CruiseLife

No run this morning. The girl has a bit of a cold and a side-effect of this is that in addition to a runny nose, she was grinding her teeth non-stop. She's been doing this since her new teeth came in, trying to "find her bite" the dentist says, but not all the time. Not like last last night. We were awake, a lot.

In any unusual circumstance, I try to make myself comfortable, acclimated. Two decks up is the 24-hour coffee & snack cafe. That's where I get coffee after a run and bring it down to the room for the wife and myself. Even though I am not having it there, in the cafe, I eschew using a disposable cup with lid for a plastic cup. That's not just "green" it's because I like it that way, a minor attempt to feel at home and not like I am "on the road." The wife has been fastidious about keeping everything in the place she sorted it in the stateroom, and fascistic about our doing the same (which can be difficult as I haven't yet figured out her logic, so mostly I memorize.)

However, the bathroom is now like a Hobo Jungle, with odd bits of clothing - running kit, bathing suit, underpants, towels, etc. - hanging from every available horizontal space.

Last night grandma sat with the kids while the three sibling couples went out into the Dockyard to look around and have a drink. Not really far enough from the boat to feel like "Bermuda" and besides, it kept raining on and off. All the servers were British. Still, nice company. Had a "shandy" at The Onion & Frog ... we'd spent a good part of the day coming up with new, horrible sounding names for pubs. The Boil & Lance. The Shallot & Phlegm. The Lamprey & Dougnut. The Destestable Bishop.

We spent the day in Hamilton. No major shopping spree or historical explorations for us, and one day at the beach was enough for most. We visited the aquarium, that was just right for a six and four year-old. Strange, now I have been to Bermuda. But what is it? Like most touristy places we have been its stacked with shops from somewhere else (in this case, Britain) staffed by people from somewhere else. The aquarium was brighter, lusher, the fish and animals lively and active unlike in certain zoos I could mention.

The most personal interaction we had was in the cab ride back to the Dockyard. I had pointed out the roofs on the bus yesterday, they are all the same, stone terraces, with one cross rivulet running at an angle down every side. Those cross bits distinguish one roof from another. My wife asked the cab driver how they are built, and he excitedly told us they were made from the limestone, whitewashed with lime, and they purify the rainwater, which collects below each house for use. They do not add anything to their water, just purification by limestone.

We are back at sea now, heading home. Thought I would dress up a little for dinner, slacks and a nice shirt. These pants ... are a little snug. Oops.