Bacardi Headquarters

Thought you might like to see where Kim works. Like Johnson Wax, the Bacardi family has long supported creative architecture. The headquarters building, designed by Mies van der Rohe, was built in the early 60’s. And I believe it was designed in the late 50's with the intention of building it in Cuba. Of course when Castro took over, those plans were put on hold. It’s an impressive sight especially when you look at the traditional Bermudian architecture that surrounds it.



And the fountains at night are pretty spectacular. Much better than in an amateur's pictures. (I'm still working on it, though).

Saturday

Kim and I decided to get a fairly early start today (well, early for Kim on Saturday), go have breakfast, and then check out Bermuda’s farmers’ market. We had breakfast at a place called Ten – sort of Starbucks-style place except they serve more substantial breakfasts and brunches – not just the high-calorie bakery usually associated with Starbucks. Very nice place and very good food. We’ve been there before and will certainly go again.

The farmers' market isn’t that big. Only a couple of produce-type stands and lots of crafts booths. There was actually a pretty good assortment of produce and we bought some things for the next several days. Seems as though carrots and beets are big this time of the year.




But there was a decent amount of scallions, leeks, turnips, pumpkins, lettuce, bok choy, peppers, beans, and potatoes also. Must be the end for tomatoes because the selection wasn’t that great. Or maybe the good ones were picked over. One thing they don’t grow here is asparagus. It’s about ten bucks a pound at the store and it’s not that good, either.

After the farmer’s market we headed to Goslings Wine Store to check out the stock. Because of Kim’s association with Bacardi, we have a wholesale account at the place, which means 20% off. Prices even without the discount are pretty good. One of the few bargains in Bermuda. Which may be one of the reasons people drink so much here.

Then it was top down (very sunny with temp around 70) and we drove towards the west end to check out the Riddle’s Bay Golf Course. Never did see the course because we couldn’t find a place to park. Well, we eventually did, but by then it didn’t seem worth the hassle to park and get out to see the place. And besides, it was too much fun just driving around in the convertible.

Eventually we stopped at Lindo’s (our favorite grocery store) to get the rest of the makings for our dinners for the next few days. Then home.

We talked with Michael a couple of times today. Our last conversation was when she was at the airport waiting for her flight to Italy. Apparently no difficulties in getting in and out of NYC and in checking her luggage. We just checked on-line and see that her flight is now in the air.

If you’re interested, Michael has started a blog. You can check it out at http://maaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/

Ciao Michael Anne

Well, mine weren’t the only tears at the airport this morning.

Michael’s flight was at 8:40, so we left the house around 6:30. It’s less than a half hour to the airport, and the airport’s pretty small, so getting there an hour-and-a-half before flight time is more than enough. She’s spending the night in NYC and meeting the Florence group tomorrow evening for the flight to Italy. She could have flown out tomorrow, but there’s only one daily flight to NYC from Bermuda, and we wanted the assurance that she wouldn’t miss the flight to Rome.

So, after we said goodbye and she walked through the gate, we headed back to town. I dropped Kim at work, and came home. I’ve actually been quite busy all day. Lots of laundry had piled up, so took care of that. Now I’m in the middle of adding some “comfort” things to the newly remodeled bath. Like, there’s no medicine cabinet, so I went out and bought one and I’m in the middle of installing it. I really don’t have a lot of tools here. I got rid of most back in Racine, thinking I wouldn’t need them. But I do have a drill, so I think I have what I need to finish this project. Unfortunately, the battery for the drill needed charging, so I’ll have to wait and finish tomorrow.

Today’s Friday, so I’ll meet with Kim at the Bat Bar after work. In case we haven’t mentioned the Bat Bar, it’s a bar at the Bacardi headquarters for employees and spouses (or friends). It’s open every Friday from five until around seven (or until everyone leaves). They hire a bartender, it’s completely stocked (with Bacardi products, of course), and it’s free.

And, I see it’s six o’clock. So I’m off to the Bat Bar.

Peace and Quiet??

Wednesday morning: The contractors completed the door replacement late yesterday. Two days to do a job they said would be done in one. Still to come are the painters who need to finish the job. I was looking forward to a nice quiet morning, but then, the yard guys came, and they of course are making all sorts of noise. Our house is sitting on a fairly large, terraced property, so there must be at least half a dozen guys swarming around the place with mowers, blowers, trimmers, and whatever. Michael is still in her room, apparently asleep.

Thursday afternoon: No contractors at all today. The weather continues to be just OK. Not great, but not rainy either. And I guess it's a whole lot better than other places at this time of the year. Michael is getting her things sorted out and packed for her flight tomorrow morning. That’s got to be tough deciding what to take for the next four months. She’ll be flying to Rome, but through JFK where she meets the rest of the group that will be with her in Florence. She doesn’t seem too nervous about it, but my guess is there’ll be tears at the airport tomorrow. (OK, maybe only mine).

A Tank Rain?

A rainy start to the day. Very heavy rainfall for about a half hour. I can't imagine that we didn't get a lot of it into our water tank in spite of the strong winds. The pool level showed a measurable increase. As you can see, the ocean isn't visible during the storm.




The interesting thing about Bermuda weather, though, is that, as I write this (10:30 am which is less than three hours after the above photos were taken), the clouds have cleared, the sky is blue, and it's probably around 70 degress and very humid. Who knows what'll happen next?

More contractors here at the house yesterday and today, and I'm really getting tired of them. This one is replacing the rear patio doors. This is something our landlord should have noticed and taken care of when the old tenant moved out. Instead, he left it for me to bring to his attention. Now, of course, I have to deal with the noise and the dirt while the work is being done. Presumably they'll finish today, but ...... this IS Bermuda.

Monday Morning ...

… and the weekend’s gone. Among the three of us I think there was competition about who could do the least. The weather was rainy and dreary, temperature around 60, so there was no real incentive to get out and do anything. We talked about it, but I’m the only one that left the house the entire weekend – and only for groceries so that we could eat.

Let’s see, what did we accomplish? Some memorabilia put away in sealed plastic bags, some pictures hung, some work-outs, a lot of internet cruising, a bit of TV, we watched parts (most) of both play-off games. Add to that some cooking, eating, and cleaning up, and that pretty much describes our weekend.

So you see that, other than being surrounded by some beautiful scenery, our lives aren’t a whole lot different from when we lived in Racine.

Dreary Saturday

Yesterday was a milestone for High Corners. The bathroom that has been under construction since prior to our moving in became fully functional – at long fast. The shower door was the last thing to be done. Michael initiated the place.

It’s been raining on and off for the last twenty-four hours. I have to believe that much of it has been “tank” rain since it hasn’t been that windy. And fortunately the rain held off last evening for the annual Bermuda Invitational Mile run. It’s a series of about ten races starting with primary school girls all the way up to the elite men’s race.









The three of us were able to snare a prime table in one of the restaurants overlooking the start and finish line of the race. I think Kim made the arrangements through a colleague who knows the restaurant owner. Temp was probably around sixty. We ate outside, but with our coats on. Great fun and a great view. I took lots of pics, but not a lot of good ones. I was experimenting with a new camera, and have concluded that night time sports is one of the toughest things to photograph.





Today is more of the same dreary weather. We’re all sort of doing our own thing. Kim and Michael are working on sorting through memorabilia they want to save. The things will need to be stored in sealed plastic bags, otherwise the humidity could do some serious damage. One of the pitfalls of island living. I’ve already been out and back for my weekend errands. After I get this posted, I’m going to start hanging some pictures. Still trying to get this place to look like home.

Stay warm.

Rain

Well, of course it rained last night. And just as I predicted, right around dinner time. In fact it started just when I left to pick up Kim from work. Naturally I had washed the car yesterday too. So it was steaks on the grill, and cooked under an umbrella.

But, as they’ve been saying, we need the rain. I’m not sure it was a “tank” rain, though, which is the type of rain needed to fill the cisterns. Let me explain. Bermuda has little or no suitable underground water supply, so almost all of the fresh water used on the island is rain water collected from the roofs. Most, if not all buildings, are capable of collecting and storing rainwater. Which explains why virtually all buildings have clean white roofs. The water is diverted from the roof to an underground tank, then pumped to the taps in the house. It normally isn’t treated, and if you keep the roof and the cistern clean, the water is apparently OK for drinking. (I actually took a flashlight and looked into our tank – it was surprisingly clear and clean looking). We happen to have a reverse osmosis filter that treats our drinking water, but I think most houses drink the water straight from the tap.

During very dry weather, you can run out of water, and if you do, you can buy it from a local supplier. We don’t know how often that will happen. My guess is it won’t be that often since I believe the underground tank is sized for the number of bathrooms, which usually indicates how many people live in the house. Since we have three bathrooms and there are only the two of us (normally), we should have adequate capacity. Not only that, we’re fairly frugal about our usage.

Regarding the “tank” rain, apparently there are times when it’s rainy, but so windy that the water doesn’t funnel down into the collection system. Instead, it just blows off the roof and is “wasted”. Great for the grass and greenery, but not a “tank” rain.

Here are a couple photos of our roof. You can just make out the large ridge that channels the water into the tank.

Top-Down Weather

Yup. More top-down weather. I really don’t think this is typical for this time of the year. We still see lots of locals all bundled up, but now more and more non-locals (probably) in shorts and t-shirts. Humidity is very high (83% right now, according to the weather). Which pretty much tells you how uncomfortable it will be when the temperature gets higher. Somewhere I read that when you add up the temp and the humidity and the total is more the 150, then it’s uncomfortable. I believe it.

Steaks on the grill for tonight, although since that’s the plan, it’ll probably rain around dinner time. I had a light installed outside above the grill since it gets dark way before dinner time. I did the same in Racine so that we could cook out all year round. Here, at least, I don’t have to put on a coat to go out and flip the steaks. In looking at our grill location, though, my guess is that during the summer, I’ll have to find a shadier spot. The sun might be too hot where it’s now located. Of course, it IS only three feet away from the pool so that could help.

Finally got the camera out of the case for this shot. This is Kim's choice in cars, but I don't think she's driven it with the top down yet. No, Michael's not driving. The steering wheel is on the right.

Errands

On Monday, Michael and I ran errands in Hamilton. It was her first opportunity to see the local hardware store (Master’s) which is actually quite good. Maybe not Menards, but pretty close. Except for prices, that is. They’re astronomical, as expected.

Weather was near perfect, and probably unusual for this time of year. Sunny, near 70 degrees. It was top-down for us, although I’m sure the locals thought we were crazy. We even saw a woman walking along the street in a ski jacket with a fur collar. These people could never survive a Wisconsin winter.

Talked at some length with the pool guy – a Bermudian who retired from his job to open a pool maintenance company. Interesting guy, but didn’t have any insight into why the audience for “Not the Um Um Players” was mostly white. (He’s white, by the way).

Kim worked later than I’ve ever seen her work. Not home until after 9:30 pm, and hadn’t eaten yet. It was a tough day for her, I’m sure. I don’t expect this will happen too often. This morning she was up and off to work at the usual time.

More errands to run today .... and probably with the top down again.

Kick-Back Sunday

Had a leisurely Sunday in spite of the fact that there are no Sunday papers in Bermuda. We’re starting to get in the habit of reading our news online. We were also able watch all of Sunday’s NFL play-off games, the Wisconsin-Purdue game and even some pro golf. Plenty for everyone. All of us either followed or preceded the leisure activity by working out. Michael’s starting to look buff – her aerobic exercise is jumping rope. I’m just working hard trying to slow down the sagging.

We decided on dinner out (La Trattoria in Hamilton) since we had tickets to see a comedy routine in the evening. It was a group called “Not the Um Um Players” and it was very entertaining. The group consists of four Bermudians who put together a routine of mostly political satire. Since we haven’t been in Bermuda that long, some of it went over our heads, but there was a lot that was pretty funny. It was obvious that most of the audience found them hysterically funny. These guys have been doing this for over twenty years (not full time, since they all have other “real” jobs), but apparently, until only recently, they would put together a routine and perform every year at about this time.

One interesting observation, though, is that the audience was 98% white. Which was surprising because, at least to my mind, the targets of the political satire spared no one. I’ll have to discuss this with some locals.

More soon.

Back in Bermuda

The thing with writing a blog is that you really have to be disciplined. Once a month is not nearly enough – readers will soon give up when nothing new is written. Then again, even if you’re disciplined, you have to either do or say something interesting; otherwise you lose the audience anyway.

That being said, I should probably just quit since I’m not sure I can fulfill any of those requirements. But then, there ARE the relatives and the really good friends who ask why I haven’t written, so here I am back again.

I actually started writing a couple of times, but just never finished. (There’s that lack of discipline). The first post was sort of a recap of 2008 but it got too wordy, too detailed, and then I had a hard time trying to tie everything together enough to send it out. My second was to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year, but that seemed too short. So let’s start again.

Very quickly --- we had an enjoyable time in the States. Saw relatives, friends, and neighbors. Ate a lot, drank a lot, relaxed a lot. Enjoyed the crisp mid-west weather (up to a point). Otherwise, a fairly uneventful trip. Only downside was I caught a stomach virus on or around Christmas day that I couldn’t completely shake until a few days ago. I’m sure I was pretty snarly even (maybe especially) to Kim and Michael Anne.

We’ve been back in Bermuda since January 2nd. Michael Anne is with us and will be here until January 23rd when she heads to Italy for her next semester of study. Our Bermuda house seems to have survived quite well in our absence. Bermuda weather this time of the year is mild (temps range from about 55 to 75) so no need for air conditioning while we’re gone. Humidity remains high, so we usually run fans just to keep things moving.

Last week Bermuda kicked off its 400-year anniversary celebration with a party on Hamilton’s Front Street. Speeches, parade (of sorts), entertainment, dancing, fireworks. In typical Adriano fashion, we three got there very early. In typical Bermuda fashion, though, the festivities started late. Result? We tired out before anything really interesting happened, went home, heard the fireworks, and read about the entertainment in the paper. Fortunately (maybe) that was only the start. There will be celebrations of sorts going on throughout the year.

Yesterday the three of us drove to St. George on the east end of the island. St. George is sort of the historical part of Bermuda. Lots of touristy sights and shops. Most were open in spite of the fact that this is off-season. The three of us wandered the town pretty much alone. Partly sunny, high in upper sixties. Had an alfresco lunch with great views of the harbor. You can always tell the tourists. We’re underdressed by Bermuda standards. Bermudians this time of year are bundled up in winter clothes.

That’s sort of the news up to now. And even though it’s well under way we wish you all a very Happy New Year.