1. Free WiFi!
There’s free WiFi in Willemstad! All around the capital, in Punda as well as Otrabanda, you can surf the net for free. The network is conveniently called ‘Curaçao Free WiFi’. There’s a few hick-ups here and there depending on where you’re standing in the city, but all in all it works fine.

2. Polka dots
Traditional houses in Curaçao have a special feature in the kitchen: white polka dots on red walls. Can you guess why? Flies and mosquitos detest them! The dots make their heads spin, so they stay out of the kitchen. Clever!

3. The real deal
If you buy a bottle of Blue Curaçao in your home country, chances are you’re not drinking the original stuff… The only place where you can get the real deal, is on the island of Curaçao and a select amount of stores in the USA. So how come bottles of Blue Curaçao are available all around the world? Because the producers of the original drink never got a patent. As a result there are many, many imitations going around.

4. The shoe tale
Today you can cross the Emma bridge as many times as you like on foot, but until 1934, anyone who was wearing shoes had to pay toll (2 cents). As a result, wealthy people took off their shoes to avoid having to pay, and poor people who couldn’t afford shoes borrowed a pair from the rich and paid the 2 cents to cross the bridge, to maintain a sense of pride.

Read the full story, originally published in 2014, on Fractions of the World.