SAVANNAH PARK

With a perimeter that stretches for 3.5 km, Port of Spain's Queen's Park Savannah is like an ocean of English turf that buffers between the busy, noisy streets of the city center to the south and the upscale neighborhoods of Maraval and Saint Ann's, with the very first lush foothills of the Northern Mountain Range in the background. The park was originally just a huge suburban pasture for the capital's herds, but was officially transformed into a public park in the early ^20th century, and even served as an aircraft runway before the airport was built. During Carnival, this gigantic lawn is packed with people and quickly turns into a field that looks like it's been freshly ploughed. This is where most of the official competitions take place, from the panorama featuring all the island's steel-pan orchestras, to the election of carnival queens and kings, calypso competitions and the children's carnival. But in normal times, it's a favorite spot for the capital's sportsmen and women. Every morning and early evening, Queen's Park Savannah is taken over by joggers and other aerobics enthusiasts who come to jump to the rhythm of frenetic music, released by one or two pick-ups. The others, the strollers who simply want a breath of fresh air, are not to be outdone, and all around the Savannah, people are running, walking, stamping their feet, wandering and hopping about. Towers of coconuts stored on trucks are waiting to be decapitated with machetes to refresh the thirsty crowd, and street vendors offer their popular "snow cones", little cups of crushed ice, flavoured with syrup, which you suck through a straw, more for the pleasure of the treat than to really quench your thirst. On the west side of Savannah (north of Maraval Road) line up the Magnificent Seven, the city's seven most beautiful colonial houses, which alone deserve a guided tour to learn the often fascinating stories of their builders and founders. Stollmeyer's Castle was the first to be built, followed by Queen's Royal College, Millefleurs, Hayes court, Ambard's house, Archbishop's Palace and Whitehall. Passing these mythical houses is a walk in itself, and will allow you to bring back exceptional photos like those of these seven wonders.