Up at Villa Sea Glass: Chapter 6 - Exploring St. John's, the capital city of Antigua

St. John's is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda. With a population of 81,799, St.

John's is the commercial centre of the nation and the chief port of the island of Antigua. So we

caught a bus and, as ever, it provided another joyful meeting with Antiguans. This time, we met

Leslie and his mother. From his headgear, which probably covers dreadlocks, I have to assume that Leslie is Rastafari. Leslie and mother are off to enjoy a day together.

The following paragraph is from Wikipedia where there is more interesting detail of this movement:

Rastafari is an Abrahamic belief which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Its adherents worship him in much the same way as Jesus in his Second Advent, or as God the Father. Members of the Rastafari way of life are known as Rastafari, Rastas, Rastafarians, or simply Ras. Rastafari are also known by their official church titles, such as Elder or High Priest. The way of life is sometimes referred to as "Rastafarianism", but this term is considered offensive by most Rastafari, who, being critical of "isms" (which they see as a typical part of "Babylon" culture), dislike being labelled as an "ism" themselves.

Their belief prohibits the cutting of hair and it is frequently worn in dread locks and sometimes covered by a cap. This movement started in Jamaica in 1930 where they are now estimated to have 100,000 members.

Once in St. John's we walked to the area which contains the public administration buildings.

We noticed this cow on the other side of the busy street, all by herself, until she wandered into the waste land and an egret joined her.

At the Antigua-Barbuda Parliament Building

Outside the Antigua & Barbuda Parliament Building

With Deva at the Parliament Building

We returned to watch parliament in session the following Monday. Photographs were not allowed which was a pity, since it was a very lively debate concerning the tax on gasoline.

Antigua and Barbuda has a long history of free elections, three of which have resulted in peaceful changes of government. Since the 1951 general election, the party system has been dominated by the Antigua Labour Party (ALP), for a long time was dominated by the Bird family, particularly Prime Ministers Vere and Lester Bird. The opposition claimed to be disadvantaged by the ALP's longstanding monopoly on patronage and its control of the media, especially in the 1999 general election. The most recent elections to the House of Representatives were held on 12 June 2014. The Antigua Labour Party government was elected with fourteen seats. The United Progressive Party has three seats in the House of Representatives.

St. John’s Cathedral, also known as the St. John the Divine, the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, is an Anglican church perched on a hilltop in St. John’s, Antigua. It is the seat of the Diocese of the North East Caribbean and Aruba in the Church in the Province of the West Indies.

The present cathedral with its imposing white twin towers was built on a fossilized reef, in 1845, and is now in its third incarnation, as earthquakes in 1683 and in 1745 destroyed the previous structures. The iron gates on the south face of the church are flanked by pillars displaying lead Biblical figures of St John the Divine and St John the Baptist. They were "taken" by HMS Temple in 1756, from a French ship destined for Martinique. (Wikipedia)

The cathedral is being renovated, but every now and again the lack of funds halts the process. The cemetery is very neglected. Such a pity, since I noticed several grave-stones dating from the early 18th and 19th century.

This is Morrell, who lived for 30 years in England. A truly delightful lady who volunteers at the cathedral gift shop

Bougainvillea everywhere

A visit to the Antigua and Barbuda Museum

Darrell at the controls!

Early fire engine

I absolutely loved taking photos of the women of Antigua, and occasionally the men,

and they always enjoyed posing for me

This is Pauline. She worried she looked too gaudy.

I said "No way."

We walked over to the harbor area, where the large cruise ships dock and where there is a large shopping area. We found an area, not on the general duty-free street, but nearby where the shops were very enticing.