Good Friday Kite Flying

‘Kite making’ has been a topic of discussion for the past week.  I very much hope I didn’t offend by not getting involved, but when Dorcas says “we hate every minute and every year wonder why we do it” it does leave you wondering whether it’s a hobby you should take up!  The actual reason I didn’t get involved was because I hadn’t fully appreciated what we were building up to.  By the time we got to the beach to fly kites, Dorcas was exclaiming this was her 2nd favorite holiday in Bermuda and the scene was set!

(Unfortunately I should add at this point Toby and I were very disorganised and turned up with a shop bought kite – will do better next year I promise!)

I’ll start by taking a step back.  In Bermuda, it’s tradition on a Good Friday to fly kites, particularly at Horseshoe or Elbow beach.  Having done a little research, I believe it’s meant to symbolise Christ’s ascent but as with many festivals and celebrations now, I’m not sure how many people were thinking about that on Friday.  That said, it was a wonderful atmosphere with people of all ages descending to the beach for fun, a kite competition as long as your arm (biggest kite, smallest kite, longest tail, ugliest kite, highest kite….), a constant supply of music from DJ’s and local acts and even some games.  Another great community event from Bermuda.  (Emma – how had you heard about this in the UK?!  Good work!)

So Toby and I set ourselves up on the beach (first there of our friends, we obviously sensed something good was about to happen!) and we hadn’t even got ourselves sorted with a drink when the familiar drumming sign signaled the Gombeys were coming!

And of course no Good-Friday-Kite-Flying-with-Gombey-dancing-at-the-beach wouldn’t be complete with out the Easter Bunny!!!

Before long, everyone was dancing!

Liz and I were very much getting into the spirit of things and feeling a little giddy on the atmosphere.  Toby humored us and waited with a camera while we queued up with the kids for a photo with the Easter Bunny….

It was finally time to let our kites take to the sky and it was a whole load of fun.  You don’t need to be a kid – fact!

It was pretty windy, which you think would be good but it was a challenge for the poor little $5 kite.  Whether it was the strain of the wind or the crash landing, we ended up with some snapped balsa wood and we returned to camp.  In some ways, it was a relief, it’s quite a stressful experience with all those people, kites strings and unpredictable winds.  (I personally nearly hit several people…)

By this time Tia, Tim and family had arrived so Toby and I turned Willow into a mermaid.

I’d already been splashing through the waves with Willow and got her quite wet so the sand stuck to her very well…when we’re parent’s, people like Toby and me will really irritate me I’m sure!  We just create mess!

We got back to relaxing and checking out the kites.  One guy had turned a palm frond into a kite – brilliant!  Another had modified a boat kite and was flying that.  Some homemade ones got ridiculously high.  As a Bermudian, Stuart was full of kite knowledge and was sharing his tips for tails and weight and all other technical detail to get a stable kite.  We were impressed and Toby was itching to get back out there.  Thankfully kite doctor Liz had come prepared

Armed with wood glue, tape, spare tissue paper and more, we had enough for repairs and Kite-Toby was back!

I tried from many angles to show how high he got it but it just wasn’t that easy.  It was high.  We were out of string.  Hidden talents this one! 🙂

Unfortunately shortly after this photo was taken, Toby entered mid-air combat and another kite came flying across his path and sliced through our string, setting the kite free!  This time we were permantently out of action!

I tried to take a picture of the sky to show how many kites there were.  Zoom in and I promise you’ll find lots of specs!!!

Irish, American and English fun

Time for the next epic update!  All fun stuff and no need to mention humidity! 🙂

First up, St Patricks Day.  We ended the last blog with Toby playing football while people were having their head’s shaved for St Baldricks…a related  event and a Friday warm up to the planned fun of Saturday!

Saturday we set off to Elbow Beach Hotel and there was a significant hint of summer in the air.  The weather was fab, we were heading to the south coast, the sea was twinkling and turquoise….mostly it was 1:30pm and we were about to get a beer in!  As this point people could have been forgiven for thinking we were already drunk.  We were giddy on the prospect of summer!

The plan was to watch the England vs Ireland rugby and then see where the day took us.  Many people had got into the green theme regardless of nationality which made it very difficult to judge who was cheering for who….

Thankfully Karen and Jamie had got down early and secured us prime viewing for the match.

While the result was good I have to say with ‘nothing to play for’ and the distraction of beer, pool and people passing in front of the screen with food it couldn’t really be described as a sporting event and as soon as the match was over we had a clear plan of what we wanted to do!

While it’s difficult to notice here – the lovely staff of Elbow Beach Hotel had put green dye in the pool and we all spent long enough paddling round to get little green rings round our legs – a nice addition to take with us into the night!

From here we visited a number of bars but had all set our sights on the Pickled Onion’s 90’s night.  I have to admit I’m rarely out after midnight, it’s just not my thing anymore and having started drinking at 1:30pm, I really didn’t think tonight would be the night.  Interestingly, we all seem to be powered by teenage memories rather than food and water and we kept going just to hear the music and had a good old dance to celebrate.  The promo poster specifically mentioned Kris Kross and weirdly we’d hung our whole night on dancing to that.  We waited, and waited.  Toby asked the DJ and was told it was coming up.  We waited.  I went up and the DJ admitted he didn’t have any of their music!  Using my favorite sales line I told him the poster had ‘Over Promised and Under Delivered’!  I wanted to ‘Jump Jump’!!!  Thankfully by the power of internet downloads, the DJ delivered!  Here’s how the boys responded;

We had a good night anyway!  Moving on….

A few days later it was Toby’s birthday and it being his 30th we had a marathon planned.  Lunch in Pickled Onion…Dinner in Barracuda Grill…flight to New York the following day.  Yey!

No PO pics but here’s Tobes tucking into his starter at Barracuda;

We were both pretty full, but managed to squeeze in a dessert of sorts…

And a few hours later we set off for New York!  I’d been off island for Kerry and Steve’s Wedding/Ted’s Christening a few weeks after arriving in Bermuda but it was a flying trip and so soon after getting here felt more like a delayed goodbye!  So 5 1/2 months into our Bermuda adventure, we were off island.  Everyone warns about ‘island fever’ and the need to plan mini breaks.  We weren’t feeling like that but it was a good feeling to be having a break together.  Toby started celebrating at the airport…

 But unfortunately as well as putting a smile on his face it meant I had no company for the flight…

Nevermind, we made it safely and were soon navigating the subway to Manhattan.  A kind ‘drifter-type’ took this photo for us while advising us to jump into moving traffic if people came towards us with hands in their pockets!  I think his experience of living in NY in the 80’s was a little different to mine a few years ago!

We quickly checked in and started exploring.  The familiar sights, sounds and hustle and bustle was invigorating.  It was great to be in a big city with all that CHOICE!  We hopped all over the island, taking in the touristy sights, shopping, eating and drinking.  Having arrived in the afternoon, it wasn’t long before food was on our minds and were were off to Little Italy for some pizza.  Toby had researched Lombardi’s as a good place to go.  I can see why….

I was equally happy with a double dose of Sangria!

The next day I convinced Toby we should head up the Rockefeller Center as the weather was meant to be better in the morning.  Unfortunately it was still pretty hazy, but we got a reasonable view.

This is turning into a crazy photo update so I’m going to add pictures to Facebook and calm down a little!  All I need to say is we had a great time enjoying the sights and sounds of a big city and recharging that side of us.  Interestingly though, after a couple of days, the hoards of people were starting to get a little irritating and New York had done it’s job.  Were were looking forward to going ‘home’ and the thought of landing back on our tiny little island in the middle of nowhere was very comforting.  Are we getting old or are we just very settled here?!  We arrived to gorgeous weather so despite a stack of washing we couldn’t help ourselves and headed off to the beach!

And how do you end a birthday Weds-Sun?  At the Swizzle of course!

Phew!

And so moving finally onto the English part of the recent fun.  Yesterday Liz hosted a Tea and Cake afternoon – how civilized is that?!  Throws and cushions where scattered around her back garden, tea was served in cups and saucers and we ate cucumber sandwiches and freshly baked cake.  Delicious!  See – we don’t need to have alcohol to have fun!   Mmmm, actually….there was Sangria!