One of the many little perks of the theatre stuff we got involved with were invites to a couple of gallery openings. One was a display of local and UK artists, sculptors and pottery people
The other was the opening of a gallery of Bill Brandt’s work. He was a pioneering photographer of people and things the 1930’s to 1960’s. Stunning photos in black and white including some of the coast just along from Brighton; a series called “Nude, East Sussex” and a famous pic in this series is one of an ear on the beach.
From this point on you might notice me taking some back and white pics! You could say I was inspired, particularly in the bar later.
[pic in bar]
People, in places, doing their things, was his specialty. It sparked a heated discussion on when\if it was OK to take pictures of people without them knowing or agreeing.
We were surrounded by a cacophony of sounds as soon as we got off the plane in Bermuda and like so many other places it’s the tree frogs causing all the commotion.
I kind of like to think of myself as knowing a bit about wildlife and being quite observant, in the wilderness anyway! (not being able to find anything and everything is standard practice at home and work of course) I felt quietly confident in tracking one of the little critters down. A life long Bermudian, who’s cottage we were staying in, and Cleo (semi professional Bermuda visitor) who we were staying with in the cottage had seen 8 and 0 respectively so I didn’t put too much hope in it though.
For whatever reason though, these little critters, this time were almost flinging themselves at us in the end. We even had one visit us in the cottage and we felt suitably honoured.
This is just a big toad I found in a tree stump.
The best drink encountered so far has to be Bermuda’s Dark and Stormy. You can get it in cans everywhere and all it is is Bermudan ginger beer and Black Seal rum. Easy Peasy. I’d recommend everyone goes and makes one right now in fact.
Smuggled in under overcoats, a version off this that might have been quite a bit more heavy on the rum than traditionalists would appreciate saw us through the Beyonce gig rather well! Shown here in the now legendary “Evian” bottle.
I’ll keep this short as, due to our group excitement at winning tickets the day before the gig by submitting a You Tube video to Evian mineral water I’ve already written a couple of posts.
The history is this:
• Plan world trip
• Find out Kath’s friend Cleo will be in Bermuda at the time
• Cleo finds out Beyonce is playing Bermuda Music Festival and really wants to go
• Change dates of whole trip to coincide
• Try and get tickets – find only all inclusive hotel\hospitality tickets are available at over US$1000 each
• Scrap that plan
• Come to Bermuda, and Cleo attempts to use contacts to get tickets
• Two days before gig, while drunk, hear about local Bermuda Evian competition where all you have to do is submit a video by mid day the next day to You Tube featuring Beyonce and an Evian product. Think we have a real chance due to small population
• On way home devise video but realise we have no Evian products
• Cunningly create Evian product using competitors water bottle and marker pen
• Create video after run through on first take (can you tell?)
• Desperately try and find an internet café in Bermuda the next day (not easy!!)
• Upload video and win!
Showing that someone is actually reading this blog too I was asked to write a review for festivalpreviews.com. That was quite a while ago so not sure if they want it anymore but we’ll see! Someone also wanted to see some pics so I’ve uploaded some here (click pic below).
Utilizing our new found Jedi mind tricks one night we went for the ultimate…. Moonlight hot tubs in the fanciest hotel on the island.
It happened to be the night before the Bermuda Music Festival too and Beyonce was staying there so security was tighter. We didn’t bump into her, but, past gate security, reception, through a maze of corridors, out into the garden while getting rather lost and back in past the pool reception to get our free towels we made it! I’m sure no one cared but we felt some satisfaction, sitting there bubbling away in the moonlight for free. This time those bubbles weren’t coming from Kath either! And what a swimming pool too, all very nice.
Well not quite! Getting something for nothing was a bit of a theme in Bermuda for us for two reasons, sometimes it was loads of fun and second it aint cheep there!
Crystal Caves are one of Bermuda’s most famous attractions aside from the amazing beaches and general luxury. There are other caves though and these alternative caves are just a bit away in the grounds of a hotel and are open to guests. As Cleo so rightly implied, the difference between a guest and someone who is not a guest is merely a state of mind. With our Jedi minds tuned we infiltrated the hotel and entered the caves. Far too cold and un-chlorinated for most hotel guests we pretty much had them to ourselves. Freezing like a new years day dip off Brighton beach but crystal clear!
While here in Bermuda we offered to help out making the set for the stage production of the Full Monty (Cleo’s day job). An hour or so would have done I’m sure but we got a bit carried away. I can’t claim ANY artistic input at all but there is some damn fine undercoat on some of those bricks and walls and can you tell how much love was put into jigsawing some of those bricks out? Maybe if you look very carefully?
After some pretty hectic days it was great to come back in the evening and watch the rehearsals in some lovely air-conditioning. We even got credits in the program, but they printed my name as “Tim Mintes”, hmmm!
We would be leaving before the opening night but got to see one of the final run throughs. We met so many lovely people in front and behind and around the stage thanks in no small part to Cleo. Great stuff.
Nudity is a deportable offence in Bermuda and, at the time of leaving, the decision on whether to go “full monty” or use rather fetching flesh coloured jock straps hadn’t been taken. The police wouldn’t commit one way or the other.
That’s what we were told anyway. Look at this cuddly thing!
That’s our lovely little Bermuda cottage in the background.
8.30 pm The first day started off pretty well I guess. Think I’ve already written about the VIP military band thing
Then we were off to meet some of the characters (quite literally “characters” as we would be inhabiting the strange world of thespians and the “show business” for the next 10 days) we’d see at random times on this island of just 65,000 people.
Pretty much a self service bar was indeed a good start and after some discussion on who could operate the machinery we settled down for a well earned pint. After our mammoth Cancun-Mexico City-Miami-Bermuda flight with an overnight on the floor of Mexico City airport (ps no seats anywhere in this airport until the gates!!!) it was great.
After a good few pints we headed to our new home. We were staying with Cleo, our friend from the UK (in Bermuda to create the set for a theatre production of The Full Monty) in a little cottage by Shelly Bay.
Surrounded by millionaire pads we found it quite funny turning up with our back packs of dirty clothes. Possibly that was the beer too. It was about midnight so it was the correct time for a midnight dip. Climbing down the steps in the garden for our first taste of Bermuda’s warm clear water, it was mad. It was time for the phosphorescent algae to come out in the bay. Although completely clear, (and pitch black) the water was full of the stuff and any movement set it off. Swimming around, you were followed by white glittering flashes. Looking down at your feet treading water was just plain weird!
Bermuda is undeniably a millionaire’s playground, relatively safe and also quite conservative; these three facts would serve us well in the coming days and tonight in particular. Millionaires mean huge fancy gardens, boats and swimming pools, safe means a lot of trust and no security, and conservative means everyone goes to bed early!
Spying a rather nice yacht tied up in the middle of the bay we didn’t need too much encouragement from Cleo to swim over and climb aboard. While sunning ourselves on the poop deck under the starry midnight sky we discussed the virtues of the Bermudan lifestyle. This was our first night and the first of our completely harmless but rather satisfying clandestine escapades.
Where can I start! We had no idea what to expect and really we hadn’t even thought about this part of the trip. All we knew\were hoping, was it would be a really easy relaxing interlude between some pretty hardcore countries. We had somewhere free to stay, someone to show us around, no language problems and even the phone boxes and post boxes were familiar. And they drive on the right side of the road, which of course is the left.
This was one place I’ll never forget for sure. The people we met and the things we were able to do made sure of that. Most people get off the plane or cruise ship, are bussed to their luxury hotel, play some golf, check out the hotel’s private beach (there is no such thing as a private beach in Bermuda by the way – more on that later), have some sauna treatments, shop on Front Street and go home.
From the moment we arrived we were whisked into the politics, the amazing friendliness, the strange social undercurrents, the luxury, the happiness and madness and the old British reserve and sense of order this place still has. Oh yeh and something completely unexpected, Bermuda shorts. These are Bermuda shorts….!
(Salmon pink is the usual colour)
No kidding, I only saw one man in what we in the UK would call a suit and he really stood out from the hundreds wearing these. In reality, people from all different walks of life, of all ages wore these. I can see how they would brighten up any day!
