A Bermudian, a Brit, a Canadian and two Americans walked into a Vermont pub……

Menu from Firestones in Quechee, Vermont

Yes, a Bermudian, a Canadian, a Brit, and two Americans walked into a pub (Firestones) in Quechee, Vermont and we ordered three Dark n Stormys, a gingerale (definitely not for the Bermudian) and a Vermont Ale (for the Brit).

No, this is not a joke. Well what transpired was a comedy of errors, but it was never meant to be. Nope, this was supposed to be my New Year’s Eve.

I had planned ahead. I never do that, but this time I had four other people depending on me. Why? Because I decided to drag two friends who live in Bermuda (the Canadian and the Brit) and my college roommate and her boyfriend to a house in Quechee, VT.

Some skiing, New England quaintness and a place where I wouldn’t know anyone was just what the doctored ordered. I had rock fever.

Unfortunately this ailment is nothing that a doctor can cure. Nope. Instead, it is what Bermudians feel after spending too much time on our 21 square-mile island. That and my travel column every Wednesday in The Royal Gazette, of course!

After Delta delayed our escape by five hours we arrived in Boston by 7 p.m. and began our trek to Vermont. It’s only two hours so it wasn’t too bad.

The Americans had already made it to Quechee and we found them ensconced in beer and nibbles at the Firestones’ Pub waiting for us. It was busy, but our waitress was so amazing it made the time fly.

She even carded me! I felt young again. Heck maybe I’m a questionable 21-year-old at 31? Works for me. This was going to be a good vacation.

Even better, we had a little bit of Bermuda waiting for us on the menu. Yes I wanted to escape, but I always love seeing my home country featured somewhere. Well especially because we’re so small!

There it was listed on the Firestones’ menu: a Dark ‘n’ Stormy. Arguably Bermuda’s National drink,  the Dark ‘n’ Stormy consists of our Black Seal Rum (a dark, rich

Quchee's Waterfall/Glass Blowing Company

and smooth alcohol) mixed with Barritt’s Ginger Beer. Any other ginger beer just simply will not do.

I was sure Firestones did not have Barritt’s, but I thought I would give Firestones’ the benefit of the doubt (the friendly waitress who carded me, helped) and we decided to book our New Year’s Eve dinner here.

There were not many other choices. I mean, I love Quechee. It’s quintessential New England. But as far as eating on New Year’s Eve we were at a loss.

Sure we could have chosen Simon Pearce and spent $80 on a four course meal, but that would not have included drinks, tax or service. We didn’t have that kind of money.

The 31st came. We put the skis down, showered and even donned some make-up for the occasion. At 8p.m. we were ready for a good night.

Too bad our Firestones’ waitress wasn’t. Our friendly, first night waitress had been replaced with another.

“What do you want to order?”

Well, hello to you too. Yes, we would love to have a great New Year’s Eve, thank you for asking, I belittled the waitress in my head. I bit my tongue and we gave her the drinks order.

Three Dark ‘n’ Stormys, a gingerale and a Vermont ale.

“Ok, now do you know what food you want to order?”

“uhh, I mean, uh…no!”

She was starting to get downright pushy. I was getting tired of it. She left.

Five minutes later, she returned.

“Ok fine we’ll order.”

That meant our starters. We were still holding out on her. I mean we planned to be there for midnight. We were not going to get so lucky. As soon as she placed the order in the kitchen she was back.

“Now do you want to order your mains?” Not much of a question really. We did. Three Kobe steaks at various levels of cooking, a sea bass and chicken parmesan.

Easy, right? Nope.

The starters came, they entered our stomachs and the cutlery was taken away….never to return. Well not until we’d already had the steaks and the chicken.

Robyn, you forgot the sea bass?! Nope, nope I didn’t. Actually the waitress did.

I remained gracious: “Dig in guys. Please don’t wait for me.”

Drive-by photo of Firestones

“Ugh, mine’s cold. Mine’s not cooked enough,” echoed around the table.

We called over the waitress. Our conversations turned from borderline impolite to downright rude.

Us: “Sorry, but our steaks are all cold and we still don’t have the sea bass.”

Waitress: “What do you want me to do about it?”

I get it’s New Year’s Eve. I get that no one wants to work, but well, we would have spent a decent chunk of change. She would have done all right if she had managed an iota of pleasantness.

“Are you sorry they’re cold?” I asked her.

“Yes, I’m sorry. So what would you like me to do?”

Fly to the moon, solve world poverty, find the cure for cancer, I don’t know, maybe cook new steaks?!

The men at our table decided to confront the manager; I had already tried to no avail.

Manager: “Oh, yeah well I only heard about this five minutes before. I’m supposed to have dinner with my wife of 27-years. Um….let’s see how this turns out.”

It turned out that after fixing the steaks, my sea bass came out colder than before, the chicken parmesan had congealed cheese and we were done.

And so was her tip and half of the bill! We bid Firestone’s farewell.

A quick trip to the gas station delivered a few beers and some wine into our party and as we arrived home fireworks erupted on the ski hill!

I think we had the last laugh!

Top Eight Travel Books (and not one is Eat, Pray, Love)

Nope. Not one! Sorry I know everyone is BIG on Eat, Pray, Love, but I am not a fan. Yes I will be the first and probably only female to say it.

I couldn’t find a book that is so far from the truth of travel if I tried. And god knows I am trying to be closer to the traveling truth with my own. Stay tuned for my book about my navigation of the world last year.

Hint: It is not a pretty bow that is tied by a rich man in Bali.

Anyway, the point of the post today is not to bash a book. No instead it’s to highlight some of my favourites! I love to read and so would any traveler. Do you know how long the bus ride is between Cusco, Peru and Puno, Peru? I didn’t think so.

Well it’s long enough to finish a good book and start a new one! Which is exactly what you could do with my first book:

I raced through The White Tiger and not because it won the Man Booker Award. Nope. Instead I thought this book, published in 2008 as the debut novel by Aravind Adiga, offered a view of India like no other book I have read on the subject. Life is told through the eyes of the main character Balram Halwai. Though clever, Balram is too poor to finish school and takes a job in a tea shop before becoming a driver for the rich in New Delhi. In the city and watching the corruption of his employers Balram realizes that he has to take matters into his own hands! I will leave it at that. You want to visit India without the plane ticket? You want an understanding of the caste system, the conflict between Hindu and Muslim, and the poverty in an interesting narrative? You’ve got your book.

French is Funny!

Ever though the French were funny? No? Well you will after reading A Year in the Merde!

Written by a Brit, Stephen Clarke, it fictionally details another Brit’s (Paul West) attempts to move to Paris for an employer who wants to open tea rooms in the capital. Paul has been recruited by the employer. Ironic, because Paul becomes nothing more than a body in the office.

No one will listen to him when they want to name the British tea rooms: My Tea is Rich. Can you see anyone in Britain drinking in that tea room? Me neither. Want a good laugh at the mannerisms of the French? Enjoy this  book and its sequel: Merde Actually! You will find an amusing trip through France.

New York, New York

You’ve been to New York? Are you sure? Haven’t been to New York? Want another side to this capital city that never sleeps? I ran into this book, Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx while I was browsing a Barnes and Nobles while living in New York (irony, I know, crazy, right!). Anyway, I was looking for something different. I found it in this first book by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc.

Based in the post-1980’s in New York it focuses on families struggling to survive on a multigenerational level. But this is no Hollywood tale. It will take you through the Bronx, but also through each generations desire not to be the one before. And failing. Seriously, I’ve never read a better book about New York!

Number Four is just another uplifting book for you. Ever thought being addicted to drugs was funny? No? Ok well neither did James Frey. Or maybe he did. Anyway, though his book: A Million Little Pieces, was caught in a maelstrom of bad press (did he really do this or not?) it’s a good read. I love first-person narratives. I just do. So sue me. But he doesn’t let it drag and it’s not woe is me.

Why do I include this in my books? Even if Oprah has banned him from her couch? Well because it offers you a chance to travel though the eyes of a drug addict. I can happily say I am not one so why not read a book (as semi-fictional as it is) to get an idea?

Saving the World!

From a man who accomplished nothing to a man who tried to accomplish everything we visit Chechnya. I told you this is a random list of books who will make you travel.

The Man who tried to Save the World was written by journalist Scott Anderson and therefore is a succinct, but descriptive and intriguing novel on the life of Fred Cuny. Dubbed the “Master of Disaster”, Fred was one of the best relief workers there was. Unfortunately in 1995 he decided, against all advice, to return to Chechnya.

Him and a small group attempted to reach a rebel fortress that had been bombarded by Russians. They were never seen again. And you won’t be once you start this book! Gripping and a real life drama, it should definitely be part of your backpack!

Somalia

From the drama of a reported war to the war against women that rarely gets reported, From a Crooked Rib is by no means a new book.

Written in 1968 by Nuruddin Farah (a man) he somehow captures the sad, but real, struggles that women in Somalia face (and other parts of Africa). Ebla, the main character, went through the barbaric ritual of female infibulation, then an arranged marriage all before she ran away.

Unfortunately she is then sold into wedlock where she is raped on the first night of the “marriage”. She becomes disillusioned and yet continues to believe that marriage is the source of love and life. It’s a hard novel to read but an enlightening one on the struggles of women outside of my comfortable home.

From women to male piano tuners, I never said my list was organized. Neither is my book shelf which is what I like. I always get to travel to new places! Why stick with one genre? That would be boring.

So now we’re heading to Burma in colonial times. The Piano Tuner is about, of all things, a piano tuner. I know. Shocking. The reason he’s heading to Burma? Well one of the captains in the British Colonial Army has a piano in the hills. He needs it tuned.

Sounds ridiculous, but I bet it could have happened. In any case, it features the conflict between the British and the Burmese who just want their home back. In the most unique of manners – a piano. Filled with descriptions of jungles and lush food, I most definitely will make Burma a next stop!

Visit Barcelona

From Burma to Barcelona. Shadow of the Wind is the s a 2001 novel by Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón and it is amazing! I couldn’t put it down! Not once.

Based in post-civil war Spain, the books centres on a young boy Daniel who is exposed to the beauty of books by his father. In the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library filled to the rafters with old forgotten titles preserved by a secret group of librarians. New initiates (those who know about the library) can pick one book to take with them.

What Daniel finds with his new book, Shadow of the Wind, is a mysterious author and his home city filled with dark corners and unknowns. It will keep you gripped. Just please don’t read Zafon’s second book, The Angel’s Game. It will ruin The Shadow of the Wind!

So there you have it. My reading list if I wanted to travel to somewhere new without ever boarding a plane, sitting in a car or visiting a train. Enjoy!

Ashes of corpses, bathing and dolphins in one River?

River Dolphins

It was far too early in the morning, but we persisted. We dodged the bodies being carried over our heads on bamboo carriers and we arrived at the Ganges River.

It’s Varanasi. One of the holiest and craziest places I have ever visited in my life. Sitting on the banks of the Ganges in India – a mere couple of hours from New Delhi by train – it is auspicious to die here and if you die somewhere else? You want to come here to be burned on one of the various piers here.

But that’s not what we were doing that morning. Nope. Instead we were trying to find a boat. Why? Well one of the other traditions here is to light little candles and send them floating down the river as an offering to Ganga, who is revered as the living goddess of Varanasi.

We found a row boat and three others – one photographer from National Geographic – to share our morning outing. He took us along the river where we saw people laying-out their laundry and bathing in water that was barely lighter than the colour of soil.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing Robyn, you’re still asleep.”

“No, I swear it’s a fin.”

“You’re right! It’s a dolphin.”

Of all things we would find on the Ganges with it’s pathway to the afterlife and apparent healing powers we also found a…..dolphin!

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the Ganges Dolphin on the Red list of endangered animals and we were watching it glide through the water! It was an amazing sight with the sun rising behind its dorsal fin.

Laundry along the Ganges

But poor river dolphins. They don’t have much to swim in anymore. The pollution, lowering water levels and the nets are catching them in their prime.

Hence why on this day in 2006 the Chinese River Dolphin or the Baiji, was pronounced extinct! Yes, only four years ago was one of these aquatic animals gone from Rivers.

A 45-day search by leading experts found zero examples of the dolphin and lead to it being declared “functionally extinct.”

In fact the only verified sighting of the cetacean (dolphin family) had been in 2004. Listing the Baiji as extinct makes it the first aquatic animal to be listed so since the Japanese Sea Lion and the Caribbean Monk Seal in the  1950’s.

Good job humans! At least I was able to catch a glimpse of one of the, perhaps, last Ganges Dolphins. Have a conservative Monday and stay tuned for tomorrow and all your needs for your travels!

Ten Traveling ideas from Bermuda in December

December's Decorations

It’s time to plan for your travels. Where are you going next? Need somewhere or something to do in December? Well if you’re Bermudian this first one is most definitely not up your alley.

So why am I including it in my December 10 traveling ideas today? Well because it’s always amazing to me to see people strip down, jump-in and try to swim as the temperatures around them plunge.

Are you interested in participating? Are you in London? Going to London? Well on December 4th some crazy people will be taking the Plum Pudding Plunge in the Parliament Hill Lido.

Enticing I know. Maybe the mince pies and the hot tub afterwards would bring you around? It certainly does nothing for me. Neither does the 15 pounds they are charging for the pleasure.

I will certainly be keeping my sweater on, but if you are interested in the challenge and won’t be in London on December 4th check-out this Outdoor Swimming site for more ideas.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Or perhaps you are in London for more traditional, winter fare? Perhaps a turn on the ice rink? Some warm wine?

A taste of a Christmas market?

Well Hyde Park is here to help with their traditional and annual event: Winter Wonderland.

Every year from November 19th to January 3rd, this corner in Hyde Park is decked-out with everything from Santa and his helpers to winter food and rides such as a replica London’s Eye!

Who can resist? Of course it is free, unless you want to go on the rides. A fun way to use the cold to your advantage.

But maybe you’re not traveling to London for December? Maybe, if you’re from Bermuda, an easy trip is to head for the East Coast and New York.

New York has ice skating too and if you’re going to be ice skating you’re probably going to want to go to Rockefeller Centre. It’s the place featured in all the films. It’s romantic with all the buildings towering above you, but’s also expensive, busy and not always the best option. Try to visit early in the morning or before 4 p.m. if you want to get this New York experience. And, of course, visit the Centre for the lighting of the tree on December 2!

Why not get a free (yes I wrote free) skating experience in New York? Head a little further south in Manhattan and you will hit Bryant Park. For $13 you can rent skates and it is free to skate on the pond. If you have your own skates, well, you get it….it’s FREE!!!

But who just wants to skate or see the lights in New York? If I’m coming from Bermuda I want it to be for a reason.

How about December 10? You free? z100 (a radio station) is hosting their Jingle Ball with the likes of Katy Perry, B.o.B. , Bruno Mars, Paramore, Michael Buble, Taio Cruz and many, many more! How amazing would that concert be?

Hosted at the Madison Square Gardens from 7.30 p.m. you can buy your tickets here.

Is Boston more your style? Well if it is you are more than likely a Bruins fan. Can’t wait to see them fly across the ice? Well you don’t have to. In December the home team is heading home for at least seven games.

Check out these dates:

Boston for December

Thursday, 12/2, 7pm – Bruins vs Lightening

Tuesday, 12/7, 7pm – Bruins vs Sabres

Thursday, 12/9, 7pm – Bruins vs Islanders

Saturday, 12/11, 7pm – Bruins vs Flyers

Saturday, 12/18, 7pm – Bruins vs Capitals

Monday, 12/20, 7pm – Bruins vs Ducks

Thursday, 12/23, 7pm – Bruins vs Thrashers

Buy your tickets here.

Perhaps hockey is not quite your style? Perhaps you want to try something a bit more soothing on the ears?

Well have no fear the Boston Pops Orchestra is here. Well in Boston, but you get it.

From December 8th to December 26th the holiday season will be serenaded with 37 matinée and evening performances at the Symphony Hall.

Tickets range from $27 to $125 so check out their website here for more information.

Need something more from Boston? Well check out Boston Events website for more ideas.

Canada. Yep that northerly neighbour of America is also getting festive this season. Why not bundle-up and

Animals need holiday treats too

head for Toronto? Their zoo is even getting into the mix this year.

On boxing day, which of course we also celebrate in Bermuda, the Toronto zoo will be hosting its 35th annual Christmas Treats walk. Yes even the animals get some holiday cheer.

For those human beings that participate, hot chocolate and carollers are your treat.

Not up for the animals? Well Toronto also has an annual bike show!

From December 10th to the 12th Toronto will be holding a motorcycle show for the enthusiast in all.

Not sure why I would want to drive a bike in Canada in December, but hey, maybe those Canadians are more hearty than Bermudians.

In any case if you do fancy yourself a motorcyclist check out the website for more information.

Finally on the other side of Canada, in Vancouver, Stanley Park will be alight with millions of Christmas whites to create a winter wonderland.

Take train ride through the forest transformed with two million twinkling lights, see the animated displays and listen to holiday sounds as you enjoy hot chocolate, fresh popcorn and roasted chestnuts. For more information visit the Parks’ website.

Sounds lovely. Now to pack for the trip. Check back here tomorrow for some tips and tales on how to pack.

Blog, eat and get paid $10,000

 

Cambodian Market Food

Are you looking for a new job? Are you a keen cook? Do you enjoy a decent meal? Well I have found another dream travel job for you.

Yes these travel gigs are starting to look better and better with each new exciting job offer. Last week it was diving in Bali.

This week? This week the job of the hour is eating your way across Asia. No, I’m not kidding.

The Pei Wei Asian Diner has launched an international search for someone who will travel with their Executive Chef Eric Justice across Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, China and Japan and blog about it.

In two weeks you will cover five countries, eat more noodles than you ever thought possible and help find inspiration for the Pei Wei Asian Diner’s menu.

For this “work” you will receive a $10,000 stipend.

Wanna sign-up? What do you need? According to the Diner’s website you need: A talent for writing, a boundless appetite and willingness to experiment with the unknown, an eye for the unforgettable image and the ability to capture it, comfort both on-camera and behind the lens, a spontaneous spirit but a grounded work ethic, and a passion for Asian cuisine.

Sweet. But it’s not just a writing campaign. As the blogger you will also be required to take photos and video. The entry process, as you can imagine, is no easy task.

To enter you must upload a photo, bio, and sample blog post, but can also add four additional posts, five more photos, and one YouTube link. Entries will be accepted between now and December 20, 2010, and the winner will be announced during the week of January 17.

The trip will take place in late February 2011 so what are you waiting for? Food? Well why not go to the best places possible to try it! Check out the application.

That’s your Friday inspiration. Now bring-on the weekend!

 

In one hour we decide if this man lives or dies

Who is he? Why should we care? Why would he die to day? Why are you bringing-up a depressing subject when it’s a beautiful sunny day in Bermuda and it is the last day of the Rugby Tournament?

All very good questions.

This is artist Oleg Mavromati. Even worse? He’s a Russian one. By worse I mean for him.

According to Russian officials he broke their code. In 2000 he performed “Do not believe your eyes”. The performance art piece requires that he is crucified because he killed his friend (in the play of course)!

Apparently this meant he was mocking Christians and so the Churches filed complaints saying he was inciting religious hatred.

Article 282. Not that, that means a lot who is not Russian but apparently it’s not good.

So rather than face almost certain death with the state of the Russian jails, he fled. He’s now in Sofia, Bulgaria and has launched a website for the general public to decide his fate.

How do they do that? Well you have to register online and if you want to let him live you pay nothing. If you want him to die thank out come the pocket books. $.50 a vote. Paypal will help you with that.

Why? Because it is there. No not really. Because he wants it to be known that, according to his blog: “The freedom of speech and expression is a basic human right. This freedom of expression of all artists and people from any nationality, race, religion, gender and class should be guaranteed and protected by the constitution and the legislation of each country which calls itself democratic.

“Democracy is guaranteed only if the right to freely share and express thoughts is not violated.”

He is, therefore an ultimate victim. And since Saturday last week for four hours a day people have been able to vote whether he lives or dies.

Each day these were tallied and the majority meant he was either shocked by the electricity attached to various parts of his body (if they want him to die) or he made it out clean.

The first day the shock would last a minute. The second day? Two…etc… By today then seven seconds of shock is enough to kill him.

Gosh I hope I can believe in the will of the public. Do you fancy voting? At the very least visiting the blog? Oh good cause here it is.

Heathrow is sorry for sewage-covered-bags

Flying over the Glaciers of Patagonia, Chile.

You know that when you go on a trip, if you’re not a miniature business passenger or an incredibly resourceful vacationer, you are usually checking a bag.

In the good old days, i.e. about five years ago, this meant whatever you wanted. I remember when I moved myself from Rome to London on the discount airline Ryan Air. What did that mean?

It meant at least 50 kilos of clothes, books, and other “necessary” items. Now? Well now if I have over 10 kilos in a check-in I am turning into the marshmallow woman. Check-in bags? That will cost an extra $50 on top of my ticket.

And they’re not alone. Now Air Canada wants to charge you to check-in a second bag. American Airlines has.

And British Airways already did.

So you’d think with all these added fees someone might actually pay attention?

Well they didn’t at Heathrow’s Terminal One. Most Bermudians fly through Gatwick (our only way with British Airways), but here’s a warning if you transfer.

Just this week, not only did 240 people have to probably pay for these bags to go under the plane, they also had the added a free covering of raw sewage!!

Yes I wrote that. Raw Sewage!

“I’m sorry mam, why does my backpack smell like a toilet? Oh right because you dumped one on it!”

Now BAA, which runs Heathrow, is going to pay passengers $1,600 toward the bags – all of which could not be salvaged. The total bill? $384,000.

To be honest….not enough. Oh and sorry they did say they were sorry! That will save my favourite sweater. Sarcasm is free on this website.

But that won’t save the other bags that have been set on fire or simply lost!

Have you flown through Philadelphia lately? Have you still got your bags? You’re the lucky one. Four baggage handlers were arrested this week for “multiple counts of criminal conspiracy, theft, unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and attempted theft”.

These, hopefully former, employees of American Airlines will not be going to court! Check out the reports in Philadelphia.

Ok so I have to check a bag over a certain weight and now it’s just going to get stolen! Well for one thing I am definitely not leaving anything important in there again and neither should you!

This should give you heart for the weekend! Enjoy watching how your recently send Christmas packaged might be sent and give thanks that not everything has to go by plane!

Today in London….

Fire fire everywhere!

Four hundred and five years ago a man walked into Parliament and tried to bring it down! To hell with the King….I suppose.

Who was this attempted terrorist? Why Guy Fawkes. Though this York-born man did not operate alone. Nope. This was a plot by Catholics who wanted to take-down King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne.

Who is Guy Fawkes? Good questions. Born on April 15, 1970 he lost his father when he was just eight-years-old. His mom went on to marry a staunch Catholic. No shocker then, when Fawkes later converted and moved to Spain to help fight in the 80 years’ war for Catholic Spain against the Protestant Dutch.

He also tried to rally support for a Catholic rebellion in England. He found a Thomas Wintour who did the introductions to Robert Catesby and they planned assassinate King James I.

With a spot rented beneath the House of Lords, they began to stockpile gunpowder and Fawkes was left in charge.

Someone ratted them out via anonymous letter and when the authorities searched Westminster Palace early on November 5 (i.e. today 405 years ago) they found Fawkes. The gunpowder. And save James’ life.

Questioned. Tortured. He broke his silence. On January 31 he jumped off the scaffolding he was going to be hanged with and broke his neck.

For some reason, now, England celebrates this. Yep. Fawkes represents the Gun Powder Plot and every year his effigy is burned on a bonfire.

Oh and there are fireworks! Well of course there are. No sense in just letting him burn in silence!

In true Bermudian fashion we will be joining the Brits in their burning! Well at least the fireworks that is. Aptly placed our fireworks will be around an old Fort here.

Fort St. Catherine! Where we used to watch-out for the Spanish almost 400 years ago. It’s a small world.

Pumpkins are people tooo

AHHHHH!

It’s the end of the summer. Britain has even turned its clocks forward an hour. Days will be ending earlier. The chill will begin.

Good thing those Celts thought about carving fruit. What am I talking about? That old tradition you know! Carving Pumpkins.

In Bermuda these seem to have become the decoration of choice for people’s fence posts or gate entrances. Spooky.

But this tradition started years and years ago as a way to welcome deceased loved ones and to ward-off the bad spirits! Well it actually started with them carving turnips and gourds apparently.

Attacking the Pumpkin

When the European settlers hit America’s shores they found the pumpkins (which are actually fruit) better for carving.

Me too. That’s how I spent my Saturday night. I know…crazy me. The reason I wasn’t out enjoying the nightlife? I awoke for a truly scary experience this morning.

It required driving to Clearwater Beach (and the water is remarkably clear. I even saw turtles) in Bermuda and running 5 km. Why? Because it was there.

And because while I was away in Europe my friend emailed me. She wanted me to join a group for a team triathlon.

Sneaky.

Feeling lazy on my trip I said yes. This morning my body kept saying no, no, no, no (well you get the point). Still I managed the run in approximately 24 minutes and my team came in third!

A mug for my cider and some baked pumpkin seeds made-up for the scary morning….I suppose.

Germans put their knives away!

Put them away!!!

Why? Because it’s Halloween and they worry about harm befalling the returning spirits.

Do you know where the birthplace of Halloween is? In Ireland of course! That’s because the Celts – who used to worship nature – believed winter represented death and hunger. Naturally.

October 31? Dooms day. So they would host a ceremony called: “Samhain”. Celts also believed the spirits of the dead would visit them so they left delicious food and drinks on the front porch for the spirits.

With the spreading of Christianity, November 1st of every year, became “All Saint’s Day”. The eve of November 1st, is known as “All Hakkiwe’en” or “Halloween”.

Now the Irish, in rural areas, have bonfires lit as they were in the days of the Celts and children dress up in costumes to spend the evening “trick-or-treating” in their neighborhoods. And then come the parties of course!

What do the Irish eat on Halloween? “Barnbrack.” This is a type of fruitcake which can be baked at home or store-bought. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake which, so it is said, can foretell the future of the one who finds it.

If the prize is a ring, then that person will soon be wed and a piece of straw means a prosperous year is forthcoming. Children are also known to play tricks upon their neighbors on Halloween night. One of which is known as “knock-a-dolly,” where children knock on the doors of their neighbors but then run away before the door is opened.

Among Spanish-speaking nations, Halloween is known as “El Dia de los Muertos.” It is a joyous and happy holiday…a time to remember friends and family who have died. Officially commemorated on November 2 (All Souls’ Day), the three-day celebration actually begins on the evening of October 31.

And in Hong Kong? The Halloween celebration is known as “Yue Lan” (Festival of the Hungry Ghosts) and is a time when it is believed that spirits roam the world for twenty-four hours. Some people burn pictures of fruit or money at this time, believing these images would reach the spirit world and bring comfort to the ghosts.

But where is the biggest celebration of Halloween? Of course in America and Canada.

Yep every year, 65% of Americans decorate their homes and offices for Halloween…a percentage exceeded

Trick or Treat!

only by Christmas. Halloween is the holiday when the most candy is sold and is second only to Christmas in terms of total sales.

So what are you doing for Halloween? I’m a sad little goblin this year because I’m supposed to be running a 5k race on Sunday morning at 9.30 a.m.

My Halloween costume? A pasta party! But Bermudians in general? Well it’s another excuse to drink plenty of rum, wear little clothes and party all night! Too bad the traditional Fright Night, which was held at our Fort Hamilton, won’t be held there this year.

No moat scaring, high-flying ghost this year. Oh well….put the knives away, whip-up some Bambrack and enjoy yourselves!