Local dining: A must-try lunch is the rijstaffel ("rice-TA-fel"), an Indonesian smorgasbord of tasty meats, vegetables and rice dishes.

An elaborate rijstaffel may offer a dozen or more options so take small portions to sample as many dishes as possible.

Aruba's version of a cheese melt sandwich is known as keshi yena, a baked shell filled with Edam cheese and meat.

Best Shopping: For children, hollow tubes filled with seeds known as "rain makers" brought over from South America, along with walking canes and drums.
T-shirts, fanny packs and everything imaginable with colorful and tasteful Aruba logos.

Dutch chocolates really do melt in your mouth.

The better stores offer every imaginable type of Delft Blue china, particularly porcelain figures and figurines. The huge wheels of Gouda and Edam cheeses store forever in a refrigerator back home.

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