At long last we have arrived to our
island paradise and things could not possibly be any better. The people are fabulous and welcoming, we are staying in some pretty nice digs until we find our own accomodation and we are behaving like tourists seeing all the sights. We keep forgetting we get to stay for the next few years and have to stop buying
Bermuda souveniers! Of course we realize that we are in the honeymoon stage here where everything is new and thrilling but I can't even begin to tell you how great a lifestyle change this is for us. We are spending so much more time out of doors and walking our butts off exploring these beautiful
Bermuda islands.
Everything has been going very smoothly. now that we have arrived. Even our initial entry into the country- We had heard horror stories about how much time it would take to get through immigration as first time residents and had pretty much resigned ourselves to spending 6 hours at the airport- Well, including paying duty on our goods that we brought with us, we were in and out in about an hour and both the immigration and customs officials were friendly and helpful. We were met at the aiport by a welcoming committee of my new coworkers and whisked away to a nice dinner to get acquainted. They are a great bunch of people ( To my former colleagues who might be reading this: Of course they are not anywhere near as nice as you guys.......)
Since we arrived we have been doing a lot of sightseeing, going to all the places you never would bother with when you live somewhere a long time. We have been to St. Georges on the east end of the island where we watched a re-enactment of old time punishment for gossiping- the dunking stool if you are a gossip or a nag. For the men, there was the whipping pole if you were a drunkard or for worse crimes, the stocks and pillory. St Georges is a UNESCO World Heritage site that was established in 1612- it has some amazing architecture and if you like history this place has it. It is the oldest continually inhabited English settlement in the New World with twisting alleys and colonial buildings. There are old fortresses and cannons everywhere. One of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen (so far) is on St Georges Island, called Tobacco Bay Beach- 
The town square has cobblestone streets and lots of cute little shops.
Another day we spent on the west end of the island at the Dockyards (Somerset parish- Sandys which is prounounced Sands)- its a 20 minute ferry ride or an hour on the bus ( Yes to my amazement it really does take an hour to get to the other end of the island due to the 21 mile per hour speed limit and the narrow, narrow roads. ) We have not yet gotten up the courage to rent a moped, having seen several car vs.moped accidents the last few days. It seems like you are really taking your life into your hands on a moped here and I think I will stick to the ferry for now ! The Royal Naval Dockyards is another area frequented mostly by tourists it seems, although there is a good pub there that the locals frequent as well as the tourists called The Frog and Onion - it is owned by a Frenchman (the frog) and an Onion ( Bermudian). This is another place steeped in history- its a former naval base that commenced construction in 1810, built primarily by British convicts (nearly 10,000 of them were sent to Bermduda to construct the naval base over a period of almost 50 years). Today its a shopping area for tourists as well as the home of Dolphin Quest where you can swim with the dolphins or go snorkeling at the Bermuda Snorkel Park which is pretty cool as the park sits beneath towering fortress walls and the water contains a few cannons that apparently were shoved over the ramparts when they were found to be defective. (Plus all the amazing fish like butterfly fish, coral chopping fish and turquoise wrasses!)
Hamilton is where we are currently based out of and where I will be working but we are not sure where we want to live. The rental agent taking us around is showing us all the different parishes and hopefully we will find something that meets all the items on our "wish list". Hamilton is a nice town, day time the population is in the thousands- this is where all the insurance companies and commerce is done. It overflows with cruise ship passengers during the week as well for days at a time until the end of October when the cruising season is over. Only about 1,100 people actually live in Hamilton so after five its like a ghost town almost. Its a really pretty city, lots of parks and charming buildings. We went to our first Harbour Night on Wednesday- the shops stay open late ( normally the close at 5 or 5:30 during the week, closed on Sundays) . Front Street is blocked off to all vehicle traffic- its kind of like the Lilac Festival with live bands, artisans selling their wares, all kinds of street food and was a lot of fun.) That goes from spring to the end of tourist season too.
Of course bargain queen that I am, I am already learning the ropes- today we spent the day at the beach at the Southampton Princess - I had been there before and knew that if I ordered lunch at the beach bar from the bartender that it was twice the price of getting off my bar stool, walking 20 feet and ordering it at the lunch counter and then bringing it back to my bar stool to eat (saved 12 bucks!) Eating out is pretty expensive here in general so if you can save a few bucks....... We are still experiencing sticker shock even though we were expecting it, it makes you think twice about what you are going to order for dinner. They have a lot of happy hour fridays here at the pubs and hotels with half price drinks and free appetizers at a lot of them, so those are a lot of fun and attract tons of people.- Free food- Count me in!
Examples of some prices so far- Add 15% tip that is automatic to all prices( you have to pay the tip whether the service is awful or excellent) So far we have seen a mixture of both although overall its been not too bad.
Diet coke- $ 3.50 is the best price so far in a pub, no refills to as high as $5.00. Beer is not too bad- between 6- 6.50 for a pint of Guiness or Samual Adams, Dark and Stormy is around 6 bucks too. (Rum and Ginger Beer- the national drink of Bermuda along with a rum swizzle.) Coffee is another story- Paying anywhere from 3.50-5.50 for a large coffee ( just a regular cuppa joe, nothing fancy at a coffee shop, about the same in a restaurant although sometimes you get refills, sometime you don't)- You see a theme here- its expensive for my bad habits, reasonable for my hubby!
Burgers seem to run anywhere from 12 and up, fish and chips about 15 bucks, house salad $8-12 depending on where you go. Lasagna- 15.95-18.95, steak sandwich starts at 20 and up. Keep in mind that we have been eating in pubs so far, no fancy restaurants where you can add a few bucks or more to those prices. Mostly eating fish so far as a lot of it is local and very fresh. ( Learning to like fish- had something called a Bonita or maybe its a bonito fish the other day- it was actually very tasty but its not all the cheap either) Breakfast has been running about 15 bucks which is not too bad. I haven't seen a steak dinner under $33 yet and actually have not had any beef or chicken yet,(usually around 25 bucks for a chicken meal) although I had some amazing lasagna the other day and cannolli for dessert that was better than any I have had anywhere else in my travels. One thing I will say though is that we haven't had a bad meal yet and the portions are very large so you do get pretty good value for the price.
What else can I tell you at this early stage- we love it, the weather has been outstanding- every day is a carbon copy of the day before as far as the weather goes and we were fortunate enough to miss Hurricane Florence and barely felt the effects of Helene as she went by the other day. Its around 82 in the day time and goes down to about 76 at night- not much difference between them. The golf courses are in excellent shape and as I write this I have just come home from the beach and am waiting for my hubby to come home from the golf course where he is thinking of getting a membership. No immediate plans to get a moped or a car- the public transit system here is fantastic and you can take both the bus and ferry for 55.00 a month and that gets you anywhere you want to go - I love taking the ferry. We have so many things we want to see and do - we are going to explore all the parishes and see what each has to offer, we plan to spend a lot of time on the railway trail, which is a walking path that goes from one end of the island to the other, the aquarium, the caves and of course do a lot of sailing and golfing. We have a couple guides for exploring the island and hope to have a blast.
