Pull up your socks

October 22, 2003

Dear Sir,

My wife and I have recently completed a one-week holiday in Bermuda. I have been visiting frequently since 1967 and my wife was born and raised in Bermuda. We both noted a kind of malaise in Bermuda, much of it not attributable to Hurricane Fabian, beginning with our arrival. Coming off the plane, the bottom step of the gangway was held by just one bolt and banged as each person stepped off of it. The trash bin on the way into the terminal was full to overflowing as employees apparently on break sat by it. Not exactly a positive first impression.

On our walking trips through Hamilton, many things looked dingy and quite dirty, especially the sidewalks with their leopard-spots of old chewing gum. Apparently a power washer has not been employed there since well before Fabian.

My final note is one of unconcern for tourism in a particular case. My wife wanted to visit an old friend who works in the Newstead beauty shop (still open). We chose to take the ferry and purchased our tokens at the Front Street dock. We marched onto the floating dock and sat near the Paget Warwick pink sign. The Dockyard St. George's ferry pulled up to the wrongly marked slot on the dock and loaded, its departure marked by an announcement from the office. Fifteen minutes later we saw a ferry depart from the old dock with no announcement. We found we had missed our ferry and there was no explanation why we were not told that the signs were meaningless as the floating dock was "broken", and the only explanation for the announcement of one ferry departure over another was that the departure of our ferry "just was never done". As old Bermuda hands, we realised that ferry travel for green tourists was pretty much hopeless.

On a positive note, we were surprised and pleased by the excellent food at reasonable prices we enjoyed at a number of restaurants in Hamilton and the weather was fabulous with low humidity. We hope that Bermuda recovers fully from Fabian and 'pulls her socks up' when it comes to showing a bright, cheery and clean face to the rest of the world.

PARKER AND CYNTHIA KING

Indianapolis, Indiana