Willemstad is on the World Heritage List, and for good reason. The city contains many historic buildings and offers a view that nowhere in the world in this form can be found. Influences of Dutch architectural styles combined with the colors of the tropics have led to the characteristic cityscape on either side of the entrance to the natural harbor.
As a resident you tend to overlook this splendor. On May 9, 2012, I went to Punda with my camera, to see the city once again through the eyes of a tourist. Below are the results of this tourist walk from the parking place at the Waaigat, through the Breedestraat and the Heerestraat with a few excursions into the side streets.
- It looks like Willemstad is situated next to a river; this is the Waaigat, a part of the natural harbor
- Watermelons are being shipped to the floating market
- The backside of the floating market
- The head office of the Maduro & Curiels Bank in Punda
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- The Leonard B. Smith bridge, inaugurated on December 7, 2007
- The other bridge over the Waaigat, the Wilhelmina bridge
- Connection between Waaigat and the Annabay; on the other side Otrobanda (means "the other side")
- Outside of the Waterfort; mooring will no longer happen here
- Otrobanda as seen from the quay at the seaside of the Waterfort
- The quay is regularly flooded; because of the algae it is slippery
- The fort wall of the Waterfort with Otrobanda in the background
- The outside wall of Fort Amsterdam
- tree art next to the entrance of Fort Amsterdam
- Monument for the support of the Netherlands Antilles during the war
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- The text on the monument in Dutch
- The text on the monument in Papiamentu (local language)
- The Breedestraat; to the left the Penha building, in the past Sociëteit de Gezelligheid
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- The Carillon on the wall of the former Spritzer & Fuhrmann building
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- Breedestraat, other side
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- The gable shows that this building is from 1754
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- This building is from 1900 as the next picture shows
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- The Heerenstraat (side street of the Breedestraat)
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- Don't forget to look up, otherwise you will miss these beautiful gables
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- The postal museum is in a side street of the Madurostreet
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- Recently these murals started to appear at several places