Additional Adventures!

Now that I’ve been here a few days, and met a few insiders, I need to add to my list of places I want to go. Let’s talk about it.

1.       BIOS

 

The man who sat next to me on the plane knew I had an interest in marine science and offered BIOS (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences) as a point of interest I might want to check out. It’s on the far side of the island near the airport, and we actually saw it out the window as we were landing. Apparently you can volunteer, study, and be part of the research there – but I’m not positive it’s open to the public. Maybe I can make friends with someone who works there?

2.       Ice Queen

 

 

The father of my favorite Bermuda family knew I was trying to save money, so he told me about Ice Queen. It’s just outside Hamilton and offers a large menu with lots of relatively inexpensive fast food options. I’ve now more recently heard from someone at work that it’s very low quality fast food. But I’m American – so that may not be a problem for me.

3.       Swizzle (South Shore)

 

After our first day at work, the other girls and I wanted to go out to dinner to celebrate being in Bermuda. Since one of the girls has been living here a while, she suggested a great place we would all like. A place called Swizzle. So we got ourselves all dressed for dinner, braved the cold, windy, and muddy walk down to the bus stop, scrambled for exact change for the fare, and headed out to Swizzle, about 25-30min away. We hopped off the bus, excited and hungry, and some guys driving by shouted something out the window. We looked at each other – what was that about? Then we realized: they had shouted ‘it’s closed’. CLOSED. SWIZZLE WAS CLOSED. Why, we still have yet to find out – apparently they were not usually closed at that time on that day. Briefly disappointed, but never discouraged, we huddled at the nearest bus stop and had a dance party courtesy of one of the girls’ iPhones and waited for a bus home. UPDATE: recently heard Swizzle is temporarily closed due to some kind of maintenance.

4.       Blue Hole

 

Along with the beaches I want to go to, there is the Blue Hole. I had heard vague bits about it, and the man on the plane told me how to get there without having to pay admission to the Crystal Caves. Sounds like an awesome place to snorkel/free dive. We’ve only had two sunny days in the week I’ve been here, but they were very promising. I may not have to wait ‘til summer to get in the water.

5.       Smallest Drawbridge

 

The grandmother of my favorite Bermuda family, and our ride out to Dockyard from the airport, pointed out the Somerset Bridge as we drove over it. Apparently it’s the smallest working drawbridge in the world. The actual bridge that comes up is just a piece of wood. Sailboats that want to pass through have to wait for a passerby to remove the wooden plank. If that’s not small town charm, I don’t know what is.

I'm In Bermuda!

Just getting to Bermuda was an adventure, so let’s talk about it.

 

On my first flight, after we got on the plane, we were told we’d been delayed because of a questionable story about a mysterious fire at the Philly airport. Then we were told it was actually a plane stuck on one of the Philly runways which had a fire. We probably waited almost an hour to actually take off, but I sat next to a very nice lady on the plane and soon we were flying over a snow covered east coast and heading up the Delaware River.

Unfortunately, that plane delay made me miss my flight to Bermuda!!! BUT I met a lovely family from Bermuda who had missed the same flight, and they helped me figure out what to do next. I couldn’t get another flight until the next day, but a wonderful woman at customer services gave me hotel voucher for the night. On the shuttle to the hotel, I met a girl who was on her way to Ohio. She, originally from Spain, had been visiting her family back home and was on her way back to school here in the States.  Her ordeal was far worse – she hadn’t been able to get home for days! We had a lovely chat over dinner at the hotel restaurant’s bar, and wished each other luck.

The next day, I made it back to the airport, and my appropriate gate, and ran into the same family I had met the day before. I got to chat with the kids (one very near my age), who had lots of great stories and helpful hints about Bermuda for me. They were on standby, but luckily got seats on the plane! The man who sat next to me on the plane to Bermuda was very nice as well. He’s originally from the UK, but he lives in Bermuda, so he gave me all sorts of tips and chatted with me about his kids (two of them about my age, and one of them studies marine biology!). He even helped me find where to go for customs and immigration, and gave me his business card. Connections!!!

I had made plans with another girl who would be staying at my hostel and was arriving the same day to meet up outside the airport so we could share a cab. It would be about an $80 fare, so sharing would save lots! However, the same family from Bermuda, who had been so kind and helpful already, offered to give us both a ride all the way out to our hostel! That’s the other side of the island, almost an hour drive! We even got a bit of a tour out of it! Connections!!!!!! They literally saved me $80, and were so welcoming and kind – I hope I get the chance to repay them. They said we’d meet again, and I hope we do!

Now that I’ve been in Bermuda for a couple days, I’m finally settling in. The hostel is in a VERY old building inside the fort, so it has its quirks, but the other girls here are super cool and it’s going to be so fun getting to know them. We made a trip to the nearest grocery store (maybe 20min away by bus) and I successfully bought enough food for the week/longer(?) for only $26! Not very exciting, unless you know we’ve all been told it would be more like $100!!!! We’ve all got bus/ferry passes now, and we plan on visiting Hamilton, famous beaches, and checking out lots of cool restaurants. Stoked!

I'm A Kayak, Hear Me Roar

Tomorrow is my last day before I leave for Bermuda. Let’s talk about it.

My first flight is early in the morning the next day, so everything has to be done by tomorrow evening. I’m taking two suitcases, and one of them is brand new as of yesterday, so it’s not quite packed. It has seahorse details on it, and it’s just wide enough to fit my monofin inside J That, and finishing the complete series of Gilmore Girls for the zillionth time, will fortify me for the task. I’ve compiled copies of important documents, printed instructions for getting through customs and immigration and to the hostel where I’ll be staying. I’ve talked to some of the other girls who will be staying there, and I’m so excited to meet them. I’ve said goodbye to my friends here and promised them lots of pictures. I’ve been drinking sparkling white grape juice and eating Ferrero Rocher like it’s my job.

I can’t believe it’s really happening and that this is my life. I’m always so envious of my friends who run off to some fabulous place, far away, to meet new people, see amazing places, and generally have an awesome time and make awesome memories.  I’ve traveled, of course, on family vacations. This will be different. This is an adventure.