Christmas Letter 2009

Bermuda’s 400th Anniversary of continuous settlement. As a result, this has been a tremendous year for our little Island. We began on 3rd January with a parade to celebrate Bermuda’s many cultures.

In March, Marisa had a class in Phoenix, AZ, so I went along for the ride. There is a lot of desert in Arizona. My favorite place was the Salt River Canyon. The first time I drove it, I did not realize there was about 20 miles of rough dirt road. A two wheel drive hatchback car is not particularly ideal for this sort of offroading, but there were very few scary moments. The views however were spectacular, so much so that I did the whole drive again three days later for Marisa. We were also able to have dinner in Scottsdale with Mandy, Bryan and their daughter, Annalise.

We also decided that this was the year we were going to improve our fitness. It was the 100th Anniversary of the Bermuda Day Half-marathon on May 24th, so we set that as our goal. Believe it or not, I actually began running! As part of our running preparation, we ran the Lindo’s to Lindo’s race (a 10K between two local supermarkets) did the Palm Sunday walk (about 5 miles of “cross country” walking and the End to End walk (from one end of Bermuda to the other, about 26 miles). We left St George’s at about 7:30 with my mother in tow and by the airport (about 2 miles away) she already had a sizeable lead (with no training whatsoever). That was the last we saw of her until the end in Dockyard, which for her included a short visit to my sister’s house. She was enthusiastically cheering when we wearily crossed the finish line about 7 hours later, having completed the course about an hour ahead. Finally it was half-marathon race day and we started at about a 12 minute mile pace. We continued this pace for about the first 8 or 9 miles, people cheering loudly the whole way. We then walk/ran the final few miles and completed with a respectable 2 hours 51 minutes.

June brought about the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge. Hamilton Harbour was transformed as if in the 19th Century, with 20+ sail training vessels, including the Krusenstern from Russia, Cisne Branco from Brazil, Capitane Miranda from Uruguay being the largest. The Brazilians had a 5 piece band playing on board during the open day. When they all left, they sailed up the North Shore in a parade of sail.
The 400th Anniversary celebrations continued with a reenactment of the original landing on Gates Bay Beach on 28th July (400 years to the day). Two longboats were rowed ashore by actors in period costume and a Thanksgiving service was held on the beach, with local dignitaries and bands taking part. There was also a guard of honour mounted by the crew of HMS Manchester which happened to be visiting at the time. It was a bit nerve racking for me as I arranged the music for the massed bands, but it all worked out in the end. At this time Marisa was also involved with coordinating the National Dance Foundation Summer intensive with American Ballet Theatre and the Technology Leadership Forum Internship Programme, which kept her pretty busy.

In August we travelled to the Czech Republic. We flew, via Gatwick, to Vienna and then drove to a town in eastern CZ called Zlín. It was an interesting drive as it took twice the 2.5 hours I had estimated. Our GPS ran out of power and as such we stopped to buy maps. It became extra challenging as they were in German. Then we had to purchase highway toll stickers, in Slovak and Czech. I can get by in German, but Eastern European languages are very difficult to pick up. We arrived the day before the Zlín Motosport Rally and saw several of the participant cars. Oonagh & Randy Vaucrosson, who are house parents at a school in the western part of the country, came to visit on the weekend. It was great to have English speakers to help point out the way to get by. At this point “Dobry Den” “good day” (phonetic spelling) became a staple phrase. The problem was that the person whom you were addressing would then start a torrent of Czech, which led to a weak smile and generally blank look from me. We visited Spilberk Castle in Brno, which was interesting. It was used for area defense over the centuries, as a prison and as a Nazi barracks during WWII. We were also there for a rehearsal by the European Youth Orchestra. Unfortunately we could not stay for the concert. We visited Zlín Zoo. The usually elusive tiger had a CCTV camera in his den and the lemurs were allowed to roam free amongst the visitors in an electrified enclosure. We also visited the Spa town of Luhacovice, with its traditional architecture. We drove to Vienna to pick up Marisa’s mother and took some time to visit the Naturhistoriches Museum (Natural history). In Kromeriz, we visited the Archbishop’s Residence. On the weekend we visited Prague. On the way, we stopped off at the International School near Ceske Budevice to visit with Oonagh and Randy. We saw the Astronomical Clock, the Charles Bridge and visited the Prague Castle. The President still works out of an office here and they perform a “Changing of the Guard” ceremony every day at noon. Back in the eastern part of the country, we drove into the mountains and travelled on a cable car to a limestone cave. Part of the journey was on a boat on an underground river. On the weekend, we took a sentimental journey back to Durnstein and Vienna in Austria. It was interesting to visit both on our own time. We visited Schoenbrunn Palace and managed to see the view from the Gloriette. Also we attended a concert in the evening at the Musikverein, in the Golden room, the home of the Vienna Philharmonic. On Sunday we went to St Stephan’s Cathedral. The choir sang Leopold Mozart’s Missa Brevis in C. In the Kunsthistoriches museum (art history) there were many exhibitions, which included a 100kg Million Dollar gold coin. On the way home, through London, we saw Wicked and Jersey Boys in the West End and visited the Ripley’s Believe It or Not exhibition. This was particularly strange. We also visited with Roz, Alan and their daughter Elizabeth.

September and October were involved in preparing and participating in the Bermuda Tattoo. Bands such as the Scots Guards, Governor General’s Footguards and Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa and even the Banda Militar dos Açores. It was a week of hard work, but it was great to be able to mix with musicians from all over the world. Each group had a particular significance to Bermuda, the Camerons having been stationed here in 1915. I did my usual uniform changes from piper to bandsman and back each performance. Marisa also got to wear her jig uniform for the performance.

Also in October we made a quick visit to Boston for Marisa’s MBA class reunion and pre-op for surgery that she’s having there this month. We had fun visiting Babson and her colleagues an friends, including Joe, Bob, Connie, Peter and Henry. We also got to have our ‘annual’ lunch with Carrie and Peter, this time at a Cheesecake Factory in Natick.

October also brought a wonderful surprise when Marisa’s mom received a call for a kidney transplant. The surgery went well and after 6 weeks in Boston, she is back in Bermuda and doing well.

November was another busy month which included a visit by HM The Queen. The Regiment and Band provided a Guard of Honour in St. Georges for her official arrival. The following day she and Prince Phillip attended the Bermuda Cathedral and we viewed the official motorcade from Marisa’s office roof.

We now look forward to next year and see what Bermuda’s 401st will look like.

Boston Pops - Holiday Pops

This evening we went to see the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Keith Lockhart, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. What a fantastic performance! They played a variety of music for the season, including the Hallelujah Chorus and several other medleys of Christmas songs - and a Hannakah song or two as well. However, the showstopper of the night was a performance of the 12 days of Christmas. At this point you are probably groaning, as I did when they began, hoping that they would sing maybe the first five verses and call it quits. However, this was VERY different. I have included the link below. It costs a few pennies to download, but it goes towards the Boston Pops Orchestra and you won't be disappointed.

The Boston Pops 12 Days of Christmas

London: September 11

We started the day with some Breakfast television. It was also time to think of the September 11^th anniversary. I was in the UK 8 years ago and remember keenly that day. We then got into ‘Are You Smarter than a 10 year old’ before we headed to breakfast at Café Rouge. After breakfast we split up for the day. Aidan desperately needed a haircut so we took him to Supercuts. The lady had a task in front of her… at one point I thought his hair was killing her clippers…. In the end, he looked neater, lighter and cooler.

We opted to purchase oyster cards this time around and it made travel much easier. We started our day visiting the Ripley’s Believe It or Not exhibit. There were six floors full of mostly fascinating and some strange artifacts. It was a pleasant surprise to find it so very enjoyable. We also tried out their mirror maze. At first we got lost, came back out at the entrance (and were told we need to come out at the other end), got lost again and finally tried the keep turning left plan of action it worked! We got out at the proper end quickly and were then able to continue exploring the building.

The rest of the afternoon saw us visiting Oxford Street and Covent  Garden. It was a warm and somewhat sunny day so Covent Garden had many crowds. The performers were interesting and we stopped to watch a few. We then headed back to the hotel to meet my mom and to go to dinner. We opted for Indian and walked down the road to Spicy World, another favorite of ours. The meal was excellent, as usual and we got out in just enough time to walk to the theater comfortably and to be seated. Granted, Victoria Station was crowded with emergency vehicles as we were walking to the theatre and there were so many people outside of the theatre trying to see what was going on.

It was our 3^rd time watching ‘Wicked’ and the first for my mom. It did not disappoint. We get something new out of each viewing. We had the understudies performing the roles of Glinda and Elphaba and they did an excellent job. Aidan focused on how the show was run this time and I focused on the choreography (superb – particularly the monkeys). As usual, it was sad to see it end.

Czech Republic - Slovakia - Vienna - London: September 10

Our time in the Czech Republic had come to an end. We had a long day ahead of us so we lingered over breakfast a bit longer than usual. We also gave Hana, the owner of the Penzion Uno, an orchid plant and a Bermudiana refrigerator magnet and tile. She said it was a pleasure having us and gave us a Czech liqueur as a remembrance. After loading the car, we were on the road.

The GPS didn’t disappoint with yet another route to Austria. We got to enjoy the beautiful gardens, miles and miles of countryside and the ever present road construction as  we headed to the D2 and Slovakia. At one point we had to take a detour because the road we were driving on was still being constructed! The border crossing into Slovakia was also special. We actually crossed twice. The first time we stopped to pay for our highway sticker. We then were unable to get back onto the highway because a car crashed into another car in the parking lot. We therefore had to go back the way we came in – on a one way road and then turn onto the highway as other vehicles were entering the off-ramp. Yes, it was intense but we survived.

We had a smooth ride through Slovakia and into Austria. We stopped at a full-service gas station to fill up before we returned the car. While our gas was pumped, our windshield that was littered with the corpses of many bugs was cleaned thoroughly (he was prepared with a scrub brush so it must be a common occurrence…). Our arrival at the airport wasn’t as smooth. The parking to unload cars was across the street from the terminal and there was no crosswalk. We got through that ordeal with a few trips back and forth and then Aidan went on another adventure to return the car.

Our trip to London was uneventful and we even got in 30 minute early. We also caught an earlier Gatwick Express because they take payment on the train. We checked into the Grosvenor and soon headed to Chinatown for dinner. We went to Top of the Town  and opted for the set menu for 3. We enjoyed the many dishes and ate way too much, as usual…. Then again, we knew we’d probably be starving in 3 hours. We then headed back to the hotel on the Underground. We got a few supplies from W H Smith and then turned in for the evening.

Czech Republic: September 9, 2009

Our last day in Zlin was quite nice. After a relaxed breakfast we headed into the town to walk about one last time. This included walking into some of the smaller shops in the square to see the types of things they were selling. Since this is a college town and not a tourist town, we only found  one shop with Czech  crafts and pottery but nothing that was any different than what we had seen in Prague or the various sites we’ve visited.

After a quick snack in our room, we decided to go back to Kromeriz with the intention to see the Flower Gardens. We arrived t the main square and they had a classic car exhibit taking place. The cars were beautiful and there were quite a few people walking about for a Wednesday afternoon. Many of the car owners were dressed according to the era that their car originated.

It was a cooler afternoon as compared to our last visit  so we headed to the Archbishop’s Chateau to get information on the location of the Flower Garden and the Archbishop’s Wine Cellar. The Flower Garden was across town but it appeared that the wine cellar was on the grounds of the Chateau. I purchased tickets and we waited for the tour to start. Well, it appears I purchased tickets for a guided tour of the Chateau’s rooms… in Czech. We were given a printout of what was taking place in each room in English – and due to the classic car exhibit, there were also French, Russian and German speakers. The couple from New Zealand were also on the tour. The tour was a bit slow since we read faster than the guide spoke. Still, there were many impressive rooms. The history was also fascinating and in the end I was quite happy that we got to do the tour. We did eventually find the wine cellar, outside of the Chateau, down the street and around the corner. It was closed…

We then headed to the Flower Gardens. They were pretty impressive.  We walked through the palm house where they were growing many of the plants that Aidan hacks out of our garden on weekends. We also visited the maze and wandered around the different areas. We were able to see a portion of the garden from a higher vantage point. It was impressive what the gardeners had done with boxwood and flowers of differing colours.

Our drive back to Zlin took almost 3 times as long. There was an accident somewhere so traffic was backed up. At one point  during our wait we heard music and were wondering whether another car or a house was playing their music for all to enjoy.  The music was followed by road announcements over a loudspeaker. We then noticed a series of loudspeakers running down the road. We guess it was leftover from a bygone era but still had its uses today.

Since we fly to London on the 10^th, we spent the evening packing and clearing out our refrigerator. So yes, compared to our final dinner at the Sunflower Restaurant the night before (and charcoal grilled steak), we had microwave dinners, cold cuts, bread and cheese. They were actually quite good though – the microwave dinners out here aren’t nearly as salty as the US versions. I had a conference call and Aidan did some work as well. We also managed to finish off Ballykissangel while we packed later on in the evening.

Czech Republic: September 7 & 8 2009

We took it easy on Monday and Tuesday - I guess it was recovery from our weekend in Vienna. On Monday it was my final Thai massage appointment. I decided to go for the full Thai Massage. It was lovely. Out of all of my visits, this was the most interactive. I felt as if I had participated in a yoga or pilates class. Afterwards Aidan and I met up and wandered around the town a bit. The rest of the day was quiet with work, a few episodes of Ballykissangel and reading.

Tuesday saw us having breakfast with a couple from New Zealand. We decided to then go for a few walks in the area. Many of the apples are being harvested and many gardens are full of zinnias and tomatoes. We also did a fair amount of work, got into the last season of Ballykissangel and even got out to see what the fall fashions are looking like (a lot of purple!).

Austria - Czech Republic: September 6 2009

Another bright but cool day in Vienna. We ate breakfast and then checked out of the hotel, storing our things in the car and headed out to St Stephan’s Cathedral. We attended the 9:30am mass at which the Haydn mass parts from Missa Sunt bona mixta malis was performed along with Leopold Mozart’s Missa brevis in C. It was interesting singing hymns in German, as my pronunciation was probably very foreign. I di the responses in Latin while Maris did them in English. It was definitely a unique experience for us

From there we caught a taxi back to the hotel, picked up the car and drove to the Museum Quarter, where we visited the Kunsthistoriches Museum (Art History Museum). The top floor included many coins from different eras, including the Canadian 1 Million Dollar Coin, which is minted from 100kg 99.999% solid gold. Actually, from the accompanying video, it was actually cast and milled rather than minted in the traditional sense. The middle floor contained many paintings dating from as early as the 1400s.

After viewing the paintings , we sat down for lunch. Following lunch, we went downstairs and looked at the Roman, Greek and Egyptian artifacts, from statues and amphorae, stone tablets, papyrus and cloth tapestries and finally mummified remains and sarcophagi. The Greek gemstones, which included cameos was quite interesting. The Egyptian exhibit was perhaps the most fascinating. Egypt may have to be the location for a future vacation…

Thanks to the updated GPS, we drove yet another route back to Zlin. We arrived early evening and then drove to Tescos for some more supplies.

Austria: September 5, 2009

The rain cleared and the morning was clear and sunny, albeit colder and a bit windy. We walked to the Stadtpark (City Park) and caught the tour bus to the Stadtopernhaus (State Opera House). From there we took three bus tours of the city, (i) the “Ring” – around the old city , (i) the “Danube” – going into the new city and across the Danube, and (iii) the “Schonbrunn” - which took us out to the Palace . This gave a good grounding of the sights of the city. We ended up a Schonbrunn Palace, which we had visited in 2006. There had been many renovations inside, probably due to its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We took the audio tour of the Palace rooms which was much more efficient that going with a tour group.

We also went back to the Apple Strudel making demonstration. We then had lunch. I had Bratwurst and sauerkraut (when in Rome………eat what the tourists eat). Marisa has the apple strudel. We also took a tour of the park by train. This took us up to the Gloriette, which provides an excellent view of the Palace and of Vienna in the background.

Then it was a short ride on the underground to pick up our tickets for the evening concert and back to the hotel for a short while. We took a taxi to the Musikverein, Goldener Saal. Built by Kaiser Franz Joseph I in 1870, it contains the Golden Hall and it the permanent home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. This evening we saw a performance of mostly Mozart music, from popular symphonies and arias and some other pieces by notable Austrians, such as Haydn and Strauss, by the Wiener Mozart Orchester. Their signature is that they play in period costume from the time of Mozart. It was a very good concert, probably better than the previous one we saw here in 2006. It ended with the popular (and traditional) Radetsky March.

Czech Republic - Austria: September 4, 2009

Friday was a continuation of Thursday night’s rain and wind. We left the hotel at about 10:15 and headed out to pick up some supplies for our drive to Vienna. From there we drove to Uhersky Brod to pick up Carol from her dialysis and then set off for Durnstein. The weather had eased quite a bit and the beginning of the drive was quite good. However, just north of Vienna, the weather was bad again and driving became more difficult. We made it safely to Durnstein, parked and walked up the street into the town in the rain. It was still as quaint as I remembered and we walked up the main street. Being wet, the tourists were non-existent, so we were able to walk freely. We made our way to the Abbey and entered the church. It was not disappointing inside, and the photographs did not portray the atmosphere. One of the unique features was the glass coffins containing the remains (read: clothed skeleton) of two of the Abbotts, which was a bit eerie.

From there we walked to a small tavern and ate lunch. Sticking with the local theme, I had beef goulash with dumplings. It was very good. We then tasted some local Wachau wines at one of the local merchants and investigated one or two of the souvenir shops, before sloshing our way back to the car. It was raining much harder and the drive to Vienna was not enjoyable. Thanks to the wonders of GPS, we found our hotel, The Imperial Riding School, quite easily. Marisa and I walked up the street and managed to acquire some pizza at the Underground station before settling in for the night.

Czech Republic: September 3, 2009

We had breakfast with friends that we’ve made at the hotel. They’re driving back to Germany tomorrow so I hope we’ll get to eat with them one last time tomorrow. I then headed out for an aromatherapy massage. This time it was more like the massages that I’m used to. It was on a massage bed, not on the floor. I was able to examine their homemade massage oils before deciding which one to use. I went for lavender because it smelled like the actual plant and not like perfume. The session was very relaxing but I did receive the Thai version of the massage on my neck, shoulders and back – I guess aromatherapy does nothing for knots. I then met Aidan and my mom at the market. The produce looked amazing.  We got fresh strawberries and blueberries and my mom got nectarines and grapes. After walking around the town center we headed out to Luhacovice.

Aidan updated the GPS with the European maps last night so we now have access to complete maps for the Czech Republic. The ride to Luhacovice was about 30 minutes. We parked outside of the town center and walked in via the spa hotels this time. As before, the architecture was beautiful. We returned to the same restaurant for lunch and enjoyed the meal for two – this time sharing it with a third person (she also had lamb). We still couldn’t finish it. Afterwards we walked off lunch be heading into the town center and looking in the shops. A leisurely stroll took us back to the car and the GPS then led us back to Zlin via small villages and picturesque countryside.

Another quiet evening with a bit of work thrown in. We’re off to Durnstein and then Vienna for the weekend!

Czech Republic: September 2, 2009

Another slow and relaxing day – the type everyone should have when on vacation. We did venture out to the Tesco Hypermarket and thankful for Aidan’s indulgence, we had lunch at McDonalds.  We managed to get  a person serving us who has a pretty good grasp of English so it wasn’t as comical as me trying to order apple pie in Czech a few days earlier. This was followed by a visit to Tescos. They were putting out fall merchandise so some clothing was up to 70% off. I had no luck with shoes but I did manage to score a belt.

We decided to have dinner out at the Sunflower. This time I was craving pasta and they did an excellent job. It  was excellent. My mom also had pasta and Aidan had the chicken breast. As with our previous visit, the portions were sizable and the price very reasonable. Sadly, we had no room for dessert…

Czech Republic: September 1, 2009

As Jo Cook reminded me, it was the 70th Anniversary of the invasion of Poland, the event that triggered World War II. We left quite early to go to the Punkva Caves. At one point we had a bit of a false start with the GPS and we ended up in the middle of a field, however, with some reprogramming, we were soon back on track.

We arrived at the ticket office and I went to find out what the deal was. There appeared to be a path leading down, for 2km, to the place where I wanted to be, so I tried it. It was quite a hike, the short distance I did, so I returned to the car. In the meantime, the others had acquired lunch. After this we went into the ticket booth to investigate. The person behind the counter spoke enough English that we were able to decipher that you could catch a cable car to the bottom of the valley. Therefore, we bought tickets for both.

I am not a big fan of cablecars, but we arrived safely at the bottom. There was a short walk to the cave entrance. The sign said that the temperature underground was between 8-10 deg C, so we put on our jackets (we came prepared). We followed the guide underground through a series of passageways and large underground caverns. It was quite amazing. Then we jumped into a small boat for the remainder of the tour down the underground river. The narrow passageways, twists, and turns, I don’t think the driver hit the sides once, and there wasn’t a lot of clearance. The river ranged from about 1m to 40m deep. We also had to duck a few times.

From there we headed back to the IKEA mall outside of Ostrava and had an ice cream and a hot dog. Then we headed back to the hotel and threw a makeshift dinner together using some leftovers.

Czech Republic: August 31, 2009

Monday was a bit of a slow day. Marisa went to get a Thai back massage this time. Apparently, this little Thai woman sort of bends you into a pretzel and then knees you in the back or something like that. Seriously, Marisa said she started at her feet and worked her way up to her head during the hour. She didn’t sat that is was as painful as the first visit but the Thai lady did use tiger balm on her to loosen the knots in her shoulders and neck. She’s going back on Thursday for aromatherapy massage.

Afterwards we went to the Golden Apple Mall and had Chinese for lunch. Neither did we do much in the afternoon or evening. After a hectic weekend, I was more than happy to not have to drive. We caught up on some work items and ordered pizza and salad for dinner. The salad came with corn and peppers, shredded cabbage etc., so Carol and I heated ours in the microwave.

Czech Republic: August 30, 2009

We woke up early and went to breakfast just after 0730. The restaurant was basically an old fashioned family kitchen. It was a nice warm way to start our day.

Another walking day around Praha (Prague). We headed out and around Stare Mesto (Old Town) into Nove Mesto ( New Town). Sunday mornings are a very quiet time in cities, where you can actually get out and see the main attractions without the hubbub. We had a better look at the Astronomical clock and walked to St Wenceslaus square to see the statue (did you know Vaclav means Wenceslaus?) and the façade of the National Museum. Carol went back to the hotel to read while Marisa and I looked around some of the shops. We then checked out of the hotel and headed across the river to go to visit Hradcany (Castle Quarter).
It was quite a strenuous hike up to the castle, especially the steps. Carol especially found it hard going. At the top, we were just in time to see the ceremonial Changing of the Guard at the Presidential Palace, which was quite interesting. We then had lunch at the Café in the Garden and then entered the Prazsky Hrad (the Castle).

We visited the Old Royal Palace, walked around St Vitus’ Cathedral, into St George’s Basilica and walked along the Golden Lane, an exclusive shopping district for the elite of the day. I then walked down the hill to the hotel and picked up the car and our stored luggage and drove back up the hill to pick up Marisa and Carol. Then we drove back to Zlin, with a quick stop at Tescos to pick up some supplies.