Living in Grand Cayman

Last week I had the  privilege to go for a few days to Malta.

First things first ; for those not familiar with Malta (I was not …), it is located southeast of Sicily & Italy.

Malta was fabulous! For anyone who is a history buff like myself, Malta has a large amount of it.  From the Ottoman empire, to Napoleon and the Second world war, Malta’s strategic location in the Mediterranean has made it an important location for centuries. 

Here is yours truly in Valetta, overlooking the harbour.

Here, my childhood friend Mathieu and his GF Lydia joined me for a few days.  They had planned a trip to Italy and made a “detour” to Malta when I told them I would be there for a few days for a conference. It was great to spend a bit of time with them even though most of the time I had my conference to attend.  How many childhood friends do you have who would take an extra plane to come and see you for one day or so?

Another view of this amazing place out towards the ocean.

The place where Napoleon stayed in the late 1700’s when the French took over.

St-John’s Co-cathedral.  WOW is all I can say.  This church has gotta be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

I am now in Canada with Julie for a few days, returning to Cayman this week-end.  I miss my pets!!! I am also glad that there were no storms during our time outside of Cayman.  The shutters were all up & ready for a storm, but I greatly prefer that nothing at all happened. Looks like the season is coming to a close.  There is still October, but from what I saw last year and been told, after mid-october, its pretty much over.

Part of living in the Caribbean is traveling.  Since we are on a small island, that means jumping on a plane and going to the USA or elsewhere.  Sometimes its for business, sometimes for pleasure.  I know many people that simply jump on a plane each long week-end and go to Miami, Atlanta or NY for shopping. Anything to get off “the rock” as many expats call Cayman.   Thankfully Cayman is only a 1h flight from Miami ; almost like in my days of Montreal-Toronto trips.

On a recent trip to Miami, I had the opportunity to go up to the heliport where the final scene of the season (2007 season) in CSI:Miami was shot.  Here is the picture of Horatio Caine on top of that building for fans of the show.

And here I am on that same spot:

The 360 degree view of the whole Miami area & the ocean was amazing!  Its quite rare to be able to have such an unobstructed view so high up.  It was also very windy up there (notice my tie) and probably a great place to get a nasty sunburn in a hurry.

After the Miami trip, I headed off to London.  Upon landing at Heathrow, I got to see the plane I had been hoping to spot : The new Airbus A380.  Notice that it is right next to an A340 which is definitely not a small aircraft.  The A380 is noticeably larger with its double deck.

On to London and the ever popular Tower Bridge and the HMS Belfast in the front.   On the day I had in London (I was there on training) it was windy & cold.  Thank goodness I put a thick sweater in my luggage before leaving Cayman!

Ever since I saw the movie “a good year” with Russel Crowe a few months ago, I had been looking forward to seeing this landmark; The Gherkin as the locals call it. (which is a type of pickle) It is virtually all glass and is very spectacular to see.

Finally, the trip home.  A 9h flight via Miami. Here is lovely picture I took of the massive wing on this British Airways Boeing 747. I must admit that the service and overall trip on BA was very pleasant.

Once again this year, I have the opportunity to go to the British Virgin Islands for a few days of work. In my post last year, I posted quite a few pictures of the scenery.

See https://micho.org/cayblog/?p=165 for that post from last year.

This time i’ll discuss the place I stay at each year : The Mongoose apartments. (http://www.mongooseapartments.com/)  Instead of staying in town where my work is, I stay a 15 minute drive away, which is the other side of the island.  Mongoose is more a “home away from home” than a hotel.  You get a full kitchen, living room, walk-in closet, bathroom and of course bedroom. Its only a 6-unit operation which is ran by Sandra (canadian ex-pat) and Elroy.  Its located a few hundred feet from one of the most beautiful beaches on the island (Cane Garden Bay) and hidden away in a sort of jungle setting. Its definately different from your standard & vanilla luxury hotel, but for BVI, its bar none the best place in my opinion.  In any case, dont take my word for it.  Sandra gets rave reviews on Trip Advisor, a well known travel site.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147354-d150624-Reviews-Mongoose_Apartments-Tortola_British_Virgin_Islands.html

This is the road that leads to Mongoose Apartments.

This is the place! 🙂

View from the kitchen.  Notice the laptop using the wi-fi connection and the TV on CNN for US election coverage!

View from the entrance of the living room & kitchen

Bedroom

The mango tree right outside.   They are not ripe yet, but will be in the next few week. Note to self : Next year come around mid-may.

Pineapples growing right behind my room.

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At the airport upon arrival, I spotted this Dassault Falcon with a Virgin logo on it!  Its Sir Richard Branson’s plane (The Virgin guy)  He owns one of the smaller Virgins Islands (Necker Island), so I was not suprised to see it at the airport.  Nice to be rich!

A final note about the trip to BVI.  A much as I like this place, getting here can be a bit of a challenge from anywhere in North-American and even Cayman. Its basically a whole day affaire to get here.

Below is the itinerary to get here.   Cayman -> Miami -> San Juan, Puerto Rico -> Tortola, BVI.  Going back home is the same.  But come to think of it, the place is so nice that its worth the trip.

For the third year in a row, I am in Los Angeles for a week at a client.  I must admit, I do like LA a lot!  I would not live here though ; I prefer Cayman for that.  I always have a rental car when I come here and get to drive around and see some sights!  Speaking of driving around, I had a Dodge Charger as a rental; not my type of car but had a “bad ass” look to it!

Here at Griffith Park in Hollywood, a friendly fox was crossing the road.

An excellent view of the Hollywood sign.

Great view of the LA skyscrapers.

Another view … notice the haze from the smog. 🙁

Hollywood Boulevard … the walk of fame. 

The theater that everyone has seen in picture before. Well, here is another one! 🙂

I fly back saturday to Cayman … cant wait to get back to Julie & the pets.

Since monday PM, I am in New York for a few days of work. One thing is fore sure, I am no longer used to the cold. Its not all that cold (I estimate 7-10 degrees C). However, I have been wearing my hat (tuque), gloves & scarf while the New Yorkers dont seem to be minding the cold and walk around with their jackets open and I even saw some women in sandals! Thats what I get for being so used to 30 degree weather in Cayman 🙂

It was nice to have some time in the evening to get some shopping done and to walk around the usual tourist places as you can see in the pictures below. I fly back to Cayman on Thrusday ; Cayman Airways now has a direct flight from JFK to Grand Cayman. Gotta love direct flights!

Grand Central station

The NY subway (used it to get to one of my clients near Wall St. in the financial district

Ground Zero (World Trade Center)

Times Square

This is the airplane I took back to Grand Cayman. Cayman Airways recently redesigned their planes with the coat of arms of the country, changed the font & changed the location of “Sir Turtle” ; in my opinion their plane looks great.