Hey everybody!
It’s been a few months, but I’m finally making time to do a
bit of writing. There are always
weekly adventures, but I must NOT neglect to write about October of last year when,
for the first time since I started this
job over 3 years ago, MY MOM AND DAD CAME TO AN ISLAND TO HANG OUT WITH ME! Here’s a bit more on the Jim-ventures and
Kathy-ventures in Bermuda:
I landed in Bermuda a few days before my parents so that I
could do some work selling those tools, and when they arrived we spent 5 days
together in Bermuda.
There are such colorful houses all over the island! This picture on a rainy day doesn't do them justice, but it still shows so much color:
On day 1, Dad and I climbed the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Tower,
which was a short walk from our hotel.
The first cultural experience was the walk to the tower. Bermuda roads are extremely skinny with no sidewalks, and so cars get pretty
close. Plus, walking against traffic
means walking on the right side of the road (Bermuda drives on the opposite
side as the U.S.), so there was a little confusion about what side to be on and
concern for our safety whilst there were no sidewalks, but I reminded Mom and
Dad that we have to live on the edge or we take up too much room…haha. Here’s a picture of my dad and me at the top
of the lighthouse with the beautiful 360-degree view. That big, pink building in the background is
our hotel:
I chose Bermuda for my parents’ island destination because
1. It is my favorite island to spend time on and 2. There is loads of history
there. My dad loves history – when we
were younger we went to historic forts and watched battle reenactments on many,
many, many occasions. So, in Bermuda we
were able to check out 4 different forts – Fort St. Catherine, Fort Scour, Fort Hamilton and a fort in the parish (a parish is like a state) of St. George's . Here we are in our favourite (in Bermuda just
like in Great Britain, you spell favorite
with a ‘u.’) fort, Fort Scour :
And here we are eating the famous Art Mel’s Fish
Sandwich. It’s more like the Art Mel’s
Fish Sandwiches – like 3 in 1, it was so gigantic. It consists of fried fish, tartar sauce,
tomato, coleslaw (on the sandwich) and cinnamon raisin bread (4 slices/sandwich). It is DELISH.
My Bermudian friend, Melissa (whom I’ve wrote about in a prior blog
post!), picked up the sandwiches and met us at Fort Hamilton to sit inside and
attempt to conquer the Art Mel’s Sandwiches:
One of the most unique experiences that I get in Bermuda
each time I go, and that I think was fun for my parents (after the fact) is
renting and riding mo-peds to get around.
Bermuda controls the road traffic congestion very well on the small 21
square-mile island, so as a tourist you can only walk, bus, taxi, or rent a
mo-ped! My dad, being an avid Motocross
racer in the days before I was born, was excited about it and did really well,
although I think the driving-on-the-left-side for the first time ever and on very
narrow roads caused a bit of tension. And
my mom did really well, too. We rented a
double-seater because I knew that if she had her own mo-ped, she would be doing
wheelies and causing trouble… Here we are!
Bermuda has 7 golf courses squeezed onto the 21
square-mile island, so of course my dad and I hit the links a little! It was my first time golfing in Bermuda and
it was gorgeous, overlooking the ocean.
I blame my terrible game on the beautiful (and distracting) views. Here we are, and there is our light ‘Bermuda
pink’ golf cart!
While we golfed, mom took the ferry into town (Hamilton)
from the hotel. Bermuda is shaped like a
fishhook, so you can cut across the sound to get from one part to another via
boat much faster than driving around via car. She did some shopping and honed
her photography skills:
It's not Bermuda if you don't spot a gentleman in Bermuda shorts. They are alive and well and true to the title:
We conquered both ends of the island – the Royal Naval
Dockyard one day and then St. George’s on another day, which are on exact opposite ends of
the small fishhook-shaped island. St.
George’s had a reenactment going on of ‘dunking the town gossip’ in the sound
and also had lots of cute shops, a church from the 1600s, made of Bermuda
Cedar, and lots of beautiful and very old Bermuda-style buildings.
Look at this cool gecko that we saw!
Finally, on our last day, a Sunday, we spent time with who I
call my Bermudian parents – Hilda and Carlos – who are around my parents age. Hilda and Carlos were both born in the Azores
- Portuguese islands off of the coast of Portugal, and like many Azorean
Portuguese, immigrated to Bermuda with their parents to farm the land and be
able to make a living. Hilda is your
wonderful, beautiful, typical Portuguese woman who makes sure everyone is happy
and is a master in the kitchen. They
invited us to their house for a traditional Portuguese-Bermudian breakfast, and
like always when I eat Hilda’s cooking, we ate way too much: Portuguese
potatoes, codfish, chourico (sausage), bacon, quiche, and homemade rum cake
(Hilda is known for her rum cake in Bermuda).
Hilda and Carlos live in a beautiful, traditional Bermudian
cottage in an area of the island called Spanish Point. It was so wonderful to be able to have my
parents spend time with the people who are like my island family in Bermuda:
Hilda, Carlos, and Melissa. And being able
to eat what the locals eat and converse with the locals – it was so….you know
my favorite word … so CULTURAL!!!
I am
very grateful that my parents were able to experience this wonderful, 'Bermudaful' place!
Until next time!
-Anna Banana
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