bermuda

Bermuda: Day 4 and 5

September 25, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

This is the last recap of our Bermuda trip.

On Thursday morning, I wasn’t feeling that great. I was up half the night because I was so hot and had a headache. After taking some tylenol, I eventually fell back to sleep around 6am and Brian and I stayed in bed until 9. We took it easy and we weren’t in the sun too much on Thursday which helped me. After a lazy morning, we headed to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. This was another museum type place and it was very interesting. We learned about the invasive lion fish. We took a simulated dive and stepped into a shark cage that rattled as if you were being attacked by a shark. The only pictures I took in the whole place, as I really was just soaking in all the information and staying in the present moment, was a couple of the amazing shell collection.

I think we spent about 2 hours going through the whole museum and then we enjoyed lunch at the restaurant they had.

We then headed back to the apartment, resting and taking a short nap, which I really needed. Eventually we got up and put on our swimsuits and headed down to Elbow Beach, this time to swim. However it was a bit cloudy and breezy so it felt perfect on the beach, but cold in the water. I mostly stayed on the sand but went in the water once.

For dinner, we picked up some snacks from the gas station and ate what we had in our mini fridge. We watched a movie while eating and then read in bed for a while. I was excited to finish another book, doing better on reading more this year.

Friday was our last day on the island. I started out feeling better than Thursday and definitely slept better. We packed our bags and headed down to our beach one last time. The morning was a bit cool but as the sun rose, it got warmer. It was certainly peaceful. I love just listening to the sound of the waves crashing in.

We headed back up the 125 steps from the beach for the last time and then showered and got ready to leave at noon.

We dropped off our scooter and then our host kindly drove us to the airport. I was so glad to have about 6 days disconnected from everything and just spending time with Brian. I loved exploring the island and I think we got to see quite a lot for 5 days with also having lots of down time to relax. Maybe you just have lots of down time when you don’t spend it all browsing the internet… I was sad to go, but I was also ready to get back to my regular routine, minus work would be nice, but at least I still had two more days to sleep in and relax. Of course I spent a lot of that time lying around. When we got home Friday evening, I had a fever and stomach bug, and basically slept on the couch until we headed to bed at 9. Brian had to go back to work so he left Saturday morning and other than a trip to the grocery store, because I had no food in my fridge, I stayed in on Saturday and felt much better by Sunday at least, but still took it easy.

What I Ate in Bermuda: WIAW #17

September 23, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

When we decided to head to Bermuda for vacation this year, all I could think about was the beach. Being that we were headed to an island, I expected food to be pricey and I was definitely right. We had a strange eating schedule while we were there as we slept until 8am most days and eventually got moving to head out the door at 10am. We usually ate 2 big meals and the rest of our food was snack type foods. I brought quick oats with me and made myself oatmeal in a mug each morning. Besides that we snacked on ham, cheese and crackers and fruit that we bought at the grocery store on our second day. We also used the grill we had twice, once with kabobs and another time with sausage (forgot to take pictures as I had to eat quickly before the ants got to my food). Even though the grocery store food was expensive too (think $10 for a box of cereal or $17 for a jar of organic peanut butter), it was cheaper than dining out which usually ran about $100 for one meal for two people. That was with 2 main courses, an appetizer or two and 1 drink. Go big or go home right?! This was our one vacation of the year and we hadn’t been on a one week trip together since the Bahamas in October 2013 so it was much needed. Luckily Brian was treating me to these lovely meals, but if you ask him, he was treating himself and I just happened to be along for the ride. Either way, it was delicious food and I even stepped out of my comfort zone a few times.

We arrived in Bermuda on Sunday afternoon, though by the time we made it through customs and found our ride it was about dinner time in Bermuda (they are an hour ahead of East coast time). Our host brought us to a gas station where they had a salad bar and chinese food bar. We got that and snacks for our dinner for the first night.

We stayed in a bedroom off of the house of our host. We had a bedroom and bathroom, mini fridge and microwave. It was basically the size of a hotel room, but the bathroom was pretty big which I liked and the rate seemed to be cheaper than a hotel around the island.

On Monday, our first stop for the day was the Fantasy and Crystal Caves. When we got there, we noticed they had a little cafe so we got some brunch. I was actually craving eggs…so I got the Fantasy breakfast which came with toast, eggs and bacon.

After lots of walking through caves and the zoo, we headed into the city, Hamilton. We walked around looking for a sushi place for Brian, but when we passed The Pickled Onion and I read avocado spring rolls on their menu, I was sold. The first of many $100 meals. We also didn’t realize they include a 17% tip in the check so the guy was probably really happy when he noticed he got almost a $40 tip…oops.

I ordered the avocado spring rolls and the super food salad. Both were delicious, even though they also served my meal backwards, giving me the salad then my appetizer of the spring rolls, but didn’t matter to me.

Since we had a late lunch, that was like our dinner too. We did decide to head out later in the evening to walk down the street to the Henry VIII restaurant for dessert and drinks, or rather 2 desserts and 1 drink. I stuck with water, but throughout the week tasted all of the drinks Brian ordered at different meals. He loves the faces I make…

Brian ordered creme brulee and I got the flourless chocolate cake. Brian ate the ice cream since I can’t have ice cream, but I did have a taste of it. The flourless chocolate cake was good, but not as good as the one I had at Glow Retreat.

Tuesday we headed to the grocery store in the morning and snacked throughout the morning before heading out to a restaurant at Elbow Beach, Mickey’s for lunch. It was a beautiful day sitting at a table right on the beach. After trying a bite of Brian’s fish he ordered at the Pickled Onion the previous day, I was thinking I should order fish, maybe it wouldn’t kill me. I usually don’t eat any seafood except for fish and chips, but I went a bit out of my comfort zone and saw a fish sandwich with avocado on the menu. Add avocado to almost anything and you have me! So I ordered the fish sandwich with a side salad.

Brian also ordered a classic mojito and I think we have decided if I were to order a drink a mojito would probably be the winner because it isn’t overly sweet and I love mint, so I had a few sips of that. I still did not like the drink enough to order my own. We also shared an orange mousse dessert which I forgot to get a photo of. It was gone in .25 seconds anyway.

That evening we made kabobs on the grill that we got from the grocery store and then enjoyed reading on the patio overlooking the ocean until it got too dark to read. If you ever eat outside in Bermuda, I advise eating as fast as you can and bringing plates inside right away to wash because I then had a plate full of ants to wash…the ants were EVERYWHERE.

Wednesday we mostly snacked in the morning and then we stopped by a farm and Brian picked up some chicken sausage to grill for a late lunch when we returned from our outing. I had a taste, but also ate some ham and cheese and pistachios. For dinner, we went out to dine at the lighthouse down the road, highly recommended to us from our host. We definitely went big here! Brian got two appetizers, soup and tomato mozzarella caprese. I got the thai spring rolls.

For the main course, Brian ordered a lamb dish and I got a steak over arugula with veggies. I wasn’t even that hungry, but that steak was soo good. I felt so full that evening!

Thursday I wasn’t feeling that great but I still ate my oatmeal in the morning and then I just ordered a light salad for lunch. We spent the morning at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute which had a restaurant attached so after walking the exhibits, we ate there. When they say iceburg lettuce salad on the menu, they aren’t kidding, a head of iceburg lettuce, but it was perfectly light for me.

Brian finally got his sushi at this restaurant and I even tried some fish eggs and a bit of crab and salmon, but still not really a fan of it.

We laid around in the afternoon, literally, we napped for a bit and then headed to Elbow Beach around dinner time. We needed to fill up our scooter to return it Friday so we stopped at the gas station on the way back and I got some snacks and Brian got more chinese food for dinner.

Friday, our last day! We only had the morning so I had the last bit of my oatmeal and some cereal I brought and then we spent our last morning on the beach for an hour before freshening up and packing. We snacked on the rest of our fruit and cheese and then we ate at the airport before our flight. I had a light chicken ceasar salad, while Brian enjoyed a club wrap and the smaller version of the swizzle drink. I wasn’t all that hungry and I actually came home with a stomach bug which I guess I started to feel on Thursday, but it really hit me on Friday. I was happy we were heading home and I still had the weekend to recover, sleep and not think about work yet.

Bermuda: Day 2 and 3

September 22, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

After a tiring day on Monday in Bermuda, we had a very laid back morning on Tuesday. I actually got up at 7 to get a walk in. It was raining, but I walked anyway and then went down to the beach, which was a workout in itself (125 steps down and then up). While Brian has no trouble laying in bed, I am a go go go person and had to do something in the morning. I got back and we waited for the rain to pass, which didn’t take too long and then we headed to the grocery store for some snacks and food. We spent the morning just reading for a while and then headed out to Elbow Beach for lunch.

After lunch, we stopped at the botanic gardens. We kind of just wandered around the gardens for a bit, our own self guided tour.

We stopped at the apartment to change into our swimsuits and grab our snorkel gear and headed to Horseshoe Bay Beach down the road. Horseshoe Bay was my favorite beach to swim at. Perfect sandy bottoms. We did go out and snorkel and see some reefs and fish but not many.

I did get my bridge in…

…and bonus, a headstand!! So happy I can do this away from the wall. I think the sand is my most comfy place for my head right now in this pose.

It was a wonderful afternoon at the beach, doing some yoga, sleeping in the sun and just all around relaxing. The beach was so big and even with an event happening at the other end, we had our own peaceful place in the sand.

As we left, we got to see the sand sculptures from the event going on.

In the evening, we made dinner on the grill and read outside, soaking up more sun before heading in and watching tv before bed.

Wednesday morning I headed out with a towel and headed down to the beach to do some yoga. I love sinking my feet into the sand as I hold downdog. It started off as a bright blue sky morning but quickly the dark clouds came and I made it back to the apartment after getting caught in a short shower.

After the shower passed, we headed on the scooter up towards the Dockyard, the opposite end of the island from Monday. I had wanted to do some stand up paddleboard, but when we arrived at the beach for that, it was quite windy and the water was rough so we decided to continue on to the dockyard where the cruise ships come in. I actually found out the Friday before my trip that one of my co workers was headed on the cruise to Bermuda the same week so I happened to know that that cruise ship arrived Wednesday morning and we passed many scooters and buses of people going the opposite way that we were as they were getting off the cruise.

So even though we didn’t really know what we would do, it all worked out. We headed to the National Museum of Bermuda which was not very crowded at all. In the first building we walked into, we learned that Bermuda was originally a place that they sent prisoners and that sometimes the people were sentenced to 7 years on the island and then sent to Australia for a second sentencing. I couldn’t believe when I had read that after learning about Australia being where all the prisoners were sent, I didn’t know that Bermuda was sometimes the first stop for those people. So it was interesting that Bermuda and Australia had that in common. We also learned about the ships that sailed and how Bermuda was a good landing point for them. Bermuda also owns all the shipwrecks that happen around the island. Brian and I discovered that our private beach was near 3 shipwrecks, which explained where the dive boat from the resort often stopped.

They also had the dolphins there. You could take pictures with them if you wanted to spend $200…but I didn’t, so I got pictures of them.

On our way back towards our apartment, we stopped for some fudge quickly. I didn’t snap a picture when we bought it so this is what I had left that I ended up bringing home with me. We got mint chocolate and Brian got peanut butter. Both were delicious.

Once we got back to the apartment, we put together some lunch and enjoyed a few hours outside reading and we had a hot tub, though it wasn’t heated, so we called it the cold tub. I hopped between reading in the sun and reading in the tub when I got too hot, which was perfect.

After that we grabbed our snorkel gear and took a ride to Church bay beach, which I heard had amazing snorkeling and it did not disappoint. It was AMAZING! I really wish I had had an underwater camera, but I didn’t. Instead Brian and I just enjoyed snorkeling around and it felt like you were swimming right in an aquarium. We saw all sizes of fish and amazing reefs and coral. I was just amazed at the beautiful colors and it felt so cool swimming above the fish. I am so glad we purchased our own snorkel gear for the trip that we will now have for future island trips.

After snorkeling, we showered and got ready for dinner at the Lighthouse. Then the rest of the evening was just relaxed.

[Stay Tuned for the last part of the trip recapped on Friday]

Bermuda: First Night and Day 1

September 21, 2015 by Alicia 2 Comments

Bermuda is filled with beautiful beaches and so much fascinating culture and history. Brian and I enjoyed our 5 days on the island, relaxing and learning about its history. The first night we arrived, we ate a bit and then decided to head down to the private beach we had. Private in the sense that it was not open to the public and shared between about 10 houses, but most belonged to corporate people and so they wouldn’t be hanging out on the beach during the weekdays at least. Sunday evening it was us and 4 other people. We were welcomed to Bermuda with calm waters and beautiful weather even though it had briefly rained during our time waiting through customs and getting our ride to our place.

Our first day, I was all excited to get out and explore. Even though I had heard good things about the bus system and getting around, we decided a scooter would be easier for us as we could come and go as we pleased. So we walked down the street to rent a scooter Monday morning and then drove up to the Fantasy and Crystal Caves. This was a must do on our trip and being that it was at the other end of the island near the airport, we decided to do it our first day.

This was my first time going into a cave and we learned about the limestone crystals and how they grow about an inch every 100 years and the stalagmites and stalactites all around us. The caves had crystal clear blue water that you just wanted to jump in. There is nothing that can really live in the water because there is no food for fish.

We first toured Fantasy Cave and saw amazing crystal chandeliers as well as many other crystal formations, new and old. It is crazy to think about how old some of the really thick ones are.

Then we toured the Crystal Cave. Here you walk across floating pontoons so the pathway rises and falls with the tide. The tide is delayed about 55 minutes, so if high tide is at 10, the high tide in the cave is 10:55.

After our tours of the caves, we stopped at the zoo and aquarium. A small zoo and aquarium for a small island, but fun to see the seals and have a lemur walking around in one area.

We then grabbed a late lunch in Hamilton (stay tuned for a food post on Wednesday) and walked around a bit.

We were pretty tired after all the walking and relaxed for the rest of the evening watching a movie before bed.