BERMUDA"S CHARMS

                                           A Great Destination

     Bermuda is a great cruise destination, although it can easily be reached by plane. A ship provides your accommodations and meals,which on the island can be expensive---no fast food on every street corner! To avoid overwhelming the island with thousands of tourists all at once the number of ships allowed into port at any one time is limited/regulated.

      I'm not much of a big cruise ship advocate. Finding six large cruise ships in port at the same time and everything so crowded you can hardly move is most annoying. Having said that, there are a couple destinations where a cruise is most advantageous---Bermuda and Alaska being among them. Bermuda’s size and isolation has forged a continuity of place and tradition. Parliament was established in 1620. The Bermudians love pomp and circumstance, British tradition, and Bermudian history.

      Pastel colored houses with white roofs along the blush-colored pink beaches and its infamous pink Princess Hotel make Hamilton a picturesque capitol, albeit small town. Bermuda shorts-clad business men are a common sight, as well as shorts-clad policemen. It's the knee-high socks that make the outfit. Personally I like that dress code, especially now that so many places have abandoned their traditional/native dress in favor of western wear.

     Forget renting a car on the 21 square mile archipelago. Traffic has been a problem for decades and car ownership is regulated. Renting a motor bike is your only choice. Hamilton is easily walkable and pubic buses are easy to hop on to get you to your destination.

     The surrounding reefs were treacherous and although Jaun de Bermudez was an accidental arrival in the 1500s the island was not settled until 1684 when Britain claimed it as its first legal offshore colony. In 1995 the residents voted against independence and to keep the Queen as its figurehead leader.

     Its numerous days of sunshine and a warm sub-tropical climate, make the island warm most of the year with December to March being the coolest. Besides the many water activities to keep you busy, Bermuda if full of history and has many other places of interest to visit. Historic St George is a UNESCO site. St. Peter's, the oldest Anglican church still in use in the hemisphere is worth a visit as is Fort Saint Catherine or the Royal Dock Yard. Rent a bike and ride along the Bermuda Railway Trail, or ride the bus to Gibbs Lighthouse (1846) and enjoy the view from the top or stroll the Botanical Gardens. And there is always shopping.

      The picturesque Moongates are one of my favorite things to see as I know of no other like them anywhere. The history of the steel drum is interesting and there is plenty of music and nightlife for everyone. Bermuda is a great vacation destination!

OLD TOWN PRAGUE

                                   A Beautiful Ancient City

       Crooked 11^th century roads wind around ancient Bohemian architectural relics. The town square is the oldest in Europe and the town hall dates to 1338 and today  is used only for ceremonial purposes. In front of the town hall sits the 1410 astronomical clock which attracts

large crowds on the hour when the clock chimes (9AM to 9 PM). Various characters appear representing the miser, vanity and skeleton. The clock also shows the year, month, day and hour, the rising and setting of the sun and moon and the signs of the zodiac.  We made a point of being on the square, to join the gathering crowd, later in the day. It was worth the effort!

      The Charles Bridge dominates the city. The 1700-foot bridge with 16 arches ends (or starts) at Old Town. Thirty 17^th century sculptures top each of its supports. On the other end of the bridge is Lesser Town. The first bridge was a wooden one and was destroyed by a flood. The second bridge was built of stone (then called Judith Bridge), but also was destroyed by floods.  The 3^rd and present bridge, built in 1357, is of stone and concrete. The pedestrian part of it becomes an art gallery on certain days, and is a good place to find a nice souvenir painting. Charles‘s mother was Czech and there is a larger than life statue of him on the Old Town side. The bridge has been called the Charles Bridge since 1870.    

      Surrounding Charles Square is a Jesuit complex with five different architectural styles.  The tower gate was part of an 11-meter high fortification wall of the medieval city. Above the arch of the gate are three statues: one of Charles IV, one of St Vitus and one of Prince Wenceslas. Below the statues is a lion, the symbol of Bohemia.

      The gate on the Lesser Town side was finished a century later and  has two towers.

      New To The 14^th century Cathedral of Our Lady of Tyn is also on the square. It is a very different style and once you’ve seen it you’ll always remember it.  Established in 1348 it was built around Old Town that today is the industrial and commercial center of Prague with public buildings, banks and museums. The 1630 Wallenstein Palace now houses the Senate of the Czech Republic.

      The city is full of castles, palaces, and churches. There are too many for me to try to list here, and It would be hard to see them all, but each can make his own decision on which ones to visit.

    

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

                                  A Charming City

    Victoria is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Washington’s snow capped Olympic Peninsula. This island city is a romantic, quaint seaport. Victoria enjoys mild Mediterranean weather with low humidity and off shore breezes, and gets 20-25 inches of rain a year, about a third of Vancouver’s rainfall.

The city, named for a queen, is known as the City of Gardens, and beautiful gardens bloom year round. Elaborate rose gardens flourish in the mild climate. Down town, baskets of flowers hang from the 19^th century lampposts in summer, sprouting about mid-May. They add beauty and atmosphere to the waterfront of the already charming city.

In 1843 Victoria was settled as a political choice to secure an English border with the US. Actually Victoria sits below the American-Canadian border.  The city flourished when gold was discovered in 1858.  Gold seeking miners outfitted at Fort Victoria in the mid 1850s. During the gold rush there were 57 offenses that demanded hanging. It was a booming colonial city in the late 19^th century---until Vancouver was established in 1880s. James Douglas became the first Governor. He gave the city 150 acres of land which now is Beacon Hill Park. Established as a Hudson Bay Company Fort the city is a mix of old England with a proud history and British customs.

The first commercial brewery in Western Canada was established in the 1850s and was in operation before the first lighthouse. There are many vineyards on Vancouver Island making for a burgeoning wine industry.

  Today horse drawn carriages trot past stately legislative buildings.  Historic Fort Street is known as antique row in this modern metropolitan city.  London-style double-decker buses transit the city on a regular basis. Pedicabs and ferries are also available. Local transportation is frequent, reliable and easy to follow, and walking the compact city is easy as well. Float planes take off every 2-3 minutes making for a busy harbor.  This wonderfully preserved frontier town sits in a beautiful scenic seaside locale. Victoria is the island’s largest city as well as the Provincial capital. The rest of Vancouver Island is rural to wild.

The Gorge is a long body of water, a tidal basin, that at the turn of the century was the playground for well-to-do Victorians. Many lovely old Victorian homes were in the area. Unfortunately only a couple remain. 

Lt. Governor’s house has 35 acres of gardens! Budget cuts years ago transferred all the gardeners from the house. After twelve years of neglect the gardens were in a sad state of disrepair. In 1990 a large group of volunteer gardeners was organized who now care for the gardens that are again lovely. Several volunteer gardeners were working the morning we visited and I had a chance to talk to a couple of them. The city parks have unionized gardeners and do not encourage any volunteering----what a shame!

The University of Victoria’s gardens were exquisite! Azaleas and rhododendrons were in full bloom, in every color. Some of the rhododendron blossoms were the size of a large dinner plate, and standing six feet tall they were a magnificent sight!

It seemed every home in the city had a flowering garden of some size and they obviously take great pride in their landscapes

Oak Bay, which is one of Victoria’s most British-looking villages/ neighborhoods. Many of the homes were built from stone used as ships’ ballast. Much of the iron trim was also used as ballast. Many old stone walls are still standing and were lovely. We wandered around a bit in some of the shops, and the last evening we had dinner at the Blithering Pub in Oak Bay. In one area of town each street is lined with a different kind of tree. Most neighborhoods in Victoria have lovely old trees. Each little village has its own small grocery store and local pub, both of which are part of the village charm.

Craigdarock Castle

Early railroad and coal barons built many luxurious castles in Victoria. Robert Dunsmuir emigrated from Scotland and became an empire building coal baron. He built Craigdarock
Castle, a lavishly furnished 39-room castle in 1887.  The stained glass windows in the castle were exquisite. The ornately carved woodwork was beautiful as were the fireplaces, pink granite columns, stone turrets and the parquet floors, with a different design each room.

We climbed the 87 steps to the top of the tower, which rewarded us a good view of the city below. We stopped on each floor to view various rooms. We descended down stairs that led through the servants’ quarters.

The original estate extended to the water covering 28 acres. Mr. Dunsmuir died months before the majestic castle was completed, but his wife and children moved into the castle and lived there until his wife, Joan, died in 1908. At that time the castle was a white elephant that no one wanted. Eventually the acreage of the castle was subdivided into 120 lots and sold.  

 Over the years the castle has been used as a military hospital, housed Victoria College, the School Board offices, a conservatory of music, and finally today is an historic house museum.

Victoria is a charming city with a lot of history and much to see and do.

Visit post 8-8-12 to read all about the fantastic Parliament bldg

            Post    10/27 /13 for a look at the Empress hotel and hi tea there.

           

A COUPLE OF SMALL GERMAN CITIES

                                          Interesting Small Cities

Rudesheim

            During that blistering hot summer in Europe we arrived in Rudesheim mid-afternoon where it was 104 degrees. The town is small and probably best known for the enormous 35-foot high stone statue of Germania, the female symbol of the unification of the German Empire in 1871. It towers 1000 feet above the town of Rudesheim, but it was just too hot to make the steep hike up to it.

            It only took a short while to walk the small city before we visited the music instrument museum. It was much different than expected but interesting. There were many player pianos, carnival organs, and gramophones on display. The thick walls of the old building kept it a bit cooler than outside.

            There was no air conditioning anywhere in town. Other than the usual souvenir shops there were few shops. After the museum we sat at a sidewalk café enjoying a chilled soda while dreaming of ice and something really cold. Europeans simply do not understand cold.

Since we were eating in town that evening we decided wile away the afternoon in town and meet at the restaurant on the cobbled wine alley Drosselgasse at dinner time.  The restaurant was very hot with no cross ventilation. Ceiling fans would have been nice, but are not common. A small band played good music, but it was so loud it eliminated any dinner conversation. The food was fair at best, and the service very slow and inconsistent.

We anticipated and looked forward to the cool comfort of our air conditioned river boat cabin!

Wertheim

This is where Galileo thermometers are made. In fact they are made nowhere else in the world. See post of June2

The castle sitting high up on the hill anchored walls that led from it surrounding the city like a necklace. Originally 18 gates/towers surrounded the city. We ended a city walking tour at the Plaza where the attraction was the red sandstone Angel’s Well, built 1574. From here a fellow and I hiked up to the castle leaving his wife and my travel buddy sitting by the well.

It was a fairly easy walk. We walked most of the stairs up and the path-ramps down. The view from the top was spectacular. These are Germany’s second largest castle ruins. After the castle was destroyed a new one was built below, and now that 300-year-old castle is the city hall.

The tower clock at the 1383 Gothic church is rather unusual. The tower was added 40 years later. On the town side is a normal clock with both minute and hour hands so workers would work to the last minute. But only an hour hand is on the clock facing the castle, as the rulers were only interested in the hour, not the minutes.

I need to gather the info from all the unusual clocks I’ve seen in my travels and do one comprehensive post. One day when I have the time to search through the mountain of diaries!

Having made several European river cruises I’ve really enjoyed the small towns along the way. Unlike big cities , you have time to really see the town, learn its history and visit with the people, who without exception, I’ve found friendly and anxious to tell us about their hometown.