Bermuda - the long and shorts of it!

We sailed from Boston on time and had an extra sea day because the earlier mentioned route switch caused is to enter the U.S. more southerly route in New York.  Then back north to Boston. We had not been looking forward to an extra day when already so many were scheduled but the warming water and clear skies made it a very nice sailing day.

During the night between Boston and Bermuda I happened to wake up.  I think it was the unconscious recognition that something had changed.  There was no vibration and the ship seemed stopped.  My first thought was that the trip was jinxed and after the gangway fiasco now there was engine trouble.

I would have opened the balcony door to see if there really was change but Elva has the bed by the door.  If I had, I might have heard the whirring blades of the helicopter as a passenger was airlifted off to go to the nearest trauma hospital!  Apparently he suffered a more major condition, possibly heart attack, than the medical team on board could handle.  They 'stabilized' his condition and at 1:30 in the morning he and his wife were taken to safety.

In the past, on other cruises, it happened during the evening or the day.  An announcement is made to clear the fore or aft decks to allow for the helicopter to lower the basket, the paramedics are in it.  Then after securing the patient they use the basket to raise them to the hovering aircraft. We witnessed one airlift near Cuba.  As soon as we were past Cuban waters the Coast Guard was on the spot.  We could see the flashing lights in the distant night sky.  The whole operation is amazing to watch.

This night, I simply went back to sleep.  At breakfast, I commented on waking up, some others noticed the same thing.  The Captain did announce that the airlift was safely conducted but of course they don't tell who or exactly what happened.  He congratulated his medical team for doing a good job.  They did not say to where the person was evacuated.


All this would have been exciting or, at the very least interesting, had we been awake.  Now we were just glad it would not delay our 10:30 arrival to King's Wharf, Bermuda.  I had never been to Bermuda until a year ago April and then with the same ship.  That time it was Sunday and today it was a bank holiday.  They celebrate Portuguese Day.  Since we are not in a Bermudan city, but just near the Dockyard, we did not see any parades or parties.  Everything in the way of shops or museums, or things to do were simply closed.  Much like Sunday, last time!

Since Carol had never been to  this Calderic Rim before and I had only been here when it was closed, we decided to take a ferry to the capital city of Hamilton.  Okay, now that song is stuck in my head!


There was a little wait while we got our tokens for a day on public transport.  After the short ride directly across the caldera we went to our second information center of the day.  One option was to take a taxi around the city for a tour and even up to St. George.  We understood it to be fifty dollars for a two hour drive and tour.  Then we realized it was fifty an hour.  We went back to our original plan

First we had lunch.  Please note if you are coming here.  Bermuda is not in the Caribbean.  It is not a cheap vacation.  We checked out the menus of a few places.  Granted, it IS Bermuda.  But it is also off season.  But it IS a public holiday so not every restaurant was open.  However, $26 for a hamburger with an extra few dollars for fries and $4 for a Pepsi is not any of our ideas of what to spend for lunch!  Especially when not far a way is literally a boatload of food for which we have already paid.  A Silver sea luxury cruise ship was parked right at the main street, across from the restaurants.  I wonder how many of those passengers were buying lunch.


But the places were crowded so many were probably our fellow passengers.  Of course, there are a lot of lovely and even famous hotels.  We went to Bowl.  No not the game, but a noodle place.  Since I never know what I like and even noodles were $16, I just had a $4 diet Pepsi.  I definitely have eaten more on this trip anyway.  Also, just a side note, I generally walk more when traveling and end up losing weight.  It won't happen this trip.  Taking more elevators and shortcuts and actually,  most days having three sit down meals every day!  I don't know how Elva stays so thin!

We found a small wooden table, tucked away at the back, sort of behind the counter.  A large oscillating fan near the ceiling above the steam table moved the warm air around.  It was cooler inside than out.  When we finished we took turns using the tiny bathroom next to the dish washing room.  But we could not stay any longer to enjoy the ambiance.  We still had our plan to complete.

We walked up Front Street past beautiful pastel painted buildings with iron railed balconies of black or white. Narrow sidewalks made of 12 or 18 inch square blocks, or of bricks sloped one way or the other.  Scooters, motorcycles, and cars zipped along on the 'wrong side' of the street.  Pink buses with blue accents lumber down the roads.  Some have open tops.

Government building.

Cenotaph, obelisk, and war memorial all conveniently in the one gated yard of government offices.  The gate was open, so Carol and I walked in.

 

Hamilton is a very pretty island town, at least along the harbor.  Classic in a sense and Bermuda itself is a classic inspiration.  When William Shakespeare read reports of the wreck of the Sea Venture he was inspired to write The Tempest. Now a lot of famous movies are either shot here or themed here.

We made our way back toward the ferry to find the bus.  The station is just above the ferry landing by a couple of blocks up a very steep hill.  We had our tokens ready and waited about 15 minutes for the #10 to St. George.  I thought it would be fun to drive down the whole island which is small and fish hook shaped.  It wouldn't take long but for now we went east toward St. George.

There were three lovely ladies waiting on the bench.  Elva sat with them.  Carmen was well dressed and perhaps had been shopping somewhere or visiting a friend.  Next to her was a younger woman, Beatrice, who was wearing a penguin printed scrubs top.  I told her I loved it and that I had a daughter who loved penguins.  I asked if she was a pediatric nurse.  She replied that she worked with old people but that they like cheerful things.  I made some comment about her taking good care of her client indicating the first woman.  She put her arm on the ladies back and they both laughed.  "No, she is not my patient!"  I said, oh, they way you patted her back I thought she was.  The answer was that once you had talked with someone it was okay to reach out to touch them.

The  third lady, wearing a bright ink shirt as a jacket just laughed.  Her name was Lana.  More heavily set than the others she had her steel grey hair cut short and seemed very grandmotherly.  Now that the ice was broken we all chatted together until the bus driver came to open the doors of his already running pink vehicle.  All the waiting buses were running while parked.  I imagine it is better to do that to keep the air conditioning going than to stop it and restart it.

I had a definite feeling that these ladies had waited together on this same bench many times.  When pigeons scrabble-footed across the Plexiglas roof they never looked up although we all started at the sound and looked to see what was going on.  The ladies did not jump up to be first aboard but took their time.  They seemed to know that younger men, and girls would arrive at the exact moment our driver, David, took his seat.  I really enjoyed these few minutes of interaction with the locals who must lead ordinary lives despite living in an island paradise.

We  took seats at the front of the bus.  I had waited near the doors so that I could secure a first level seat for Elva.  The bus was small and about half the spaces were above the rear wheels.  On the first seats, facing each other, were three teenage girls and a boy.  The girls chattered away the whole trip, laughing, and sharing 'girl talk'.  They had back packs but there would have been no school today so maybe they were going home from the beach, or going to a beach, or had had a sleep-over or some other fun thing.

The ride was a bit jerky but the scenery was quite pretty. The driver had a playlist of his favorite island music.  But he did not play it too loudly.  I was on the inland side.  Once we were away from town the landscape opened up.  Well maintained lawns stretched up from the road side to large pale green, or blue, or pink houses.  Each had the typical white trim and white roof.  In Bermuda, roofs are white because they act as collectors of rainwater to fill the cisterns.  They appear to be very functional metal running in a stripey effect from peek to covered downspout..  The stepped roof design helps to purify the water and also makes it clear if there is a problem which would affect the water quality. More about the roofs of Bermuda.

As the bus stopped each time the bell was pressed people got off.  At only one place did one person board the bus.  As each of the ladies, Lana, Carmen, and Beatrice got to there destination they said good bye to us and wished us to enjoy their island.

When the driver announced that we were at the main stop for St. George, the ferry stop, we exited and walked the very narrow sidewalk down hill toward what looked to be the center of town.  We reached the sign for the King's Square which pointed to our right.  So we went that way and realized that although the busy street we had left was the artery of the island and city the heart was right on the water.  Small, closed shops, open restaurants and bars were strung like a shell necklace along the waterfront.  Music played, friends were gathered in laughing groups on benches under the shade of palm thatched roofs in front of the government house.  I think it is now a museum or community center since the capital moved to Hamilton..

You can clearly see here how the stepped roof I spoke of earlier can work.  The roof allows the rain water to zig and zag and flow across many of the pristine surfaces.

I had the feeling that the party would really start once the tourists left on the last ferry back to the cruise ships!

While we waited near the dock the saxophonist came over to talk to us while his CD played.  He introduced us to his friend who was waiting to great her guests when the ferry came.  Trish has an Air-B-n-B.  It is just one bedroom in her house but I suspect that a lot of people rent out their extra rooms and maybe garage apartments to make extra money during the tourist season.  I think that is a very long season, too!

The saxophonist is checking his phone under the canopy.

On the dock next to the boat gangway young men fished.  One in particular just had a line, no pole and he caught a couple.  A well dressed businessman, pressed shirt neatly tucked in and cinched by his tie, caught a fish.  Maybe his wife said, honey, on the way home stop and pickup some fish for dinner!  The coiffed grey hair, tan pants and tie with yellow shirt was just a funny juxtaposition to his extended hand carrying, by the tail, a silver - shining, wriggling fish!  Just a side note:  As I was trying to get pictures of the fishermen, all black men and all dressed in black, one noticed I was doing it and they all scattered except for the well dressed one but he just got in his car, with his fish, and drove away!

As the boat arrived the umbrellaed terrace of the restaurant emptied.  Everyone came, still carrying their plastic cups of drinks.  When we first got on board we went inside the spacious compartment.  It was so very freezing cold.  I checked out the upstairs and reported back that it was comfortable and that if Carol or Elva wanted to go up and then changed their mind they could use the stairs while the boat was moving.  Might not be a great idea but was allowed.  We all moved up top and to the back out of the reach of the spray.

As we left, night fell.  Stars overhead belied the clouds we had seen earlier.  Planes were ascending on our starboard side.  The St. George airport is right at the water but then everything is.  At the widest point, Bermuda is only five miles.  Crossing the caldera at this widest point and angle was bumpier than the shorter trip this morning.  But it was pretty quick and had we taken the bus back and changed in Hamilton again it would have been quite a long ride with not much to see at night.

Celebrity Silhouette seen from the ferry dock about 6:30 p.m. in November!

The ferry docks right by the ship so the walk to go aboard was quick.  We ate in the buffet so we didn't have to change clothes.  I wanted to go tot the show to see the comedian and to the late pool party where the Runaround Kids were going to be playing again..  Neither happened.  Elva got right up from dinner and went to the room to go to bed.  I think it was a lot of walking for her today and a full day out with no nap got to her.

Just as Carol and I were getting up to go, a couple sat at the table right next to ours.  Jeffrey is a lawyer and Joanne a nurse.  They didn't look as though they were married almost fifty years.  But Jeffrey like to talk even more than I do!  Every time we made a move to leave the conversation re-engaged and revved up.  He had a book he wanted to loan me and went to get it from his cabin.  It is about Magellan's voyage.  Then he started to give unsolicited legal advice.  This after asking us about different cruise lines and ports which is much more common talk among cruisers.  It was about 11:30 by the time we broke away.

Back at the cabin I showered.  Salt spray is sticky on you and really stiffens up your hair!  I read for awhile and our first day in Bermuda was over!