The only trace of modernity in Dominica's capital, ROSEAU (pronounced rose-oh), is its lengthy, tidy waterfront promenade, Bay Front . Otherwise, the compact town is a colourful assortment of ramshackle West Indian colonial houses with louvred windows, intricate fretwork, and sagging second-floor balconies held up over narrow streets by stilts. Despite the town's obvious poverty, it's a remarkably atmospheric place to stomp about: the roads get narrower as you head in from the harbourside area, passing covered markets and distinctive cornerhouses .