Bermuda Day

Last Monday was a long weekend in honour of Bermuda Day. It's officially the start of summer for Bermudians. It's the first day that they go in the water. Also, they have a big parade where everyone gets dressed up, and watch majorettes, marching bands and gombey dancers along with brightly coloured floats. (Gombey is a traditional Bermudian dance where mostly male dancers dressed in brightly coloured costumes dance to drums). http://www.bermuda4u.com/Essential/video-gombey.html

Days before the parade, rectangles marked with tape started appearing along the sidewalks in town. The tape was to save a prime spot to watch the parade and the people would mark the family name on it. I asked my landlord's family, and people do honour it! Someone else also told me that they tried to make putting tape down illegal, so then people started spray painting. I didn't see any of that though.

Actually, I didn't see the parade either. I had other plans to spend the afternoon at a friend's place which is by the water. We spent the day drinking cosmopolitans, and enjoying the sun. Another Bermuda tradition is to go in the water this weekend (since Bermudians will not go in before this date). The day ended up with everyone on the balcony singing and dancing as the sun went down.

Enjoy the photos...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119294&l=ce175&id=658425205