Page 73 - DreamScapes Magazine | Winter 2024/2025
P. 73
The colour-obsessed tourist is well served in
Bermuda. Sure, the fantasy-esque isle is part of an
archipelago and there’s the famous translucent
turquoise water and salmon-pink sand beaches, master-
pieces from nature. But tiny Bermuda punches above its
weight with man-made art and cultural offerings, too.
I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional quality of
the art and architecture in a country where insurance is
the main industry. As I made my way around the 53-
square-kilometre island, a British protectorate where
everyone speaks with an American accent save for a very
distinctive long “O” as in “I’m going oot,” I noticed how
much colour was imbued in all aspects of life. And that
was before I had my first Yellow Bird cocktail.
My first impression, though, was one of darkness.
When you arrive after sunset on a tiny island that has few
street lights you have no sense of anything. You can just
about make out where the ocean is if it’s not cloudy. All the
surprises have to wait for the morning.
BOUGAINVILLEA,
BEACHES AND BANKSY
Or so I thought until I checked into my hotel. I was staying
at the iconic Princess in Bermuda’s capital, Hamilton.
When I stepped into the lobby of the palatial pink resort I
thought I had taken a wrong turn and entered the MoMA,
Manhattan’s modern art museum.
The Princess is festooned with contemporary artworks
from pretty much all of the great names of modern and
contemporary art: Matisse, Calder, Koons, Damien Hirst,
Warhol, Keith Haring, Banksy. You name it, it’s likely on
the walls of the hotel lobby, restaurants, boardrooms or
corridors or on the grounds. There’s even a Picasso casu-
ally hanging next to an ATM machine.
I was assured they were originals. This extraordinary
collection belongs to the art-collecting hotel owners, a
local family. (Even if you’re not staying there, you’re wel-
come to come in and peruse what’s on the walls.)
A PINK PHONE BOX
AND A GIANT PUMPKIN
Bermuda is one of the few places where you can go from so
much wondrous man-made art to natural beauty within
just a few metres.
The next morning on my way to breakfast I was already
feeling on a familial basis with the Mondrian paintings
ERMUDA
BY KAREN BURSHTEIN
PHOTO: UNSPLASH/KINO
A MASSAGE TREATMENT
UNDER STALACTITES
Bermuda is famous for its dramatic underground
crystal cave system with turquoise-coloured water
running through and stalactites dripping from the
ceiling. You can take the cave experience even further
with a massage treatment set on a floating cabana at
Grotto Bay Beach Resort’s Natura Spa.
WINTER 2024/2025 DREAMSCAPES 73