The weekly new arrivals provided added complexities to going about your business in a major tourist destination... pavement traffic is significantly slower, you get asked to take people's picture a good few times during every trundle up Front Street and each bike trip becomes a kamikaze adventure of trying to avoid the white helmeted rental scooters as they steer out in front of you and stop randomly in the middle of the road. Crazy tourists! Being on the other side, I can now understand why all the locals in Magaluf, San Antonio, Malia etc. look so peeved to have you in town.
Being a resident you also get to see the tourist facade going up and down. Have you ever wondered why everywhere you go on holiday there is always a night market and some kind of carnival event just when you happen to be in town. Here in Bermuda, we have Destination Dockyard, Harbour Nights and more, all part of the Department of Tourism 'Sizzling Summer' programme. I've got to say though the facade carnival atmosphere is pretty convincing. Us expats hit front street for the Harbour Nights extravaganza on a number of occasions and the transformation is remarkable. Stalls selling the standard prints, shell necklaces, mugs etc. collections with a few local specialities - gombey dolls, shark oil hurricane measures and all sorts of goods based on the Bermuda triangle theme. I'll be picking up a few mementos before I leave no doubt. Where else can you get a triangular jigsaw puzzle?!
For Harbour Nights there is always so kind of grand finale, sometimes the bagpipe 'Beating the Retreat' and then one offs like the crazy 'High Heels' race. Some of you may remember the random pink flamingo fundraiser from my previous blog but I think this tops it... a running race for men in stilettos for, wait for it, a hospital charity. This year it ended with one competitor carried out on a stretcher with an arm in a sling and bandaged ankle...
Photos courtesy of www.bernews.com
I suppose that's one way to create a business case for a new hospital on the island. Fill it with patients well in advance.
Meanwhile as the tourists have been enjoying the island so have we expats. The last few weekends have been a blur of boat trips, watersports, beach parties... hence no blog entries in a while. Poor show but you gotta make hay when the sun is out. Despite not being a catholic or a protestant I appear to have developed some form of catholic guilt/protestant work ethic internal guilt syndrome for how good my weekends are. But what's a girl to do?!
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