Guernsey

Hey folks, as promised this is the 2^nd part although it took me longer to get to it than I had hoped.  Sorry but I hope you still enjoy!!

Guernsey, UK

First we need a little history lesson.  During WWII, the Channel Islands were the only part of the UK to be invaded and taken over by the Germans.  Since they are closer to France than to England, King George de-militarized them because he needed his forces for the mainland.  For one reason or another, the Germans were not notified that Guernsey was de-militarized and they bombed the main harbor of St. Peters-Port.  Then the Germans invaded the island and took control for the next 5 years.  The last year or two of the occupation, the food supply became very limited because the Germans were losing the war and supplies were not being sent over to the islands.  For the last year, it was just as rough to be a German solider on the island as it was to be a citizen.  When the citizens were finally free, lots of German soldiers stayed on the island to help remove the mines, barbed wire, etc.  Apparently, they were happier to stay there and help clean it up then to be sent to some prison.  That is the very short, abbreviated version of course.

Now you are probably wondering how I know all of this.  Well it’s from 3 parts.  1 part from reading a fiction novel about the island (Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, very good), 1 part from visiting a German occupation museum on the island and 1 part from talking to a British gentleman who lived on the island during the occupation. 

I had first heard about Guernsey through my boss, Bill, because his wife (Penny) is from Guernsey.  All of the pictures I had seen of the island were absolutely beautiful so I told myself I really wanted to go!  After talking with Bill and his wife, I realized the dates I wanted to go happened to be while they were visiting the island as well.  This meant I now had a personal tour guide from someone who had grown up there, yay! 

I took a plane over on Saturday morning and it was a short journey, about 1 hour.  I grabbed a cab from the airport to my hotel, which was in the main town of St. Peters-port.  I wondered around the high street for a while, and then decided to take a bus trip around the island.  I was told it takes about an hour and since it was only £1, it seemed like a great deal! I hopped off at one of the bays and had lunch staring out into the ocean.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  After lunch and some more walking along the beach, I hopped back on and went back to town.  That night, I met with Bill and Penny for drinks and they took me to dinner in Cobo Bay.  We had a table looking out at the water and the sunset was amazing.  The only place better was in Oia, Greece, on the island of Santorini.  We didn’t stay out drinking too late because we had an early boat ride over to the island of Sark.

Lunch Spot

Coming up to Cobo Bay 

The boat trip over to Sark on Sunday was great, it was a large ferry boat but we could still be outside to see the surrounding islands.  We passed the island of Herm along with all of these little rock islands sticking out of the ocean.  At several points you could see nothing but open waters and the next closest body of land was probably the east coast of the states.  After arriving at Sark, we started to make our way to the restaurant for lunch.  It was a 45 minute walk because there are NO cars on the island.  Everyone gets around by bike, horse-drawn carriage, or tractor.  We had lunch in a hotel garden and a few pitchers of Pimms & Lemonade (so delicious).  Next we went roaming around the island and found some cliffs overlooking the sea.  I felt like I was standing on the edge of the world because everywhere I looked it was nothing but water.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather either, a perfect 72 and sunny!  We walked around the town some more and took into all of the beautiful beaches. 

Boat Ride to Sark

Carriage outside the Restaurant

Nothing for miles!!!

We headed back late Sunday evening and had a relaxing night in watching the Euro cup finals.  Felt bad for my Italian friends but it was a good match.  Monday I was supposed to have a rib trip around the island of Herm.  Apparently it was a large rubber boat (fits 10peoepl or so) and it whisks you around the island and you get to see various beaches and wildlife spots.  Well the weather turned to crap on Monday so the trip got cancelled.  The captain said the seas would have been too rough.  I was bummed but I did get some shopping in to cheer me up J  Instead of the rib trip, we visited the occupation museum.  It was amazing to see all of the pieces they still had from back in the day.  I also found out that Penny’s dad was here on the island during the occupation so after we finished at the museum we went back to his house and talked to him for a while about what life was like then.  It was incredibly interesting!!  It is also rare to meet someone who lived on the island then because most children were shipped off the island before the Germans invaded.  Women and most children were sent to live with families on the mainland that would take them in. 

Because of the crappy weather, I was a little afraid I wasn’t going to be able to get off the island.  When I was dropped off at the airport, the fog was so heavy that you couldn’t even see the runway.  Thank goodness the fog cleared and planes were able to land.  My flight was only about 15minutes late taking off so it wasn’t too bad.  

I would have to say that my favorite part of this trip so far has been Guernsey!  Most British people I talk to ask me about it, I show them pictures and they are amazed at how beautiful it is.  Apparently it’s not a popular destination for British folks because they would rather go someplace farther down on the Mediterranean, like France or Italy.  I would guess that for every 10 people I ask, maybe 1 or 2 has been to the Channel Islands. 

If any of you ever have the chance, do it!!  It is truly amazing.  Well I leave you with some fabulous pictures from my trip.  I will try to write one more time before I head back to the states on Friday.  I have some good stories from the last few days. 

Guernsey Castle

My preferred method of travel once im rich and retired (i can always dream right!?)