Great start to the New Year (except in Football)

We are getting adjusted to our new life in Bermuda and starting to become accustomed to being in such a different place, though it really isn't that different. Nick, me, passed his driving test and I got my license, on the first try might I add. I also seem to be healed from my accident and have even been able to jog around the neighborhood and down by the bay. Sarah just started busy season so she is working quite a bit though it doesn't seem as bad as it was in Charlotte for her. I finally got our wedding venue booked today with a lot of help from my parents. We will be sending out e-save-the-dates pretty soon and are looking forward to having our wedding on the one-year anniversary of our marraige.

The VT-Stanford game was on the last day of Sarah's vacation. About 6 hours before it was supposed to start, the power at the house went OUT. But it didn't happen to the whole, island, only to us, and the neighbors. We should have taken that as a sign to stay home but we had to go watch our Hokies "play" in the Orangeyagladyoudidn'twastethemoneytoflydowntoMiami&watchusLose Bowl. So after playing cards for a couple hours by candle light, we went down to the bar to watch the game. Only it was Canadian hockey night so we sat in the corner and cheered for our team between hockey cheers, only they closed at halftime so we had to go down to the shady local bar. In honor of our defeat, the power at the house stayed off well into the next day. And then the Pats lost to the Jets so as far as I'm concerned it's BASKETBALL season now, go Celtics!!

Nothing else really to report, starting to make some friends on the island and enjoying nightlife and lack of snow. Been to the beach once since our last post and I went down to Devonshire Park to buy a lockbox for our bike and took some pictures of the park. All we know is that the first winter back in the states is going to be ROUGH, but don't have to think about that for a couple of years.

 Devonshire Park

The Captain makes it happen (and also walks down the stairs) 

 Down the stairs is the nicest sand I've ever walked on and the bluest water I've ever seen

 Feeling like a rap star at club moon - most of the roof is glass so you can see the stars and moon on the dance floor, pretty cool place and apparently I'm a big deal there. The 4 ladies walked in before me and I got beeped walking through the metal detector with my flask and my knife in my pocket. Bouncer kindly asked me if I wouldn't mind leaving my flask at the door (got it back) but handed me back my knife and let me go inside, with a weapon. Metal detector obviously a great investment. So here I be wit 4 shawties and my blade in da club ya herd!! haha. But seriously, the only reason I bring a knife out is because it has a flashlight on it for the walk home.

Sad to see 2010 end but very excited for 2011!!!

2010 was a very big year for us. We got engaged, legally married, sold our first house, said goodbye to our life in Charlotte, began our 2 year honeymoon in Bermuda AND most unbelievable to me, started a BLOG!!! It really have been an amazing year, one this guy sure didn't see coming when 2010 started!! 2011 seems to be no let down either. My Sister will graduate from High School, my Brother will graduate from Medical School, and Sarah and I will have finally have our traditional wedding on our 1 year anniversary. Plus we get to spend the entire year exploring the most beautiful place I have ever seen!

New Years does mean fireworks, kisses, and champagne. It also means NCAA Bowl Game Week!!  Words cannot express how great it is to have a wife who may possibly love football more than me, but it's awesome. We spent the 31st watching the early bowl games before popping open a champagne bottle to celebrate our amazing year and all the future years together. We then met some friends downtown to go on a Bar Crawl through downtown with some of our new friends. Right before midnight we left the Pickled Onion to go check out the free concert and fireworks show. Then went back in for some Veuve, dancing, and fun. All in all a great evening!!!

 Poppin Bottles in the Shirt Before the Shirt

 Getting ready to go downtown

 Last Picture of 2010

 

 

 

 New Years Day was pretty uneventful. Watched football all day long and I cooked my dry aged blue cheese encrusted rib roast with smashed potatoes. Going to have to make that a tradition. Spent the 2nd at the beach cause it was a beautiful day. Going to be a great year!!!

The new ride!!!

So a few weeks ago, I passed my driving test. Similarly to the US, to get a driver's license in Bermuda you first have to pass a written test about driving laws and regulations and then you are able to take your driving test.

I, thinking I have been driving for more then 10 years, didn't feel the need to study. Needless to say, I didn't end up passing the written test the first time around. Second times a charm! After taking the written test, I went and took the driving test a few days later. Nick has passed the written test and is taking the driving test next week. If you haven't heard, he fell on his first ride on the bike, so has been apprehensive about getting back on.

 After I passed my test, I was legally able to purchase a bike and did a bit of shopping around. We wanted a big enough bike that we could "double" easily (i.e. both of us ride on it together) so we wouldn't have to purchase more than one. Also, from a number of discussions and shopping around I went with a 125cc bike. In Bermuda, a scooter is considered to be that with a 50 cc engine, whereas a motorcycle is anything above 50, but less than 150cc. 150cc's is the fastest bike allowed on the island which can go approx. 100km an hour.

A few pics of the new ride. When Nick gets back on will be sure to post some pics of us:)

The pictures were taken on Christmas Day, right before we headed to the beach. Our week has been pretty uneventful, lots of football, relaxing and enjoying time together before busy season gears up in full fashion. Hope ya'll have enjoyed the week, we will be back soon to blog about New Year's festivities!!!

We're dreaming of a sandy Christmas!!

Christmas Day! I never understood the fascination with a White Christmas. I know it's the number 1 selling single of all time, but when I was young, I never wanted to waste valuable snow on a day on which I didn't have to go to school. Now of course, if it's going to be under 30 (-1C for my metric friends), I guess it might as well snow if it's going to be bitter cold so I do understand that. But I truly believe that if Bing Crosby had ever had a day like ours, we'd all be singing about dreaming of a sandy Christmas at a place like this.

A day like today is THE reason we moved here. It was beautiful. We me out friend Lynsey downtown at the bus station for the short ride to paradise, taking a picture in front of the Town Christmas Tree first.

It is a tradition for the Expats who don't leave the island to spend the day at Elbow Bay Beach, enjoying champagne and great food and the weather couldn't have been more cooperative. We spent a couple hours working up an appetite in the sun before heading inside for Christmas Lunch at Lido's restaurant which sits right on the beach. The food was amazing, we spent about 3 hours there for lunch so I probably ate more in one sitting than I have the entire time I've been here! We also had a Thieving Secret Santa party, where you can steal other people's gifts. Our table was able to accrue most of the wine and champagne bottles that were picked as gifts. We then proceeded to waddle back down to the beach and enjoy our gifts for a bit longer. We ventured back to the bus stop when it started to get dark. However, we had a while to wait so we were able open our last bottle of wine while we waited. We got back home and relaxed after a busy day. 

Boxing Day...

In Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Australia, Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday, much as Black Friday in the US. It is a time where shops have sales, often with dramatic price decreases. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest revenue.

As our Christmas was celebrated sans gifts and there's not a lot of shopping in Bermuda, we celebrated Boxing Day in a more Bermudian fashion. Today we went to another beach, Horseshoe Bay. though the weather wasn't as nice, it still wasn't snowing!!

Hope ya'll had a fabulous Christmas and Boxing Day!!! We sure did!

Our first Christmas Eve as a married couple

It's been quite an eventful week for us. We celebrated our first Christmas together as a married couple which was exciting and also our first Christmas away from our families which was kind of sad. Christmas Eve, we went to church together at St. Andrew's church downtown. It was also the first time that we have tried riding together on my scooter. Nick was terrified riding on the back but has a new confidence in my driving skills. He is also very motivated to get his license now. The church is completely pink on the outside and even had pink trim on the inside. It was a lovely service. After church we came back home for our first Christmas dinner together. We both come from unique traditions, the Herefords having homemade pizza on Christmas  and the Whelpley family making Roast Beef subs on Christmas Eve, so being that a successful marriage takes compromise, we (Nick) made Pizza Subs! They were quite delicious and don't think we will be waiting another 12 months to make them again. We decided to forgo the commercial Christmas this year, but Nick bought me a box of truffles, he's so thoughtful!! I also had to include a picture of our neighbor's house as they went all out with the decorations.

Scooter 1 - Nick 0

(tried to post this last night but the Internet went down)

Nick here, going to swallow my pride and tell the story of why I'm blogging on a Friday night. They say when it comes to Motor Bikes, it's not a matter of IF you're going to lay it down, but rather WHEN and how bad. Well, it takes a special kind of person to lay it down and injure themselves on the FIRST try. Sarah, of course, has been putting around for over a month with no problem, but not so for myself. I laid the bike over on my left leg, and have been pretty hobbled for about 5 days now, but am finally starting to feel better!! Here's a picture of the damage.

As you can see, I have one knee cap, and one swollen knee blob, though it has since returned to it's Adonis like form albeit still functionally on the mend. I have a pretty wicked black and blue (or bruise) now though. So my first week in Bermuda has been a little bit boring due to my limited mobility. Decided to stay in tonight as to get all mended up for an exciting Christmas and New Years!! 21 year old me would NOT approve.

Now to be fair, I didn't jump on the bike and immediately fall off like a <insert derogatory comment here>. I actually spent several hours exploring the island and got some amazing pictures. I started in Hamilton City where we live then proceeded to the western tip of Pembroke to Spanish Point. Then took the uniquely named North Shore Road, which um runs along the Northern shore of the island all the way to the end, through Devonshire, Smith's, and Hamilton (different than the Capital city where we live) Parishes, before arriving at the causeway that leads into St. George's Parish where I originally landed at the Airport. On a normal day the causeway is super windy, so I can't imagine what it's like on a windy day!! I spent about an hour scooting around St. George's as there is a lot of historic stuff to see. There were a couple small beaches and some forts. One thing that stood out to me was the Sea Venture Memorial. One of the major reasons why is that the ship was piloted by Captain Christopher Newport. My brother Steven went to school at the University named in his honor. It also contained some pretty famous passengers such as Sir Thomas Gates and John Rolfe. The ship, being new, lost its caulking and started to sink. It was run up on a reef to avoid it sinking! This lead to the founding of Bermuda. Furthermore, it is said that the Shakespeare's play The Tempest was based on what happened when the passengers and crew found themselves stranded on the "still-vexed Bermoothes" aka Bermuda. Anyways, I then went down around the southern side of the island on the way back. Now, I know I can't leave this out, but Sarah advised me to stay out of downtown until I had mastered the Scooter. Being as I am a man (and had been driving around several hours), I ignored this advice, much to my later regret. Anyway, to keep the excuses to a minimum, they drive on the left side of the road here. I've been driving on the right side of the road for over 10 years, and boy do I feel old saying that. Downtown has a lot of one way streets and I was on one, trying to take a right. So being in the familiar, I hugged the right side of the road to make my right hand turn. Only there was a car there in the right lane!! In hindsight, I should have "ghostrode the whip" and jumped off, but instead I took a hard left to avoid the head on collision, since cars usually own bikes in those. Anyways, down I went, and the bike landed on my leg, cutting my jeans and crushing my leg. Shockingly, I hopped up and picked up my bike, and my pride as the driver waved at me in a "what an idiot" kind of way and made my way back to the house. When I got home, couldn't really walk so well and am just now starting to get my mobility back. Anyways, enjoy the pictures!! I went through great physical pain and  mental anguish to bring these to you!!

 When you get off the planes, even the jumbojets, you just hop right down on the tarmac

 Welcome to St. George's

 An old Fort

 The cross was made out of driftwood and chains, very nautical themed

And no, I wasn't riding the bike like this when I fell off!

Reunited in Paradise

The hubby is here! I am so happy to be here and see Sarah again. The last 24 hours have been quite eventful as I adapt to the culture of my new home. The flight in yesterday was great, there were probably 10 people on my connecting flight from Philly to Bermuda so I had plenty of leg room. Got a great view of the island from the plane. If you fly into the island, try to get a window seat on the right side of the plane, trust me. Landed, got through customs and hopped in the nicest cab I've ever been in. This was also my first experience driving on the left side of the road so that is taking some getting used too. The roads are very narrow, so much so that the cab driver clipped his car on a rock wall driving to the house!!! Apparently that happens a lot as he nonchalantly told me about the multiple rear view mirrors he has had to replace as people in scooters constantly zipped around us. Sarah met me at the house and it took me a few hours to get unpacked and settled in. Since we live very close to the city we walked downtown for my first taste of the nightlife. The city is beautiful!!! We went to a place called Fresco's where we ran into some women that Sarah works with. I told them about how cold it was in VA at 20 degrees and they gave me a funny look. Silly metric system. After doing the conversion in my head and explaining that I actually meant it was -7 degrees CELCIUS I realized I ain't in 'merica anymore!! Then we went to a place called the Pickled Onion which is the known as the "expat" bar. Since I had gotten up at 4am, we didn't stay out too late but I look forward to spending time in the local scene. Bermuda is famous for a drink called the Dark n Stormy, which is the local Gosling's rum with Ginger Beer. It's pretty good. Ginger Beer by itself is NOT good at all!!

Today we went to the Navy Dockyard which is on the northern most part of the western side of the island. We took the ferry over there and the scenery was beautiful despite it being a little overcast.

The dockyard is where the cruise ships dock so there was a lot of tourity type places and a lot of art galleries. The dockyard was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609.

We checked out everything except the Maritime Museum which we will do with company. We also went to a place called the Frog and Onion which was very cool. And they have 50 ounce beers where you get to keep the glass. Will have to come back and check that out!!

There were also a lot of very cool old boats. And just like Key West there were wild chickens running around all over the place. It started to rain when we were leaving but luckily stopped long enough for us to go to the grocery store and walk home before it started again. Perfect timing. Will post again soon!!

Nick