Travel with JoY

P hase II Pan Groove Steel Orchestra, one of the leading steel pan orchestras of Trinidad was practicing, preparing for the first phase of competition which culminated in the national Steel Pan Championship, Panorama, in the Queen's Park Savannah in the capital city, Port of Spain. Pan orchestras are one of two reasons to put Trinidad on a life’s bucket list -- the extravagant bird population being the other reason.   The Steel Pan drum was created in Trinidad, originally from the 50 gallon oil barrels, cut, welded and tuned to create individual notes. They evolved into a full range of ‘instruments’ including smaller tenor drums with higher pitched multiple notes, double tenors, guitars, cellos and more — all steel head drums. Each large steel pan group consists of up to 125 players using anywhere from two to nine drums at a time. Each drummer's instrument is on a metal rack with the larger multiple drums on wheeled carts. In the pan yards, every night through Jan and mos...

with a wee bit o' help from old Jameson.... Grenada, the spice island, has a charming souvenir that is sold along the beachs and market stalls.  Mostly local ladies carry, over their arms, strands of necklaces made from the spices that grow on the island.  Although each artisan may have their own style and variation on the aromatic 'gems', typically at the center or base is a pendant of nutmeg and mace. O ften going up the , strand s ymmetricaly is ginger root, tumeric root, cloves, cocoa beans, cinnamon bark and folded bay leaves.  Annatto Pod and seeds in Jameson Whiskey Spice necklace "These are not for the kitchen", warns Charlotte, the Grendian. "They are to put in your bathroom or bedroom, to make them smell good," she touts.  "But you could use them in the kitchen, right?" "Oh yes" she affirms.  I suspect she takes this approach due to the fact that most people wouldn't know what to do with a nutmeg, m...