azamara cruises, azamara journey, bermuda

St. George town crier

We're along-side the pier at St. George's downtown by 8am which is about 2 hours early, causing many of the guests to miss the dramatic entrance to the town through the very narrow "town cut". The captain later explains that we've arrived early due to a medical emergency on board.

Breakfast this morning is in the buffet, Windows Cafe. As is typical for a breakfast buffet, there's a great selection of fresh fruits and cereals. There are also the breakfast "staples", scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage and bacon. In addition there are specialty items such as eggs benedict, a waffle/pancake station plus a carved meat station. This morning's meat carving was ham. And, you can order any type of specially-cooked eggs that you'd like. There are two complementary coffee and juice stations located in the buffet area - providing a selection of juices, regular and decaf coffee, plus an expresso machine dispensing very strong expresso drinks.

After breakfast we decide to make our way into St. George. This tiny town can easily be covered on foot, with the main shopping and restaurant area only occupying about 6 square blocks. In the center of town is King's Square, where historic reenactments are performed at noon each day. Today's reenactment traces the history (in a humorous way) of punishment for the town's drunkard (played by one of the guests from our ship) and of a wife "convicted" of being a gossip and a nag. As the town crier explains to the crowd the offenses of each, the town lady is quick to point out that she of course is completely innocent and should not be punished. Based on the crowd's feedback, her plea is ignored and she's escorted to a dunking chair for her punishment. Several visiting volunteers man the dunking chair, dropping her into the city canal until she pleads guilty to the charges against her.

On a hill overlooking the town are the ruins of an unfinished gothic church. Financial difficulties, followed by dissent withn the Anglican community and finally severe damage by a hurricane caused the building project to be abandonded.

Eventually we decide it's time to make our way back to the ship. We stop along the way at one of the several beautiful waterside restaurants, Tavern by the Sea at Somers Wharf, where we are introduced to a local specialty drink the "Dark and Stormy". Made of dark rum and ginger beer, the original drink wasn't blended, causing the dark rum to layer on top of the ginger beer which looked like a "dark and stormy night" to the local sailors. A very refreshing drink, this sweet rum concoction is available nearly everywhere in Bermuda.

Another great waterside venue is the White Horse Tavern. Providing lunch and dinner meals, the tavern is also a hit with the cruise ship crew where late night dancing goes until the wee hours of the morning.

For beach lovers, beautiful beaches are just along the north coast of St, George. The most popular are Tobacco Bay and St. Catherine's Beach. The beachs are a 15 to 20 minute walk, or easily accessible by public bus or hired taxi.