November 15 -17, 2017 - Hamilton Bermuda

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Distance from Madeira to Hamilton, Bermuda: 2425 Nautical Miles

At Sea - Nearing Bermuda

Room Service again as I am scheduled to give a talk at 9:00 AM.  

Passengers have voiced their displeasure at the early morning talks but they still turned out (90 plus full) to hear my newest presentation – “Extreme Forensics: Non-Human DNA Testing”.  The talk went well but it needs some beefing up and better transitions.  I plan to update this one for the next cruise.

We arrived in Bermuda around 3:00 PM.  The sail in was very scenic with the archipelago dotted with super rich homes.  We docked right in the city of Hamilton – across from Front Street.  Perfect.

Navigating the Bermuda Channel

Houses on the Channel

Docking at Hamilton, Bermuda

Evidence - We are in Bermuda

We decided to take a small walk around Hamilton to get a feel for the place – we are planning a big walk around the city tomorrow.  The ship is docked, as I said, right in the middle of town.  We walked across the street (Front Street) and headed left on the main street.  We then turned and headed up the hills that lead down to the pier.  We ran into the State House with its street front War Memorial and the pretty impressive Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity.

 

State House and War Memorial

Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity

Again, we found everything very expensive in Hamilton including the few spas that are within walking distance.  We won’t be spending a lot of money here.  The Bermudan Dollar is tied to the US Dollar so conversion is easy.  I was trying to be careful with my steps not wanting to burn too many steps on the first day at this port.  I did spot a nice Bermuda cap in one of the stores and tomorrow I will be returning to pick it up.

We were back on the ship in time for lunch and were able to eat lunch on the back deck.  Pretty sure, a beer was part of the lunch.

The afternoon was spent on the open deck checking out the happenings on Front Street and reading.  It is kind of interesting to be this close to the town.

After dinner, we attended a special Showtime – “The Great American Songbook” – a one-woman show by Christine Milburn.  She sang from 8-30 – 10:15 PM with a short intermission (featuring canapés).  It was a great show and the longest individual performance we have yet seen on a ship

Thursday, November 16, 2017 – Hamilton, Bermuda – Partly Cloudy – 80s

Another beautiful day in Bermuda.

Front Street from the Ship

This was our "walk and explore Hamilton, Bermuda" day.  We had a goal in mind – to end up at the Washington Street Mall – but prior to that we would crisscross Hamilton to see the town.  We headed left down Front Street and walked up the hill to Pitts Bay Road.  Pitts Bay Road is one of the posh areas of Bermuda and contains not only expensive huge homes but also the Princess Hotel.  We ran into Emmerson and he suggested we check out the hotel as we continued our journey. 

Quest from the Hill

Barr's Park - "We Arrive" Statue

"At This Time"

Even though we were dressed down and sweaty, no one blinked an eye when we entered the Hamilton Princess Hotel.  We went through the fancy lobby and onto to the grounds.  The grounds abutted a marina full of expensive yachts.  The most unusual site on the grounds was the huge statue of what appeared to be Mickey Mouse (I could tell by the buttons on his outfit).  But there was something different about this Mickey (the ears, maybe?).  It turns out that this is not Mickey at all but a statue by New York ex-graffiti artist, Kaws (aka Brian Donnelly), of his signature character, "Companion".  the installation, which is about 18 feet high is called "At This Time".  He has created versions of Mickey Mouse hence the resemblance.  

We went back down the hill from the hotel and headed left (no idea about the direction) toward the main part of the city.  Kind of boring there with all of the financial business and few interesting shops.  Along the way, we went by the Bermuda National Library, where, on our first working cruise, we stopped in to use their internet system. 

We also saw a couple of nice public parks, Queen Victoria Park and Queen Elizabeth Park. 

Queen Elizabeth Park

Queen Victoria Park

The Washington Mall was no big deal – a few stores.  We didn’t stay long and headed toward the harbor area.  Fortunately, it is downhill to the ship.  We logged over 10,000 steps – another significant achievement for me

We ran into Bruce Smirnoff when we were checking back into the ship.  Looking forward to his show already.

We checked out the Mediterranean Buffet – semi-freshly made falafel and salad.  

Although not preceded by a lot of fanfare, tonight was the “White Nights” Party. 

Amanda Poulson - White Nights

We got our good seats on Deck 10.  The group did a pretty good job with the playlist – although there is always more energy when Erik and Russ (just a difference in style) handle the program.  Still it was entertaining and the conditions (no wind) were perfect.  We finished things off with Crepes Suzette.

Friday, November 17, 2017 - Hamilton, Bermuda - Mostly Cloudy - 80F

The Captain announced that our departure from Bermuda would be delayed to allow a weather system to pass through the area.  I was originally supposed to give a talk today but that was changed to a double header later in the cruise.

We took a short walk in the morning to see some of the major sites again. but with a goal to make one more stop – to get a Bermuda cap.

On this walk, I got a much nicer picture of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity.

 

We spend a few minutes inside the City Art Center (across from the Washington Mall).  The place was crawling with kids on field trips.  I didn’t want to push it so I sat downstairs while Ellen checked the place out.

Our last stop, a souvenir store on Front Street - right across the street from the ship.  My cap was still there.  Probably, the only bargain on the island at $10.95.  I bought the cap and a nifty Bermuda souvenir.  Then back to the ship.  

We spent a lot of time out on the deck and even got caught in a pretty good downpour (under a lifeboat so we didn’t get wet).

Cats and Dogs

The Quest Departed at around 2 PM affording a great view of the sail away.

Hamilton, Bermuda Sail Away

We attended the Friday Night Services (more people than last time) – even Bruce Smirnoff attended.  Again, Doron ran the services.  The challah was even better this time around.

We had dinner in Discoveries – Salmon tonight based on the available menu items

Seas are smooth as we head home.