Well, I wasn't going to post this, but as Walk2dwater posted his Curacao note, I thought it might be more appropriate. Forgive me for the odd post, but it is money related .mostly.
In December of 2019 I made a visit to the Caribbean Island of Curacao. Even in December it is quite warm and I needed to apply liberal amounts of sunscreen to exposed skin. On the 5 Guilden banknotes issued in Curacao there is a bridge prominent in the center vignette. This is the Queen Emma Bridge, and one to be found only in Curacao.
Originally built in 1888 the Queen Emma Bridge is still in operation and is reportedly the only swinging pontoon bridge still in existence. It was restored in 2005-2006 and is now only a pedestrian bridge. The bridge was built by Leonard Burlington Smith.
There was music playing on speakers attached to the poles. Being Christmas-time, the songs were Caribbean-styled Christmas Carols. "Let it Snow" caused some laughter in the 80 plus degrees.
The pontoons are metal with wood slats for decking. Hatchways were left exposed.
Hinged on one end, the bridge swings open to let water traffic in and out. If it was only a small vessel, it would only open a little ways, allowing it to pass, and close again. For larger ships it would open fully.
A view of the bridge fully open for a large ship to pass by. Powered by outboard motors, a ferry will give people access to either side while the bridge is open.
Persons are allowed to be on the bridge while it is moving. I quickly jumped on when I heard the bells ringing in a warning that the bridge would be moving for a small pleasure boat to pass by.
I was surprised to find listed a Money Museum in Curacao. As the cities in the area are compact, we made our way on foot to explore the area and find the museum. A tourism booth was unaware of the museum at first, and then thought that it was probably closed down. Undaunted, we pressed on and stumbled upon the Central Bank.
Unfortunately they did not give tours and the gentleman at the front window reported that the money museum was down the road, but closed for now. But if it's just down the road, I'm going to see for myself. Sure enough, on the corner of Scharlooweg and Nauwesteeg we found the Money Museum, Yotin Korta. It was indeed closed for the foreseeable future.
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The street is quite interesting with many consulates and lining it. It was quite unfortunate to not be able to visit the museum, but it was still an interesting walk.
Later on we stumbled upon the postal museum. It was quite a nice museum with some few things to sell, and a nice exhibit, including proofs trials and printing plates. The owner/curator was a very nice gentleman.
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Despite the bust in the money museum and the Central Bank, we still enjoyed Curacao. I didn't even realize there was a money museum , nor the Central Bank until I was there, so no loss, really. Just a couple extra miles of walking that day is all. I would recommend that if you go there, you look up the website of the money museum to see if it is open during your visit.
https://www.moneymuseum.cw/home 
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Posted 12/20/2019 12:38 pm
to CCF!
