Photos: the large, towered white building is Hamilton’s City Hall (which includes the Bermuda Society of Arts and one of the museums upstairs). The ship on the weathervane is a replica of the one that foundered on reefs near the St. George’s end of the island; survivors made it to shore, the first people (there is no native population) to ‘settle’ here. The ship was on its way to Jamestown.
(BTW - An account of a storm and a shipwreck on these reefs was apparently quite a topic in Queen Elizabeth (1st) time; some scholars note that Shakespeare’s Tempest came out shortly after the story made the rounds in England, and insist that the Bermuda events and story is the source for the descriptions in the play. (Ergo the number of businesses and buildings referencing the play and the various characters in their names.)
Saturday I’d climbed the stairs at City Hall to see what was on exhibit at Bermuda Society Of Art and the Bermuda Museum of Art. Winners of an island-wide all-grades competition were on display at BSOA. The little kids made masks and did craft projects, while the older kids produced work that often shows a good level of competence and creativity. One of the things that might not initially make sense are the ‘piles’ of stools, the seats of which have been painted, often with a copy of some well-known piece. (When I was here in late September, I toured Masterworks Art Museum with an art teacher and 2 of her students, who picked up their wooden stool kits as they left – that was a fundraiser, and I include some pictures of some of the winning results.)
Sorry, folks - I thought I'd worked out how to add photos into the right places in the text, but apparently not!
Unexpected Visit: Today I was waiting at Modern Mart to meet a possible landlord who was going to take me to visit the unit he and his wife have, not far from here. I was taking pictures of the store when someone roared up on their scooter and beeped. It was Christine, my boss as of tomorrow, who had come out to see how I was doing on her way to a lacrosse game – nice of her!
Maybe This is Home?! This 1-bedroom unit I went to see is something I like. I’m excited!
• The houses around are nice, the yard spaces well-kept and open, the building itself is 2 levels, with the 1 bedroom unit and a 2 bedroom unit on the lower floor.
• Owner installs and refinishes hardwood floors and cabinetry, has been renovating the unit and installed both recently. It is simple – a living room and a bedroom of about equal size, a bathroom with new-looking fittings, a stacking washer/dryer by the back door. A kitchen with full-size appliances and space for both a table and an island.
• New reversible a/c units (that is how heat is provided, by and large, as well as the cooled air later on.) It is a work in process for which they were anticipating leasing out March 1 – he kept apologizing for things not being quite ‘there’ yet, but it looked fine. Outside lights that come on with a motion sensor.
• And a big yard, which he is happy to let me use to garden in or do stone-work in, or whatever. Nice view, tho not of water.
• It was advertised as unfurnished, but they have the basics to move over once the work is done – a kitchen table and 4 chairs, a day-bed couch (visitors have a place to rest their bones!), a full or queen sized bed, a microwave, some end tables if I want them. He also has draperies and such.
He is Bermudian, presently lives in the 2-bedroom next door; he is a jazz flute player, and soprano sax player, who also writes and arranges music. His wife is in the US right now, in Atlanta but seems to have some on-going connection to Durham (SO many coincidences!). His mom lives up the road and keeps an eye on things. The 2-bedroom will come open for rent shortly; he wasn’t sure what they would price it at.
The #2 bus runs from Hamilton along Ord Road; the last stop is just where the street (Forest Hill/Spiceland) joins Ord. It is a bit of an uphill walk from the bus stop, though not a long one.
Feels good! Told him I liked it, had appointments to view some others (slightly cheaper) and would likely be able to let him know by next weekend. Water, garbage pickup is included in the $2200/month rent. And he would help me haul things in that I might want – his work van is big enough for most things.
The 4 government ones are $1700-2500; I don’t figure I’ll do the expensive one, the least expensive one is much further out, and one of the $2000 ones I walked to yesterday and didn’t much care for. I have some hopes for the other $2000 one, and a couple of things on e-moo.
I am, by the way, also quite pleased with the place I am staying, tho it could do with a more complete kitchen. (This 2-burner hot plate/mini-fridge arrangement is something I last used in Ljubljana, when David and I had an apartment on the edge of town, out next to the zoo.) There is an electric kettle, wok, toaster and microwave, so I am not without resources. But I am kind of fussy about what I work with in the kitchen, and these knives are flimsy, as is the silverware. Decent dinnerware, a nice touch – things ‘eat’ better on plates with some heft.
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