many bored tourists have been shopping more to pass the time away. And some have been finding out just how expensive Bermuda really is.

The disappointment of one US tourist at Bermuda's seemingly high store prices was exacerbated by an article on shopping she read in Bermuda Weekly, the Island's only newspaper for visitors.

The story's opening line read: "It is often said by Bermuda's visitors that they have paid for their holiday with the savings they have made in their purchases here. Indeed, many items are up to 50 percent less expensive here than in the big US cities.'' Mrs. Irene Liddy, of Massachusetts, was so incensed she called The Royal Gazette's business section to complain.

"This has got to be one of the biggest jokes I've heard,'' she said. "Don't let anyone try to fool you that Bermuda is cheap, because it isn't. People only put up with the high cost because it's beautiful, friendly, hot most of the time and crime-free.

"I couldn't believe this article when I read it. I think many visitors would openly laugh in your face if you said Bermuda's goods were cheap. It defies all the evidence.

"I've spent a lot of time in local shops over the last few days because of the rain and can honestly say the prices of goods here, with one or two exceptions, are generally far more expensive than anything I'm used to in the States.'' As larger numbers of tourists headed away from the drenched beaches and towards the shops, more would have noticed the novelty cookery books being sold in Opus 1, on Reid street, in Hamilton.

A series of recipe books entitled Music and Menus are being sold with music compact discs to accompany your meal. One book, called Dinners for Two, includes recipes from Horizons and Cottages, in Bermuda, to be eaten to the sound of the San Francisco String Quartet playing such favourites as Chopin's Nocturne, Handel's Water Music Finale and Vivaldi's Spring from The Four Seasons.

"We introduced them last Christmas and they have been selling very well,'' said Mrs. Sandy Dyer, a partner of the store, whose other novelty items include a toilet roll with music written on it.

To work up an appetite, diners, particularly the elderly, would be well advised to take up "rhythmic movement'' keep fit lessons about to be started by one of Bermuda's best-known fitness teachers, 65-year-old Mrs. Vicky Jensen.

Her method of keeping fit includes none of the jerks and strains often associated with modern day aerobics and is ideal for people suffering with rheumatism and age-induced ailments.

One of the reasons Mrs. Jensen has come out of a four-year retirement is to start up a course at Bermuda College in October for people 55 years and over.

"People kept coming up to me saying that aerobics exercises weren't really for them and they wanted something different,'' said Mrs. Jensen. "The exercises I teach are ideal for warding off rheumatism and for strengthening parts of the body.'' She can also been seen again on VSB television, running a series called For Older Seniors, which teaches exercises to be done from the comfort of armchair.

Younger people who feel up to the training techniques of this tireless sexagenarian can subscribe to another keep fit course for people of all ages at St. Paul's Christian Education Centre, in Paget, to start on September 15.