Bermuda ...
After 5 long days @ sea we finally saw land again ... The Bermudas in sight! ... photo taken from our suite ...
The Bermuda pilot came along ... later we found out why this is VERY necessary ...
... because here you can see the Hamilton Sound and the small gap, this big ship had to get through!
Here another view ... just before passing between the two white pillars ...
Here our first view of Hamilton, the capital of the Bermudas ... with the main street called the "Front Street".
That day was Thomas' mum's birthday and as we were picking her up for dinner, we had this night view of the Front Street of Hamilton from her suite balcony ...
... we reserved a table in the three-Michelin-star restaurant on board (see the rose petals on the table) ... and had a fantastic menu ...
What Ruth didn't know was that Cynthia had talked to the band "Blue Express" to surprise her in the lounge ...
... so when "Ruth's birthday" was announced and they played "Happy birthday" Thomas could capture that photo ... and we think you can see from that face that Cynthia's surprise hit the spot!
Next morning we had a tour to St. George (the "old" capital) via bus ... here some typical roads over the island ... btw. the houses are all painted in pastel colours ... why? They passed a Law in the fifties, that all houses had to be painted that way! Well British Colony ... what do you expect? Taste? ... just kidding ... ... actually Cynthia objected to this comment ... could offend Brits ... but Thomas - standing up after years of marriage - just put it in!
Here the statue of George Somers, who was shipwrecked on this island, built two other ships from local cedar trees and the remains in nine months and finally made it to his original destination "Jamestown, Virginia" ...
... after we just got off the bus, we were approached by this fellow who welcomed us so nicely to Bermuda ... and had a little DVD gift with a song about Bermuda for us ... amazing!
No comments on this picture, it's pure photograhic art ... it's called "Tourist with palm tree on the Bermudas"! ... just enjoy it!
This nice woman was our local tour guide in St. George ... here together with Knut, the lecturer, fighting over the microphone ... she had difficulties to accept, that Knut had to translate into German all she said ...
As the capital moved to Hamilton a long time ago, no "modernisation" has taken place in St. George ... so you have views like this ... btw. St. George is World Heritage.
To some tourists (Thomas' mum Ruth) the explanations were obviously incredibly interesting (she's fallen asleep) ;-))
Here we're back to British heritage ... the post office of St. George ... with "authorised bicycle parking" in front ...
And - we know we spoil you - another piece of photographic art ... we hope you appreciate that we do not charge you for having the pleasure of looking at it ... ;-)
As it happens normally when we grace a country with our presence we were personally (ok with the other tourists) greeted by the Mayor of St. George and invited into the Town Hall ... he was absolutely funny with his speech ... He did not politely ask for translation by Knut ... he said repeatedly in a demanding voice "YOU TRANSLATE NOW" ... and Knut came to his limits ... as you can see in his facial expressions ...One of his jokes was that he asked if anyone knows, why he's married for 32 years ... the answer "I can't hear and she can't see" !!!!
In the afternoon we were stuck in Hamilton with pouring rain ... so we just made it across the road into an Irish pub to have a drink and hope that the rain subsides ... you see the MS Europa in the background ...
And it's just funny ... all over the world you find these Irish pubs ... and they've all got the same atmosphere!
Here us - wet by now - in the pub ... we later went out again, just to get wet again ... so we only had a short walk around Hamilton ... Btw ... guess what we had in this pub? Aussie beer (Fosters) and NZ wine (Oyster Bay)...
So our last story (and picture) happened in this little post office while we were waiting to buy stamps ... the lady at the counter was really blessed with brains ... we waited about 20 minutes until she finally got all information about weights and postage for Xmas cards in all possible variations ... the queue behind us grew quickly ...
So ... our impression of the Bermudas was really fantastic ... what amazed us most is the friendliness of the people (which is their catch phrase) ... hardly ever experienced that anywhere in the world!! Also the island (what we saw of it) is just stunning ... we do have a feeling that we might come back one day!