Check your visa requirements before you go!

Visas for Turkey

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“Where have you been?”

Where haven’t I been, I felt like saying. Sarcastic, however, is the last thing I would dream of being to an immigration officer.

“I’ve been around the world.”

“Bring back anything interesting?”

I couldn’t hold back, “Interesting? I mean I got a blue, silk dress from Vietnam if that is what you meant.”

I was waved into the back room. It was freezing.

Welcome to Miami.
The problem? Besides the sub-arctic temperatures? Well it wasn’t my sarcasm, I was happy to find out. I was, however, unhappy to hear the problem was my American visa. Or my denial of one.

I had been warned three months before Miami and in Dallas that I need to sign-up online for the incorrectly named American Visa Waiver Program (how are you waiving a visa when you make me pay for entrance to your country? That is a visa, no?).

Anyway, I wasn’t going to argue and I did sign-up here.

Computers are great until they’re not. The problem? Six years before Miami, America decided to enter in their computers that I was denied my student visa for my Master’s program.

“That’s funny because I have the student visa right here and I have a Master’s.” I am a pack rat, luckily and produced the document from my passport holder.

The customs officer didn’t apologise, but did let me transit to Bermuda and suggested I invite him on my next trip around the world. Right.

OK enough of the sarcasm, though, because visas are important things and the only way you’re going to get into countries.

Which brings me to the Rock Fever Column in The Royal Gazette this week: Visas. Awww fun, Robyn. Real fun. Yeah, well it might

Visas for Vietnam

not be fun now, but it will be worse when you don’t plan ahead. Which brings us to tip one: before you visit any country, check with the consulate for up-to-date visa information. Example? Bermudian passport holders are still allowed to enter the United States without a formal visa process (well besides the automatic tourist one for 180 days). But those Bermudians who hold UK passports (like myself) need to go online every two years to apply for the tourist visa (this only changed two years ago).

And make sure you check tip two: which passport are you using? Ok so I am probably not writing this to the spies out there, but Bermudians will usually have a couple of passports. At the very least a Bermudian passport and a British one (I could even have a third, Canadian, if I wanted to). So before you fly figure out which one would give you the greatest immigration clearance ease.

Which leads to three and if you are flying to the United States, Bermudians, you probably want to use a Bermudian passport. It saves you from the online visa application and worrying about when that might run out. Of course if you find yourself on the stop-list (i.e. you did something that landed you in court) then you will have to plan ahead regardless of your passport. Make sure you visit the U.S. Consulate to begin the lengthy process of applying for a U.S. Visa (another reason you don’t want a conviction!)

However tip four: if you have a passport that requires an American Visa (check here to see if your country is listed) then, obviously, apply! It will take you about ten minutes and cost you about $15 for a two year visa. Hardly difficult compared to some countries’ processes.

And tip five is for those who may not be computer literate or comfortable, have no fear because travel agencies will be able to help apply for the United States visa online. Of course it would help if you also buy your plane ticket from them.

Which leads to Tip six and should a Bermudian passport want to travel to Europe, the tables turn. The passport (well and by extension, you, obviously!) will need a Schengen visa, which can cost at least $80 processing fee (depending on which country in the Schengen countries you apply to), additional fees to send it abroad and could take weeks to process. And as Pat Adderley from CTravel warns: “Most of the Schengen require a personal appearance. They don’t want a third party involved. They don’t want to hear from us (the travel agency). They want to meet you in person.” So why wouldn’t you get a UK passport? If you are Bermudian you have the right so use it!

Of course no Bermuda or UK passport will get you off the hook when it comes to India. Visiting the largest democracy in the world will require a visa, but this visa is not about just visiting a website.

Nope, which is why Tip Seven is about planning ahead for any trip because visas can take a while to get (I’m just using India as an example). For Bermudians to get their India visa for your Bermudian or UK passport it will have to be fed ex’d (for security) to Washington, D.C. and could take as many as two weeks to process. The tricky thing is once you have the visa the time starts ticking.

Vietnam's Border Patrol

While you might receive a six month visa to visit India, that does not mean from the time you enter the country. Nope, it means from the day they issue the visa, which leads to Tip Eight: pay attention to details. India is not the only country that operates on time. Vietnam is similar. Once you tell them a date you are entering the country, it is set in….paper and will last for a month minimum. Silly me let that one run out before I had enough time in the country.

Which leads to Tip Nine: DO NOT let visa applications stop you from traveling. They are just a way for a country to know who is entering (and make money as far as I’m concerned). So if you are intimidated by visa applications, then visit a travel agency in Bermuda for guidance. Do NOT apply though an agency online – only the direct embassies of the country. I have heard some horror stories.

And finally Tip Ten: for those who are planning a trip around the world: only apply for the first visa you need. Every other visa can be done abroad. In Cambodia I could get a Vietnam visa in three days (one if I had wanted to pay more). If I had gotten it at home, it would have just been headache, fed ex (so lots of money) and a waste (I didn’t get to Vietnam when I thought I would).

Oh and just because I’m feeling generous you’ve got ten plus one this week Tip 11: When crossing borders make sure you have plenty of American cash on you for those visas that are only available for purchase (i.e. Turkey) and open for negotiation! I was almost in a pinch when crossing into Cambodia and all the “processing” fees. Thank goodness for American travel buddies.

There are lots of visa tips out there and I could continue but that would be boring! So email me at skinnerrobyn@gmail.com for more and of course stay tuned for next week and travel quirks! Until next Wednesday, Adios!

“Christmas Eve without Carp would be like Thanksgiving Day without Turkey”

 

Prague at Christmas! I play along with the Angels

I had to stay. I had just completed my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course in Prague, Czech Republic. My apartment was new and so was the job at Berlitz language school.

I was not going to be flying back to Bermuda for Christmas. It was the first time I had spent the holiday away and I was slightly worried about how I would handle it in this landlocked country.

Where would I find a beach? What crazy Canadians would I watch swimming on Christmas Day? And then I saw the kiddie pool on my Prague corner. Huh?

The temperatures had descended below freezing and mittens upon mittens captured my hands, and the Czechs had pulled out bath tubs onto their streets.

What could possess them to do such a thing?

Well I wasn’t sure either when I spent a Christmas in Prague seven years ago. So as I walked home one day, trying to keep my toes from falling off in temperatures more suitable to snowmen, I watched as a crazy Czech dove his arm into a pool of water. Seconds later his arm and a massive fish (carp) came out.

I had to ask my Czech friends. This can’t be right. Is he really doing this? Why would he be doing this? Why wouldn’t they just go to a butcher counter in a warm supermarket? All of that seemed sane to me.

Unfortunately, for the butcher that is, warm and Christmas Eve dinner do not go hand in hand in Prague. Instead carp, which is the Czech’s Christmas Eve dinner, is supposed to be kept alive as long as possible before chow-time. That means tubs on the side of the road until they are butchered. Some Czech’s even forgo the butchering and take their carp home alive to sit in their bathtubs until Christmas Eve! Forget the goldfish pet!

Even crazier? Carp is supposed to be (I was never brave to try it) salty and boney, but it’s tradition. Don’t believe me? Don’t think the Czech’s are up for the cold? Check out this video:

Llama in Peru also on the menu?

Go figure. Christmas traditions around the world can strike the odd chord. Of course we have our own in Bermuda and sometimes they make sense (cassava pie) and sometimes they don’t (Elbow Beach boozing), which is why I’m writing about them this week for my Rock Fever Column in The Royal Gazette.

But last year I was not in Prague or Bermuda. This time last year rather than trying to decide which slippers I’m going to give my mom (ooops there goes the surprise) I was navigating Peru.

Well Peru and then Bolivia! These would be my last stops on my trip around the world. I would not, however, be spending Christmas in either place. Nope.

After 12 months on the road, I was ready to go home.

So I missed the celebration. But this year as I sit comfortably at home I was curious. What are the traditions in South America? What do Peruvians eat/do for the holiday? Well good thing my friend and soon-to-be travel buddy is from Peru.

According to my STB travel buddy, Christmas in Peru? It’s Turkey. Yeah, not very exciting or different from home (Bermuda).

I mean this is a country that eats guinea pig on a regular basis. No, I am not kidding. They eat what we call pets. Maybe they’re good? I wouldn’t know. Unfortunately all the menus I saw in Peru made the guinea pig look completely revolting.

However, according to my STB travel buddy: “People in different regions will vary their Christmas menu so some people may actually eat the little gerbil creatures, but for the majority, it’s turkey with various side dishes (often including tamales) and champagne. Panetón and hot chocolate are very popular too.”

Mmmmm….tamales. They were with a massive hit with me when I was in Peru! How can they not be? Wrapped in banana leaves, completed with corn flour and filled with meat there is literally nothing I can think of that would stop me from not loving them!

Want to learn how to make them? Yeah me too so I found this somewhat long-ish film on youtube for our enjoyment: 

All this food is eaten at a get-together, party or dinner on Christmas eve which culminates at midnight and everyone wishes everyone else Merry Christmas!

Of course this is the hottest time of the year (we are talking the Southern Hemisphere here) so in Bolivia Christmas food generally focuses on picana.

Pic…what? Picana. It’s a soup made of a soup made of chicken, beef, corn and spices and is eaten usually on Christmas. Well it could be the Eve or the Day, but that just depends on the Bolivian family.

Accompanying the soup? Salads, roast pork or roast beef, and an abundance of tropical fruit and for a sweet it will be eat taffy-filled wafer cookies called “turrón“.

Unfortunately I never indulged in this amazing feast because I was whisked away by American Airlines.

As I touched my toes to Bermuda soil I was, in what can only be described as ironic, directed to arrive in London, England. My family was spending Christmas abroad.

With four days in Bermuda I packed a new bag and was set for London. Of course in England they have their own traditions for Christmas: It’s Crackers! Which of course we have in Bermuda.

Cross your arms for Crackers!

But not ones you can eat. Well I suppose you could and then you’d probably be quite sick. In any case, the Cracker tradition is not one I have ever seen in the United States.

It requires using one of these (pictured to the right) of bundles between two people and pulling them apart. Out pops a toy, a joke and a hat!

The history of it?

Of course this tradition started with who else? A Brit. Thomas Smith in 1846 to be precise. Why? Well because he had been in Paris and seen bon-bons wrapped in tissue paper. He took the idea back to England, wrapped poems in them and eventually transformed the entire idea with a banger (chemically impregnated paper that explodes when pulled).

His sons took over the business and in the 1900’s and in the 1930’s love poems turned to jokes. Ahhh the Christmas traditions explained.

Cassava Pie!

Unlike Americans, however, the British are not happy with one day-off and instead have two! Boxing Day (like us of course!), which is December 26th or Boxing Day. Want to know where our day-off comes from? Well that was a day when boys used to go round collecting money in clay boxes. When the boxes were full, they broke them open.

This year, however, I will take a break from traveling. Yes, I will be in Bermuda and will only have to travel as far as one parish to another to indulge in Turkey, ham, beans, carrots and the traditional Cassava pie!

You don’t know what cassava pie is?! Sacrilege! It is of course based on cassava, which is a starch-filled root that grows in poor soil. Hence why the early settlers, dating back to 1612, made it into everything they could.

But just because it grew-up in poor soil doesn’t mean it tastes poorly. Never! And the best part is that it is totally safe for celiacs! Well, that is, once it is cleaned properly. Cleaned improperly and you have some serious cyanide poisoning.

Bermudians, me, traditionally, now, buy it frozen, drain it, fill it with eggs and plenty of butter, chicken and even sometimes pork.

It’s a weird tradition because though everyone eats it on Christmas Day, not everyone makes it the same way. Some make it sweet, some make it savory. It’s all about your taste buds.

Which has made me hungry! It’s time to enjoy and indulge wherever you are so have a Happy Holiday, visit the Bermuda National Museum for more traditions, and of course visit here tomorrow for all your vacation needs!

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!

Bermuda Beauty Treatments

Rain for Beauty!

What am I posting about today? Well hopefully you got your beauty sleep this weekend? No? Oh right it was Bermuda’s annual Rugby Classic.

I’m sure most people are feeling a little less than light on their feet today. Maybe there are a few bags under the eyes that were not there before?

Need something to pick you up? Perhaps you’re having a better day than Oleg Mavromati (read my previous post for understanding) who appears to be alive!

Have no fear the Bermudians are on it and have been “on it” since our creation. As you can see in the pic I have chosen for you today, the Brits thought they were ahead.

What am I talking about?

Today’s Robyn’s Wanderings draws from my next column for The Royal Gazette (in on Wednesday now!) I was meandering around the house of John Keats in Hampstead Heath, London and noticed this sign.

“Rain Water in Beauty Treatments”

Now who would have thought? Well the Bermudians certainly have! We catch the rain off our roofs, store it in our tanks and use it for everything from washing our faces (hello beauty!) to washing our vegetables (beautiful tummies?).

Apparently this was  new trend in the time of George IV i.e. late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Kinda an odd concept, really. Not washing?

But then again who would have thought about catching water on our roofs to use it for every day affairs? A small island nation in the middle of the Atlantic is who!

It’s always a fun fact to share with people, even people who work for eco-lodges in Berlin. He couldn’t quite get his head around it!

“You mean you catch water on your roofs? To flush toilets, right?”

“No. Well yes. But we also drink it and shower, etc.. It’s why we have roofs shaped like stairs and painted white!”

White, water-catching Bermuda roof

“That’s crazy! Why don’t you write about that for your blog.”

Ha. Well here I am writing about it. Trendsetters that we try to be, Bermuda was way-ahead in the beauty treatments that the British then “came-upon.”

So remember your beauty treatment today. In Bermuda it’s no further than your tap and stay tuned for my next Rock Fever Column on Wednesday!

Happy Monday.

What is Veterans Day?

Reminders of the Vietnam War

It started with peace. And no it’s not Memorial Day. Don’t confuse the two.

Memorial Day (the fourth Monday in May) honors American service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle.

Veterans Day pays tribute to all veterans–living or dead–but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their countries honorably during war or peacetime.

And Veterans Day began in peace. Yes, Thursday might be a day to remember those who valiantly went to war, but the day was founded on peace almost 100 years ago.

On November 11, 1918 at 11 a.m. a temporary stop in hostilities was declared between the Allied Nations and Germany in WWI or the Great War. Depending who you speak to I guess.

A year later? President Woodrow Wilson declared a day of remembrance for all those who had served in the war.

He said: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with lots of pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.”

Just a few years later, in 1938, the day became a legal holiday; “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”

And on June 1, 1954, the word “Armistice” was replaced with Veterans. Not surprising after the world had suffered a second World War, the Korean War and was about to enter the Vietnam War.

See this great video on the history of Veterans Day.

So what do we do now for Veterans Day? I have to have a lament here. Without people willing to sacrifice for a good cause we would not have saved those being persecuted in Europe during WWI or II.

But recent Wars i.e. Iraq and Afghanistan, feel futile. There were no weapons of mass destruction and sovereignty of these countries was destroyed. And the wars are still going on.

One might argue that Saddam Hussein was a tyrant and deserved to be kicked-out. I can’t argue about that, but why do it now? North Korea is slowly destroying its people and yet I did not see former President Bush talking about taking them out.

It’s sad and something to think about on Thursday. It’s something I faced quite regularly when I visited Vietnam last year. War’s lingering problems. The immediate fighting might end, but the atrocities do not go away. See the photo here:

The Vietnam War continues to be remembered here with birth defects in children thanks to the Agent Orange used by the Americans. Unfortunately these poor children, men and women are not remembered with a day.

Don’t get me wrong. What those of the armed services do takes guts and commitment that I do not have. All I hope to do is accept the fact that with war comes civilians caught in the middle. They don’t get a day.

But at least they remember the veterans I suppose. The United States, Bermuda, Britain, France, Australia and Canada all commemorate the veterans of World Wars I and II on or near November 11th with parades, flags and a day off work.

In the United States there is even an official wreath-laying ceremony is held each Veterans Day at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

And apparently this year, American National Parks will also be free on Thursday. Yes around the country there will be free entrance to these parks. Check out these listings to find the closest park for your visit.

In Bermuda? We’ll be off on Thursday and there will be a parade along our main street- Front Street. There will also be a second parade on November 14 in St. George’s that will be attended by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, and Lt. Col. Brian Gonsalves of the Bermuda Regiment.

Poppy appeals and a memorial to the women and men who served in the Armed Services during WWI and WWII will also carry-on for remembrance. See The Royal Gazette’s Article on this.

So whatever you do…be in Bermuda or not, remember those who have bravely entered the armed forces and are trying their best AND those civilians who are still suffering from the ravages of war. They need a day.

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.

Ten Bermudas from around the world

Bermuda Blooms

Really Sun newspaper?? Britain is balmier than Bermuda? Not really hard to beat us in the heat. What about the humidity? Think we still beat Britain. For those who don’t know, Bermuda rarely goes above 90 degrees Maybe you should have picked….Bali?

Yeah well the Sun wasn’t alone. The UKPA (press association) also had something to say. Hey! Perhaps this is better tourism advertising than pink cabs???

Red Fort in New Delhi...ok not Chennai, but still India!

Going to India anytime soon? Worried you won’t be able to have your Bacardi and Coke? Fear no longer. The Bermuda-based family owned rum maker is opening a plant in Tamil Nadu, India! Yipee!!

Back to Europe and Bermuda debuted on the Paris runway. Well our shorts did at least. The designer Thom Browne covered them in Space Suit first and then let the golfing NASA crowd show their legs off! Well according to Huffington Post.

Paris is far behind….Canada! Calgary to be exact. A Calgary mayor candidate, Joe Connelly, wore them as he spoke to students at the area’s University! Go Bermuda shorts!!!

After trekking 2,000 miles to Bermuda and back newspapers along the East Coast of the United States are hailing their sailors – heroes. They took part in the Bermuda Race.

Of course Sail World also got involved and published some photos of the actual race winners! Featured at the Government house everyone’s smiles and suntans.

Now for something really exciting….Bridge. No not crossing the water…the card game. Apparently there is a Bridge Bermuda Bowl and just this week the USA team for it was chosen. I don’t know how I contain my excitement!

A little closer to home? Last week I had a friend visiting from New Jersey. It was great playing tourist with them and they loved the island (it only took her 12 years to visit me here:) Apparently the rest of New Jersey loves our home too.

And finally….a little news for those who are Bermuda-based (and, well, any Canadians seeking some winter sun) WestJet is going to be landing on 21-square-miles through the winter!! Yippeee. Discount Canadian prices all year round!