There's Bermuda..........

...........and then there's everywhere else.  "This is it," said a woman I chatted with over cocktails.  "This is it," she kept repeating, having difficulty finding words to describe Bermuda's beauty.  (More about her in a future blog, fascinating.) 

With no chain restaurants, no cheap chain hotels, no freeways, no Macdonald's, no Walmart, no Boston Pizza, no Burger King.........no nothing.............Bermuda is absolutely magnificent.  You drive on the left-hand side of the road, as in England, the roads cascading with breathtaking hibiscus you can touch as you pass.  The Bermudian government has made sure Bermuda remains "Bermuda".  There is no poverty -- at least none visible -- no bums on the street, no beggars.  Just lovely, handsome men and women going about their daily business, in spite of the tourists who mill and throng about and with whom they are unfailingly polite.  And the men in their crisp Bermuda shorts, jackets, ties and Bermuda socks?  You can't beat them. 

A gorgeous Bermuda home, now an inn. 

The private beach at our hotel.

  

   Sunset from our room.

Last dinner before we had to depart. 

 

Because it remains a British Protectorate, Bermuda has not gone the way of so many Caribbean islands:  Ugly.  The Queen's picture is everywhere and things are simply pukka-pukka.  Because it has no lakes or rivers, Bermudians rely on the construction of their roofs to collect rain water, which is stored in tanks in the basements of their houses.  All garbage is burned and sewage collected and pumped.  Much of the "grey" water, i.e., everything but sewage, is saved and used to water golf courses and the like.  It was all environmentally sound before "environmentally sound" existed.

 

Once you've been to Bermuda, you'll never go anywhere else.