The Floating Bridge That Moves!
Our next adventure in Curaçao takes us away from the beaches to the main city, Willemstad to visit the floating Queen Emma Bridge. It is a long bridge that connects one part of the city to the other and also happens to literally open up for sea vessels to pass through. We were lucky enough to be there when a vessel was passing and got to see it opening! This was so much fun to walk across and do photography with. The waters within which the bridge floated was extremely clean and the sites and beauty of the city was amazing to capture.
The journey starts at the capital city Willemstad. It is a relatively small city that has very narrow but clean and beautiful cobbled roadways that are meant for walking and very suited for tourism. This meant that we had to park our rented car outside the main city area and walk past those orange roof colored buildings you see in the image above to get to the Queen Emma Bridge.
We walked for around 10 minutes through the wonderfully painted Dutch style buildings (which we will cover fully in a later post) until we came to an opening which was the end of the buildings on this side of the city and where the bridge was located. This junction had a lot of tours and tourists (as well as all of the streets too) as well as restaurants and street food.
This was also where the famous and iconic line of colorful dutch buildings can be found. I managed to get a good few shots of the them while close up but the more fuller shots were gotten later once we were on the bridge and we put some distance between us!
In the photo above, you can see the bridge to the left and to the right are some canons that heralded the echoes of the past colonial era. The site of the dutch buildings, the bridge and the canons gave us a good idea of the remaining Dutch influence in the country as well as the culture it has resulted in.
To the left of the canons and facing the entrance of the bridge, there were these three large metal hearts that were burdened with locks where couples hoped to "lock in" their love. I did not expect to see this as when we were doing research on locations to visit, did not read about this and it was definitely a pleasant surprise.
I forgot to take pictures of the entrance specifically of the bridge but in the above photo I took with the drone, you can see the entrance with the canons to the left as well as what the whole ocean front looks like with its colorful buildings and Dutch architecture.
We started walking onto the bridge and immediately we could feel the ebb and flow as well as the ups and downs of the waves as they rose and dropped the whole pontoon bridge. It almost looked like boat like shaped floatation devices (I guess, pontoons).
The bridge itself seemed to be made of wood flooring and metal railings as well as arches. The whole length of it was filled with tourists taking pictures and making their way to the other side of the city across the waterway. The other side had way more shopping centers with high end stores where the cruise ships come in.
As soon as I got some distance away from the famous and iconic line of Dutch buildings that are on ALL of the souvenirs, I took the opportunity to get a more wide angled shot of the whole line of them. The lighting was perfect to showcase the colors and intricacies of the old structures.
As we walked along there was so much going on! It was amazing as to how many things there was to see as we traversed the bridge! A group of happy, loud, merrymaking folks passed by in this huge bus like tandem bike! It was almost alarming to be walking along minding your own business then to be almost run over by this in the GIF above! Luckily I captured it on video!
We finally got to the other end of the bridge after leisurely taking photos and videos and what it looked like can be seen in the photo above. There were even more colored Dutch influenced buildings that seemed to be more newly built than the others on the prior side.
A soon as we crossed the threshold on to the other side, there was this music busker who played the guitar so beautifully that we could not help but stop and listen for a while. I could not help but admire his resolve and endurance in such scorching hot sun! The Curaçaoan sun is relentless and we were already ready to run back to the resort for air conditioning yet here he was playing away!
There was a market on this side comprised of tents that had numerous varieties of colorful and vibrant clothing as well as cultural knick knacks and souvenirs that were the same buildings that we just saw on the other side.
Looking back I saw a magnificent view of the bridge as well as the iconic buildings and so I could not help but take a shot. We got to see the distance we had just traversed in the hot scorching sun and it made us feel very satisfied and content.
I could not help but admire the clean and clear waters of the harbour/ water way. Normally in cities around the world, and I've been to a good few, the waters are horribly nasty and/ or heavily polluted. These waters were so clean and clear you could see through to the rocks and no litter or pollution in sight!
While walking back to get to our car, we heard a scary loud and alarming bell go off. I could not at all guess what it was for and then It hit me! This was to alert the people who were still walking on the bridge (including me) to get off as it was about to open up to let a boat through! In the GIF above you can see it floating and sliding open like a hinged door. There were loud motor sounds that sounded like boat motors to propel the pontoons and open up the bridge! What an experience!
If you know me by now, you would now be expecting the drone shots so here they are! This was the first time I was photographing a city area at such a height in another country and I was very weary of passing aircraft. The first shot I took was of the entirety of the bridge but top down and it looked magnificent along with the beautifully colored waters!
I also flew back to get a head on angle of the iconic line of buildings. The photo came out so perfectly in my opinion and I got a souvenir of my own without having to pay for one! I saw a canvas of a similar shot in one of the souvenir shops that went for an insane price and I just may print my own!
All in all, the Emma Bridge was an amazing tourist destination to have checked out. The surrounding buildings and other things to enjoy that are influenced by the Dutch were also so much fun to investigate and capture. I was also extremely grateful to have been able to see the bridge opening. I was not sure that we would be there while a ship needed to pass through but the timing was just right and we got to experience everything! Thanks for coming along! Cheers!
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