Tag Archive for: travel

Bermuda Railway Trail

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Bermuda’s Railway Trail is a scenic path with a fascinating history.The railway began in 1931 and it was the most expensive railway ever built on a per mile basis. It was an economic disaster and shut down in 1948. In the 1980”™s the government converted the railway into a trail that runs almost the entire length of Bermuda.

We walked most of the southwest portion of the trail. Below are some pictures I took as we walked the trail.

Historic Fort Scaur was one of the many interesting buildings around the trail. You can make out the defensive ditches in the second picture. Quite an interesting set of tunnels underneath the fort. You can learn more about the forts of Bermuda here.

The fourth picture was an abandoned church that we passed along the way. The trail did lead us to a street and a bus stop. Many of the bus stops in Bermuda look like the fifth picture. And the last picture was representative of the scenic views along certain portions of the trail.

Railway 1

Railway 3

Railway 4

Railway 5

Railway 6

Railway 7

Railway Trail

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Some of you have asked for pictures of the happy couple in Bermuda. I took advantage of the remote trigger of my camera to take a picture of Lorraine and me just before we embarked on the Bermuda Railway Trail. What a great day that was. And, yes, we were able to wear our Bermuda shorts.

I’ll post the more formal pictures of the trail tomorrow.

Railroad Trail

The Town Of St. George

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We spent a day touring through the town of St. George. It was a fascinating journey back in time. Here are a few of the many pictures I took of the town. Many of the buildings date back to the early 1600s.

Bermuda 1

St George 2

St George 3

St George 4

St George 5

St George 6

Home Again

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We made it back to Toronto. In some ways, it is a bit shocking to arrive in Toronto. It may be a nice city to live and work but it is not a very scenic place. Particularly in early March.

Nonetheless, I have a great set of memories and a great set of photos from Bermuda. As promised, I will post them up in batches over the next week or so. The first set are pictures taken around the shore areas of Bermuda. Some classic beach shots with a couple of unexpected images. Some great skies in this area.

Bermuda 1

Bermuda 2

Bermuda 3

Bermuda 4

Bermuda 5

Bermuda 6

Bermuda Triangle

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Try as we might, we could not find the Bermuda Triangle. However, we did make our way to the easternmost side of Bermuda, the town of St. George.

This town has significant historical value and many of the buildings date back to the 1600s.

We originally planned to use a moped for travel but the rental agency would only allow one moped per person. And we did not want to travel on separate mopeds so we opted for the bus instead. We arrived into the town around 11:30am and spent the balance of the day walking and taking pictures. Of particular interest was the unfinished church.

The unfinished church was begun in 1874. It was designed to seat 650. The building was never completed because of a church split. Part of the congregation elected to build another church nearby. The Anglican church set money aside to complete the unfinished church however the funds were diverted in 1884 to rebuild a cathedral in Hamilton.

The church was almost completed a decade later. For whatever reason, the congregation decided to abandon the project and renovate another church instead.

The church is in ruins today and stands by a street marked Church Folly Lane. Perhaps there is a lesson here for the state of the church overall.

It was interesting to stand in the ruins and to take pictures of the folly. I will post a set of those pictures over the next week.

After touring the town, we made our way back to Hamilton and enjoyed a snack on the back terrace of the Fairmont Princess. From there, we took a private yacht back to the Fairmont Southampton. What a fun experience. Those cruisers are spectacular.

For our last evening, we returned to Hamilton for a nice dinner. We make our way home in a couple of hours. This has been an absolutely wonderful way to spend a 50th birthday. I will remember the experience for a long time.

Mid Century

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I passed the mid century mark yesterday. Aside from hitting 50 years of age, and having part of a tooth fall out, we had a remarkable day in beautiful Bermuda.

The weather cooperated nicely. The high was about 22 Celsius under mostly sunny skies. We walked most of the western portion of the island. We followed the Bermuda Railway Trail and, after about 4 hours or so, we managed to reach the Royal Dockyards at the endmost tip of western Bermuda. I was able to capture some stunning images along the way and once I get back to Toronto I will post them up on the blog.

We stopped at the Royal Dockyards for lunch and then took a ferry over to Hamilton. We explored the city on foot. Back to the hotel for a little rest.

My birthday dinner was held at the Waterlot Inn. A remarkable restaurant, in a building that dates back to the 1600s. The service was outstanding and the meal was one of the best experiences in my life.

All in all, Lorraine and I enjoyed great day yesterday. On the scoreboard for today is a moped rental and a trip out the easternmost tip of Bermuda. Should be another fun day.

Off And Running

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The past several weeks have been a blur. I don’t think that I have managed more than 4 hours sleep on any given night.

We were up very early this morning for our flight out to Bermuda. And, for the first time in a decade, I left the laptop and the Blackberry behind. I will be unplugged.

Well, okay, I still have access to the web to do the important things in life, like updating my blog. I am in the first class lounge in the new terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson. Very impressive facility. Nice computers. Good food.

Although we left the house at 5:15am for the 8:30am flight out, there was very little activity at the terminal. Check-in and security was remarkably quick. I have a few hours before the flight boards so I might take the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.

I am struggling with something though. CWS or Crackberry Withdrawal Syndrome. I have this need to reach for my hip. Alas no device. No emails. Feels very odd.

Weather forecast for our time down in Bermuda looks great. Temps in the 20s under mostly sunny skies. We arrive at 12:30 local time.

I won’t be able to post pictures on the blog until I get back to Toronto. I am using a new Portable Storage Device, the Epson P3000, for holding my pictures. The Epson is a small unit engineered for digital photographers that like to travel without lugging a notebook. But there is no way for me to drag out the RAW files, convert them to Jpegs and post them. I promise that I will get some shots up in a few days.

And, yes, It was quite enjoyable to travel with only my camera bag.

Bermuda Bound

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We head out to Bermuda on Thursday. I turn 50 on Friday and we decided to get cake and candles somewhere warmer than the Great White North.

Bermuda consists of about 138 coral islands and islets. The population of the country is 65,000 which is fewer people than live here in my current home town.

Bermuda enjoys the highest per capita income in the world, more than 50% higher than that of the US. The average cost of a house is about a million dollars.

Although we will be there for a short time, I expect to take a thousand or so pictures. I will post a few on the blog. The hotel provides complimentary HSIA.