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Bermuda
50 Shades of Bermuda
By Karen Burshtein
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, masterpieces 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 casually 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 welcome 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 lining the corridor. I walked through the lobby out to the hotel garden, and my first daylight views offered me, along with views of the cerulean ocean, a pink-painted British phone box and a sculpture called Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama. I stretched my gaze further to a vista of pink and turquoise, banana yellow and pistachio green houses.
It’s little wonder this pretty island inspired the work of esteemed American artists; Homer, O’Keeffe and Wyeth spent time in Bermuda painting the landscapes. Their sojourns were the inspiration for the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, which now houses some of their Bermuda-focused work as well as a comprehensive collection of local artists’ work, spanning the ages. The museum with its 1,500+ pieces of Bermuda-inspired watercolours, lithographs, photographs and etchings is housed in a villa within the beautiful Botanical Gardens.
Shortcuts in
Bermuda’s colourful cosmopolitan hub Back in downtown Hamilton, I saw the bustling capital in action, including many men rushing off to meetings in coloured Bermuda shorts, part of the island’s proper business attire with a blazer and long coloured socks. Shops were full of these sartorial icons lined up like a rainbow in different shades.
Heading out of the capital I drove through parishes, getting lost in neighbourhoods of colourful homes flowing with bougainvillea and hibiscus. Driving from these colourful slices of cities to the heaven that is Bermuda’s beaches was also part of the rhythm of our gentle days. There are endless beaches to visit or discover in Bermuda. Standouts? Horseshoe Bay is one of Bermuda’s and among the world’s finest beaches. With its pretty pink sand and clear blue water, it’s just perfect. Lesser-known beach gems include Warwick Long Bay. Not too far from Horseshoe Bay, it’s more secluded and rugged but with the same pink-coloured sand and blue ocean, sprays of green-and-brown shrubs for a new colour palette.
It’s there I lay under the sun playing word games in my head. What do you get when you put colourful and Bermuda together? Bermudaful.
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.
Travel Planner
For more travel information about Bermuda, see bermuda.com
