Bermuda to Boston

21 September 2018

Oh, our last morning in Bermuda! And we spent it packing! 😩 We finished that and went up to the main house to make sandwiches and say goodbye to Mae for the final time. We took lots of photos with Mae and Jules, before setting off to the airport. On the way, I realised with horror that hadn’t been for a swim in the tropical sea here! To be fair, the weather hasn’t really been suitable for a trip to the beach, but I was already regretting not finding the time or making the effort. But what an excuse to come back, as if I needed one!

Julia, an airport frequenter, dropped us off and filled us in on the slightly different process we would go through here, which turned out to be enormously helpful – you clear Customs and Border Control in Bermuda before boarding your flight to the USA.

Unusually, the flight took off early (which was good for obvious reasons, plus the additional reason of stopping the dripping of the air con’s condensation) and we all enjoyed separate movies and managed to finish them just before we landed in Boston. Cornelia was on top form and earned herself a Delta Airways badge to add to her Alaska Airways one, not that she was that bothered… she spent the whole time playing with the thin red straw on which it came attached, turning it into a lollipop using a screwed up tissue….!

Once we had landed, we collected our luggage and headed to the Uber pick up area. We had a really friendly driver, Victor, originally from the Dominican Republic, but when we hit a long queue of traffic (that is quite normal), he asked if we wanted to go a different way, which was about three miles longer but much quicker. Obviously we agreed, not realising (and not being told) that this would massively increase the price of our journey, from $30 to $64. Grrrrr….

At our hotel, we were able to check ourselves in, although we were helped by a very friendly lady, Carla, who endeared herself immediately to Cornelia by dancing with her to the music playing in the background. We had booked a superior queen room and we were mildly disappointed with the size… it did indeed have a sofa bed, but it meant that we had to fold down the only table in the room, in order to set up the second bed. We were probably a bit tired, so it felt particularly annoying, but we have a tiny kitchenette and there’s a bath, so all in all, it’s not too bad. I think we were also surprised at how expensive the hotels are in Boston, so perhaps our value expectations were a bit off!!

Hunger forced us out of the hotel very quickly and Ian had found a highly-recommended Italian restaurant about half a mile away, so we walked there together enjoying the Friday evening bustle of the city. The downside to great reviews are the inevitable queues to get a table, and Giacamo’s queue was about twenty parties deep, and there was no way we could wait that long! We chose the restaurant immediately adjoining our first choice, and were pleased (and nervous) to be seated immediately. The place was packed in tightly and we were right in the far corner by an open French door, through which a gusty wind blew for the durations of our meal. We asked that it be closed, but our request was declined in the basis that “the kitchen needs the ventilation”. It is an open plan kitchen and all the tables are in sight of the area. Ian asked what happens re ventilation in winter or when it’s pouring with rain, but the waitress ignored this and walked away. I’m not sure if this was bad manners or she didn’t hear us, but I suspect it was the former!

Our meal was nice enough, with Ian’s pizza winning the best meal of the evening. Cornelia chomped her way through a big bowl of spaghetti and I had the lobster ravioli which was nice enough, but wouldn’t win any taste awards. I had two glasses of rosé which went down rather well, until we received the bill and realised that they had overcharged us for both glasses by nearly 50%. This sort of error really annoys me. They only had one rosé on the wine list that could be ordered by the glass and this was $10. So, how they came up with $14 for a rosé, I have no idea. I asked for the wine list to check that I wasn’t wrong first (haha, as if!) and then called our waiter to ask them to correct the mistake, which he did without delay. Ian had said to me previously in this trip that Douglas Adams’ book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy make references to the inability of Italian waiters to get the bill correct, and I was very cross with him for passing on such a negative generalisation, but annoyingly, he was quite right about it based on tonight’s experience!

Back at the hotel, Cornelia was exhausted, so we put her straight to bed, trying to shield her bed from the lamp light, with the sofa cushions. I curled up with her and she fell asleep with my arm wrapped around her. I was suddenly tired too and would’ve happily stayed next to her, had it not been for the make up removal and teeth brushing that was required!