This weekend was Cup Match in Bermuda. Cup Match is a holiday full of cricket matches, but also means that the whole island gets Thursday and Friday off of work to enjoy the beaches, ocean, family and friends. We loved our first Cup Match. Thursday we went to Horseshoe Bay to check out the party scene. There were hundreds of people on the beach enjoying the DJ, the warm sun, and lots of cocktails. We also went snorkeling on Thursday and laid low at home. On Friday we were invited on a friends boat to head out to St. Georges for the cricket match. It cost $15 a person to get into the game and there was a huge crowd of people. People buy plots in the stadium to build what they call their camp. Huge scaffolding is built so that people can bring chairs and sit up high to watch the game. The scaffolding looked solid, but also scary as so many people were standing in these camps. It was so hot at the game that we focused on eating lunch, having some drinks, and playing a few rounds of crown and anchor before heading back out to the boat. Unfortunately, I didn't watch much of the game and still have no idea how you play cricket. Crown and anchor on the other hand was a crazy game. Gambling in Bermuda is usually not allowed. There are no casinos on the island, but during the two days of Cup Match people lose thousands of dollars betting on this dice game. The minimum bid is $5 and with all of the craziness you lose your money before you even see that the dice are rolled. They keep people at these tables by placing coolers of beer underneath the tables. If you are playing at the table, you can drink all of the free beer you want. Individual families provide the crown and anchor tables. These families buy in and get to place their table at the Cup Match for a fee of $10,000. So you know that over the course of the two days, these families are making tons of money to compensate for the buy in and then to make more money on top of that!
On Saturday, we were roped into a sandcastle building contest at Horseshoe Bay. There were about 30 plots and all types of people were making sandcastles, alligators, mermaids, and for us a Happy Birthday Bermuda cake. There were even 4 professional sandcastle builders entered into the contest, one of which had the plot next ours. Let's just say, his creation made our final product look quite sad! We made a 5 tier Birthday cake for Bermuda's 400th year celebration. We spent 5 hours building and in the end didn't win a prize. I have posted other pictures of our weekend and the sandcastle building contest on my slide show. The professionals are truly amazing!
Until next time...
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