Spring Break 2013: BERMUDA

This past April, I went to visit Sofia Bianca Lama in Bermuda.  It was my first legitimate spring break trip EVER (it only took 17 years of education), and I have to say it lived up to all my expectations.  Not only was Bermuda absolutely lovely, I had the best time hanging out with Lama.  She has built a wonderful life on the little island in the Atlantic and has many charming friends.  Lamski is also a superb host-- she made sure I saw all the sights, did everything I wanted to, and generally ensured I had a blast.  She is the BEST.  And possibly was a dictatorial tour guide in a former life.

A few background facts about Bermuda... none of which I knew before my SB13 trip.  First, it’s pretty far north and it isn’t in the Caribbean. It’s basically as far north as North Carolina... who knew.  Therefore... it isn’t nearly as tropical as you’d imagine.  I stubbornly insisted it

was going to be warm and packed accordingly--a mistake of course.  It wasn’t cold exactly, but it wasn’t shorts weather without the sun.  whoops. Second, the beaches are PINK.  Not hot pink but a soft, subtle pink.  If you pick up a handful of sand, you can see the pinkness, which comes from the coral and shells and stuff.  Also, it’s a British Colony. So a lot of people speak in accents and say ridiculous British things.  There’s also a Bermudian slang which I can’t imitate at ALL (probably because I can’t really understand what’s being said).  Lama’s pretty good at it though.  Aaand, many people don’t drive cars but ride mopeds, scooters and motorcycles instead... and insist upon calling them bikes. Sidebar-this realization blew my mind.  Sofia’s brutal “bike” accident of this fall suddenly made a lot more sense with this understanding.

I’m going to handle this trip by positing bit-by-bit.  I was on the island for almost a week having the time of my life with Lama-and she really kept me on the hop.  So I can’t possibly cram this into a  single post without skimming over details and places and pictures. 

SATURDAY

I arrived mid-afternoon on a Saturday.  My flight left at some ungodly early hour, so I’d been up for ages and was incredibly tired.  Lama scooped me up from the itty bitty airport and we went on our merry way.  I quickly changed into shorts and we went on an island drive with Lama’s friend Earl.  I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the window! The whole island is just absolutely gorgeous--so green with the most stunning turquoise water,

OH! Island fact! People get their tap water from rainwater.  So all the roofs are white with these crazy layers which funnels the water into their water tanks.  I’m not totally sure how I feel about this green way of life, but took great pleasure out of the look on Mom’s face when I told her. Sheer horror.  But it’s gorgeous, because the walls are painted various bright colors with sparkling white roofs.

We stopped for a quick drink at patio bar in Somerset, where I experienced my first island

specialty: the Dark and Stormy. I am pretty sure it’s Rum and Ginger beer.  It was delicious.  We then headed off to the Sand Art Competition Award Ceremony (Which Sofia’s team won!) and then hit up a quick food festival and did an Earth Hour walk in Hamilton.  Earth

hour is an hour in which all power is supposed to be shut off and you’re supposed to do something eco-friendly. Pretty neat! Prior to the walk I was SUPER cold (see earlier statement about refusing to believe that it was going to be anything other than warm) and so we nabbed some fleeces. 

After the walk, I experienced the joy of “biking” (Ridiculous. it’s a scooter not a bike)  with Sofia.  Sofia’s bike is banana yellow! I rode on the back, and stayed as still as possible.  If I moved really at all she would yell at me.  Apparently they don’t balance well and a wiggly passenger makes it hard to drive.  You know what’s hard? Trying to stay perfectly still when you’re trying to see EVERYTHING and your helmet is really heavy.  Don’t worry though--we didn’t die and I figured out how to stay mostly still.