Unexpected International Vibe

Strolling down cobblestone streets, catching fragments of conversations in Dutch, it would be easy to imagine you’re in Holland, not on a Caribbean island 40 miles from South America. Part Old Country, part New World, Curaçao offers an atypical island experience. Willemstad’s sherbet-shaded downtown earned the capital city recognition from UNESCO as a World Heritage site. Over the past 500 years, European settlers and former African slaves have made Curaçao (pronounced kyur-a-SOW) a melting pot, drawing residents from more than 50 nations. But the former Dutch colony held on to its roots. “Curaçao kept its history, its story, its architecture,” says Shirley Geerman, who moved from nearby Aruba. “It kept its identity.”

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