My husband and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage this month. We have a really cute love story that I will share someday. We’ve actually been married twice on two different continents. I love my husband even more than I did 10 years ago.
It’s been a busy 10 years. We moved to the US in 2002. I went to nursing school about a year later. Orlando became a mason. We bought a house. I got pregnant and graduated nursing school shortly thereafter. I started work as a nurse. We were blessed with a beautiful baby boy at the end of 2006. We’ve traveled a little. We’ve been back to my husband’s country twice with Carlos. I have run two half marathons. Our little guy is in his last year of pre-school.
If I had to do the last 10 years over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I love where we are and how far we’ve come.
We decided that we deserved to celebrate 10 years of marriage in a special way, just the two of us. We couldn’t take a lot of time off so we decided that a weekend get-away would be best. That meant we couldn’t go anywhere too far, but I really wanted to go somewhere new to us both. I came across a great package deal to Bermuda. Orlando loved the idea of going to Bermuda and so it was decided.
The flight from Boston was only one hour and 40 minutes. The airport in Bermuda sits right on the coast and overlooks the brilliant blue ocean.
This is Orlando on a rock wall across from the airport in Bermuda
We arranged for transportation to take us to the hotel. It was awaiting us and we left within minutes of arriving. Some of my initial observations as we were traveling to the hotel were how clean the country seemed, every bus stop had a trash bin and a recycling bin, the people were very friendly and polite, the houses were all brightly colored in a variety of colors, the roads were very narrow, and the water was the most gorgeous shade of blue I had every seen.
We arrived at our hotel in about 25 minutes. We stayed at the Fairmont Southampton. It was spectacular by our standards. The service was impeccable, the staff friendly and eager to assist, the trolley service was extremely convenient and the room was spacious, clean and comfortable.
The Fairmont Southampton on a foggy morning
Despite a dreary weather forecast according my weather app, the skies were sunny and the temperature was hot with a side of muggy. Our hotel had its own private beach just a few minutes away. We checked into our room, changed into our bathing suits and headed straight to the beach.
Orlando on the hotel beach
We were starving though so after a quick dip in the water we walked up to a restaurant we noticed on the roadside. So we had lunch at Tio Pepe’s. I enjoyed a simple Greek salad.
Tio Pepe's Restaurant
One thing we learned very quickly was how expensive food is in Bermuda. It is a small island and much of its food must be imported from the United States and elsewhere.
Upon returning to the beach we noticed a path leading to the left of the hotel beach so we decided to explore. It led us to Horseshoe Beach which boasts the famous Bermuda pink sand. When you’re standing upon it the sand actually looks like regular sand, but from above it glistens a soft pink. In researching this phenomenon I learned that the pink crystals are the pink or red shells from microscopic insects, foraminifera. The foraminifera are found living on the underside of reefs and the sea floor. When they die, their shells are brought ashore by the currents and as the waves roll in they are pushed onto the beach.
Horseshoe Beach
We did a lot of walking. There were cliffs that provided spectacular views of the surrounding beaches and rock formations jutting out of the ocean.
Bermuda coast
Our first day in Bermuda culminated with a delicious dinner at the hotel’s Italian restaurant, Bacci. We took the trolley around to the back side of the hotel where the restaurant was located to make our 8pm reservation. It was a cozy restaurant with a romantic feel. We each had a glass of Riesling and treated ourselves to the Antipasto bar which was loaded with roasted vegetables, cheese, crackers, fresh fruit, pasta salad and of course a variety of Italian meats. I piled my plate with vegetables drizzled with balsamic vinegar. They served a bread basket complete with hummus, an entire bulb of roasted garlic and an olive tapenade spread. We could have easily stopped there, but our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and we decided to split a pizza with fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. The pizza was fine and I had a couple of slices, but I hit the antipasto bar more than once! Instead of desert we ended the meal with fresh fruit from the antipasto bar.
"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." Winnie the Pooh
Being the 85 year olds that we really are, we were in bed before 11! It was a great day though (despite the broken toe). Since this post has grown longer than planned I will be back with Day 2 of our Bermuda weekend.
Aim 