Bermuda! The Onion...the Shorts..the Triangle!

Good Morning, Bermuda!  A historic fort marks the edge of the island as we round up toward the e try channel.  It's barely 6:00 a.m. And no trouble getting up this day.  We have never set eyes on Bermuda and we can't miss the sight at first light!

And quite a sight it is. After picking up a pilot, it takes two hours to slowly wind our way to our docking spot right in front of the town of Hamilton....on yes, Front Street.  

The tug Faithful comes along our stern quarter for the last bit.

 

The starboard wing of the bridge is a busy place as the Captain, ship's officers and the pilot get us tucked snugly into what suddenly seems to be a very small spot.  Prinsendam is 669 ft. in length, leaving about 20 feet to spare astern and the bow fitting smartly to the forward end of the space.  

 

We supervise from deck 11...and then 9....and finally 7!

 

What a colorful place!  We're off to explore Hamilton with a first stop at the National Public Library for free wifi. It turns out with two other cruise ships landed out at the dockyard berthing facility, and many crew members too, it doesn't take long to totally overwhelm the system and render it useless.  We get off the few messages we want to send and take to the streets.

Oh my, the parks, the scooters, the friendly people, the interesting currency, the church windows, the boats, the maritime history.....

 

Queen Victoria's Park

Keep a watch when you cross the street....as the cars drive in the wrong side!  Which is the right side here, which ever side that is.  Note: there are no car rentals on the island of Bermuda.  Probably for good reason!

 

We walk a few enchanting alley ways.

  

Pastel colors are everywhere.  And scooters are everywhere!

 

We ask two Bermudian guys who look very local, "What's with the frog on the 20 dollar bill?"  Neither one of them had a clue.  But a fellow, who looked very much like a transplant piped up, "Oh, it's a national animal!  They are all about, very tiny and green...and noisy."  

In the afternoon we hop local bus number 7 and head for a pink sand beach.  The cost is about $3.00 each way.  Reaching the stop for Warwick Beach and Jobson Beach our eyes fall upon turquoise blue, BLUE water reaching up to BLUE blue sky, white tropic birds darting through the air....and then there is the sand....Pink, PINK sand!  We have seen beautiful beaches before, but the sight before us definitely the most beautiful so far.

 

 

 

 

Ok, so we could have spent the whole day going from beach to beach.  But then, you have to leave something for next time!  

 

Look who we find clinging to the rocks in the splash zone!  Chitons!  

Back to the ship for "All Aboard" at 4:30, but a quick stop for coffee by the harbor.  

 

As we slip out of the harbor, retracing our path through the same narrow channel we came through this morning, 

I am once again amazed at this big ship squeezing in between the channel markers, so simply.

 

Goodbye, Bermuda.  Next land in four days!!!

70/30, Let's Celebrate!

We are both 70 years alive, for 30 our marriage has survived!  Those are 2 good reasons to celebrate in our book!

But what to do to mark this time?  How about ticks off the bucket list?  That would be: cross another major ocean by ship and a cruise on Holland America's smallest vessel, the Prinsendam.  Well!  And so it happens....Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam in May.   Across the Atlantic we go!

As packing commences, Skipper and Sparky watch carefully.  The rolling duffles come out, piece by piece the clothing goes in....some comes out, the zippers zip up.  

It's strange to be leaving the dogs at home.  But, home they are and happy to be there.  They will hang out with Rob for the next three weeks.  

We are off on the morning ferry and manage to get through Seattle, to the airport, drop the car, through baggage check and then clear security....each step "without a hitch."  Amazing!  This leaves us at the inner central hub of SeaTac airport with two hours to spare!  We know nephew Andrew is also traveling through SaeTac today, so just in case, I try a call on my cell phone.  Bingo!  We are actually only a few 100 yards apart.  We share some lunch and have 45 minutes to talk before we fly off in different directions.  When does that ever happen?!

Our afternoon - evening - night flight from Seattle to Florida, via Atlanta is smooth.  

We have 31 minutes to make a plane change in Atlanta.  This is a huge airport and we arrive at the furthest gate "out" the concourse.  A fellow traveler who knows the airport well, kindly offers to guide us from E to A via our fast moving feet, an escalator, several swift turns, an underground train, two more turns and to our relief, we arrive just as boarding is about to finish.

 

Then, at 1:22 in the morning it's a taxi ride to the hotel as I remind myself it's really only 10:30p.m.at home, so why am I so tired? 

To be fair, there is SO much to do to leave on a trip, I wonder how we even managed to actually get off.  Yet, here we are.  Saturday, May 6th and we board The Prinsendam at 1 p.m.  

 

Yes, that is a ukulele on Steve's back!  How could we leave them behind?

 

Now to explore The Prinsendam!  From bow to stern she is only 669 feet long.  There are 835 passengers and 499 crew.  Everything resembles the other HAL ships we have traveled on, but in a miniature version.

 

 

We find the library to be really cozy and inviting.  

 

The pool in the stern has a nice, miniature hot tub.  

 

The promenade deck takes 10 laps to get in a mile, compared to 4 laps on the other ships. 

 

Packing passengers under the assigned lifeboat for the mandatory drill proves a challenge on decks that are narrower.  The crew member in command of our lifeboat is Mario and he makes sure we remember his name by offering man opportunities with "call and response" from his captive audience!  

 

The rest of the afternoon is spend watching the Saturday boating traffic at Port Everglades as we await or 23:00 hours sailing time.  

 

We have never left a port so late at night, but we manage to be awake and watching as the pilot boat pulls alongside after we clear the harbor, and the pilot leaps aboard.  A few others we watching as well as a cheer went up from the ship!  

The U.S. slips away from view in our stern wake.  Now, two sea days until we arrive in Bermuda.  

 

Time to watch the water, big and empty as far as you can see.  Time to read my newest book, Driving Miss Norma!  Time to play the ukulele!  Time to go to morning exercise and stretch class and add a few laps around the deck aiming for those 10,000 steps.  Time to go to fantastic lectures offered by the Speaker at Sea Series: yesterday Crisis in the Caribbean 66 Million Years Ago (geology)and today, The Origin of Whales.  Time to learn about our first port of call. Hamilton, Bermuda.  Time to hang out at the piano bar for good music and watch the dance troupe provide some amazing dance and song.  Time to have some lovely dinners that I did not shop for, help create or clean up.  Time to....write this blogpost!

 

Here's a chocolate martini for Lynn....it's all her fault...forcing me into having one on our Alaska cruise last summer!  

 

 

Might as well check out our lifeboat on the way back to the cabin.

 

Time to say goodnight!

Our first goodnight towel animal....manta ray?  ....saying "Sweet Swims.....no wait...Sweet Dreams!"

Adios Amigos

Time to wrap it up at the Playa.  Why not an all beaches end of season gala event?  First you build the Coyote, a giant sculpture of found wood.  It takes about two months.  Fellow Coyote Beach camper, Bill, charges himself with this task.  He does an incredible job.  A work of art!

 

The farewell to the winter season is set for March 11th.  It's a potluck happy hour, a big get together AND an awesome bonfire!  

 

   

It was a fun evening, and there was a final collection of funds to be donated to Casa Hogar, a favorite local home for children.  

Pedro was the "master of ceremonies" ....of course!

 

    

 

  

A lovely way to say goodbye, as in the next two weeks, almost everyone will be headed north.

 

  

Oh...no.  Time to go....