We're on our way back to Charleston, after our second week in Bermuda, all recovering from another several days of being out and about as much as possible. On Tuesday a group of us went to Hamilton, taking the local bus for about four dollars each way, all the way along the narrow and curvy roads and across a few bridges connecting bits of island to each other. Once there we wandered around the town on foot. We ate at a "proper English pub" (Brett's words) called the Hog Penny, which was really good. I had fish and chips, since it seemed appropriate. We visited Fort Hamilton, and explored all along the outer walls and the underground tunnels and passageways. Those dark tunnels were very stereotypically creepy, and probably my favorite moment of the day was when I made a loud noise from a dark corner and sent my friend John (our pianist) running for the exit with a high-pitched scream, taking a few of my other friends with him in a panic. On the very top of the fort was a big grassy area that we relaxed in for a while, which afforded a great bird's-eye view of Hamilton. On our way back down through the city we stopped at the main Cathedral to look inside, since it really dominates the townscape. It was beautiful inside, with a big organ as usual. John asked one of the groundskeepers if he could play the organ, and they were nice enough to unlock it for him. He has been a full time church organist before, and impressed everyone with a little mini-concert, which was so cool!
One night after all the shows were over a big group of us walked over to the beach to hang out. We somehow managed to make a little fire on the beach using mostly old palm fronds and a lighter, though it took us the better part of the night to succeed. At one point my friend Matt (singer) and I walked down to the other side of the beach where a group of Filipinos from the ship were cooking fish and squid. Going fishing in Bermuda and cooking it up is a favorite pastime of a lot of the Filipinos on the ship. Matt is half Filipino, and can understand (if not really speak) Tagalog, so he translated for me, and they invited us to eat with them. I liked their style of eating - everyone puts a plastic glove on one hand and just eats with that hand, no utensils needed. Afterward, you just slip the glove off, and you don't need a napkin either. I even liked the squid. The night ended up being a wonderfully unexpected cultural experience.
Yesterday, on our last morning here (we have to be back on board by 10:30am since we sail around 11:30) I went out with Beth and Mark from the cast to get breakfast ashore. I had asked around about options for a really good breakfast diner that would have the necessary pancakes, and several locals recommended Angeline's to me. It is a tiny, divey, hole-in-the-wall diner owned and run by a woman and her son, which you would easily walk right past if you didn't know it was there. So the three of us got up bright and early to check it out, and we weren't disappointed. The food was really home-cooked right in front of you, and the prices were decent. We will definitely be frequenting it more often. After eating, I stayed out on deck to watch us sailaway and leave Bermuda behind. But I really like knowing I'll be back next week.
The changes in our musical schedule this week ended up being pretty reasonable and worked out well. Our dixieland set got a great response when we did it out under the stars on the top deck, a bit later at night. Thankfully it wasn't windy up there, so it wasn't as difficult as it potentially could have been. Last night's variety show was also much better for us, since instead of all three guest entertainers squished into "one hour" which always went an extra half an hour, we had only two of them, making for the perfect length of show. Brett's section was also first, which allowed us to escape after the first half an hour, instead of spending half the show sitting behind the curtain waiting our turn. After everything, I think Candi's choices as cruise director have been pretty practical. Next week will be her second and last week in charge, but there will be some more changes since the cruise is only six days instead of seven. Only two overnights in Bermuda instead of three, but I think I'll manage. :-)
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