entering...the pictures just can't do it justice...it was sensory overload...the music, the smell of the food and flowering trees, the tropical breeze and the full moon...with my favorite music playing...I felt like I was on a movie set! It just couldn't be real...but I was delighted!!
The restaurant took it's name from the culture of Aruba. Papiamento is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao). It is a language derived from African and Portuguese languages with some influences from American Indian, English, Dutch and Spanish...although Papiamento is spoken primarily in Aruba, Papiamentu is spoken on Curacao and Papiamen on Bonaire...all similiar versions.
Dining throughout all the interior spaces of the home is available as well...and of course...I wanted to take a few pics..but we had a poolside table in the garden...after the Winter we've had I insisted we eat "al fresco" every day....and especially here!
The wine room...
The moon was full and the flowering trees above us gently dropped beautiful blossoms into the pool and not into our food...did I say magical? Nature at her finest that evening!
Little seating areas and potting stations were scattered here and there...
A couple terracotta pots stored several umbrellas in case of rain which they informed me happens rarely...interesting roof lines created artistic vignettes...
A garden gate...and another view around a corner...
The outdoor bar...
The ladies room...
Another little dining nook...under a pergola...
and other seating around the garden...
I wanted to take these topiary with me...
My son and I dining in one of the most magical places I have ever experienced...so unique...so un-fussy..aging so beautifully...
The older I get the more I appreciate aesthetics that are perfect in their imperfection...things that just work because they do...when it doesn't appear as if everyone tried too hard and designed and manicured everything beyond believability...
It is difficult to explain...you'll just have to visit!
When you enter on the beach there is a covered pergola where you can sit and wait for your table and enjoy a cocktail and put your shoes on a shelf... this is a first...NO SHOES for service!
We ate barefoot as the sun set...
what a wonderful ending to an incredible week!
It doesn't get much better than this...
XO Emily
just gorgeous, all of it !
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