Airport Beach – Maho Beach; Saint Martin or Sint Maarten; however you like :)

in travel •  7 years ago  (edited)

Airport Beach – Maho Beach; Saint Martin or Sint Maarten; however you like

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I was thinking what should I write about for my first travel post. I wanted to start from some kind of beginning. My very important A topic will be a long story. So, I'll cheat a bit.

Saint Martin/Sint Maarten. Why this place?

Firstly, November 11th, known as St. Martin’s day, is an important day for this Caribbean Island, which got its name in the 15th century. According to the legend, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sighted an island on that day, while ˝discovering˝ the New World. (I’ve never agreed with the term ¨discovery¨).
There is Sain- Martin - the Franch part, and Sint Maarten - the Duch part of the island. Huge difference, isn't it?

Secondly, two months ago (beginning of September), category five hurricane Irma hit this island and damaged or destroyed, roughly 90% of it.


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Irma2017

And the third reason is that this is one of my favorite places!

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Surprisingly, France and the Netherlands have a common border. Not in Europe, though. Maybe they suffered to be close to each other and eventually there was the way. St. Martin is the smallest island divided between two countries, why it got a nickname The Friendly Island (or who knows what the main reason is ).

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Map

The area of 87km² is shared 60:40 in favor of France. Why not equal, there is a funny legend about it.
Apparently, there was a contest for a decision on their territorial boundaries. How many deals have been made by alcohol influence, this one was no exception.
A Frenchman drinking wine; a Dutchman drinking jenever (Dutch gin). When they were loaded enough, standing back to back, the French headed to the north, the Dutch to the south from the start point on the east coast of the island (Oyster Pond). The unwritten rule was - no running, just walking on the coastal line of the island.
The borderline will be created between the start and the meeting point.

The stories came about after France got most of the island (54 km² of 87 km²). The French walker was accused of cheating by running and making shortcuts. But he was defending himself pointing to the stimulant effect of the wine. The other part of the story is that the Dutchman got so drunk because of the higher percentage of the alcohol in the gin that he had to stop to sleep at some woman’s house. Guy had to do what he had to do.
Anyhow, I guess that this beverage contests still has its spirit over the inhabitants of the island, and even more, over the tourists.

The island has two capitals. On the French side is Marigot, on the Dutch side is Philipsburg.

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The island has a tropical monsoon climate, which gives a dry season from January to April and a rainy season from August to December. Still, it is never too hot, and never too cold. The perfect climate, considering temperature. Its location gives a fear of occasional Atlantic hurricanes.
The winter and early spring is the time to travel to St. Martin.

There are less than 80,000 inhabitants on the island, where more than 50% live on the smaller, Dutch territory. That is the part which I’ve visited.


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There is the 166-year-old school; the oldest school in St. Martin. Reading the name Oranje School in my language has a funny meaning (plowing) – which gave me a thought that it would be a perfect name for some agricultural school.

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Methodist church in Philipsburg.
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There is an anecdote that my boss (at that time) told me once:
Many workers were asking for few hours off on this island. The excuse was they had to go to the church. Ok, if that’s so, he couldn’t say no. After too many requests from the male workers, different nationality, and religion, he found himself confused and intrigued. Finally, he got an answer.
Still, I am not sure if the name of some specific place is The Church, or it is just a nickname for places which unsatisfied men visit for relaxing and being happy at the end

What to do on this island?

St. Martin is attractive for its perfect beach with white sand, warm water, tax-free shopping, night-clubs, drinking, drinking and drinking.

There is one of the famous beaches in the world called Maho Beach. The nickname Airport Beach was created due to its location, just next to the Princess Juliana International Airport, which is located on the Dutch side.
Juliana was a princess of the Netherlands who visited an island a year after the airport was opened.

Airport Beach

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It wouldn't be so wonderful if there is no some kind of danger. Every day (during the high season), there are big aircrafts with the powerful jets, which can blow you away. Recently it happened that a woman died when this strong jet’s air had thrown her on the concrete.
Tourists are warned about this danger and suggested to hold tight on the fence or stay sited on the ground.

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Sky over the Maho/Airport Beach

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This beach is so popular among the tourist that the nearby bars and restaurant have an arrival schedule on TV screens or boards :)


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Where ever you go you can find some delicious food:


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shrimps

Honky Tonk bar

Definitely the hotspot for the crew members who are coming from different cruise ships.
It is one of the furthermost bars on the beach, but it had its charm. Had? It is destroyed recently. It is a crazy feeling that I’ve actually cried like I lost a family member.

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HonkyTonk

The place was average. It had an exquisite view, like every other place on the beach. It had tasty, American style food, always stoned waiters, but the best atmosphere around. The balance of energy made it so amazing. Going back to this bar, over and over again, it was like a visit to a local place with old friends.

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Going back to the port, I found this sign:

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Get Wet Beach Bar was the highlight of the season. After a long time away from home, I had a homemade food, Balcan style, made by owners who came from Serbia. The world is so small :)

stuffed paprika and mash potatos

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This was a running through the island so you could get a picture of its beauty. Since I promised myself to post it ASAP, I will bring it to the end, hoping for your reply.

Thanks for reading

!steemitworldmap 18.039850 lat -63.120811 longlong One of the best beaches in the world! is here! d3scr

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apner article ti amar khub valo legeche.

In Enlgish, please :)

very pleasant scenery :)

Thanks, @yousep

I shall resteem this. Hope you get a view or 2 more out of it.

Excellent report @sun-flower, congrats to the first significant reward breakout!

Честитам Ивана, прва одлична награда! Настави само и нека ти не буде тешко да шаљеш исте текстове и на српском, исплатиће ти се :)

Rečeno mi je da pišem i na srpskom, tako da ću da poradim i na tome :)
Hvala na podršci!

Very beautiful, well-written post, with amazing pictures. One thing that I think needs improvement is that the images should be alligned in the centre. Other than that, this is a fantastic post :)

Thank you for the suggestion.
I will find a way how to do it. It is my first post, but I want to make it better :)

Easy to do that.

at the beginning of text and
at the end of text and that will center whatever you enclose.
Btw nice payout so far for the first post.

It was stressful :)
I'm not familiar with all these posting details. Hope it will be easier when I figure it out.
Good start. I am happy, yeeeeeey :D

Just posted stuff about st. Croix. Check it out. I am hard pressed to find the time to make it as beautiful as yours. You may enjoy it.

Thanks for telling me.
I will check it out, for sure.
Now I am even thinking if I've ever been there...

То се ради овако @sun-flower Ивана — текстови или слике које треба да буду центриране пишеш овако:

<center>Ово је центрирани текст, исто важи и за слику</center>

Prepravljala sam tekst noćas. Nisam imala mira dok to nisam našla kako se centrira i odradila ga.
Dosta je detalja ovde na kojima treba da poradim i da ih provalim.
Svaki komentar, pozitivan ili negativan, dobro je došao! ;)

Congratulations @sun-flower, this post is the second most rewarded post (based on pending payouts) in the last 12 hours written by a Dust account holder (accounts that hold between 0 and 0.01 Mega Vests). The total number of posts by Dust account holders during this period was 3461 and the total pending payments to posts in this category was $584.94. To see the full list of highest paid posts across all accounts categories, click here.

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Thanks @bitgeek :)

Wow cool! Looks like a great time!

I recommend it for vacation. Maybe not now, after the hurricane attack, but it can be on TO DO list.
Thanks!

Fantastic trip - like I was with you @sun-flower :)

You are always in my heart :D
Imagine that you were with me @ladysnowhite

I know that! :* It's not hard to imagine - lots of laugh, sympathetic misfortunes and twisted stories :D

Is it in Dutch?

Hey @sumsum007
This is one of the Caribbean Islands, the Atlantic Ocean, close to Cuba.
The island is a colony shared between two European countries, France and The Netherlands long time ago (17 century)

What a beautiful post. You certainly seemed to have enjoyed it. You would expect the damn frecnchie to fall into a woman’s lap first but strange things happen. The legend is true though. You should visit the French side next. If you take my suggestion, stay at grandcase beach resort. You will love it. I shall be following you. Look up Juliana airport landings on YouTube.one of the most dangerous airports in the world.

Thanks for the suggestion.
Maho beach (just next to Juliana's airport) - been there, done that.
That was on my Bucket list :D
See you, @nedspeaks

I envy you! 😀

Welcome @micika987

Good photos, I am a photographer, it passes for my blog and sees my content, I hope that it should be of your taste, you have my vote :D greetings

I will check you :)
Thanks for vote, @sorn1992

Congratulations @sun-flower!
Your post was mentioned in the hit parade in the following category:

  • Pending payout - Ranked 2 with $ 62,59

I like that :)
Thanks for the notice ;)

A nice post is all nice to have to experience

Giving you options to think about for your next vacation :D
Thanks

Wow....awesome post- great photos...I remember it well.... and some great bars and beautiful women..lol
Thanks a lot for sharing.
I upvoted and resteemed.

Thanks for the support.
About the women... you can see eeeeevrythig there :D
And you've just reminded me on some funny street singers (If you've visited this place, you couldn't miss that joy :D )

Nice article, love it :) come see mine, it's about travel too

Thanks, I will check it out ;)

Very good post, a lot of information's and beautiful pictures. Keep a good work!

Thank you @dejan.vuckovic
Glad you like it :)