Guernsey Island Stop 1

     Guernsey Island is a British holding in the English Channel occupied by the Germans in World War 2. It was the first stop on our around the island cruise. We anchored and went ashore by shuttle. It was a beautiful sunny day as the photos suggest. There is evidence of occupation for thousands of years but we did not travel into the countryside to see it. The island does not allow any new 'settlers' to the island although there we many tourists there today.

Castle Cornet

     It was a typical wandering day for us.  The entrance to the harbour has the Castle Cornet which guards the entrance to the St. Peter Port. It is a Norman fortress completed in 1256 and was later the governor's residence. It was about a 20 minute walk from the landing spot to the fortress and lighthouse. The harbour had many small boats tied up in the various marinas. We decided since we will be seeing more castles on this cruise not to spend our time going through the castle. WE did walk to the end of the break wall to the lighthouse.

   

Lighthouse and the Ruby

The Port

 From there we wandered through town taking one curving road after another headed to a high point. We never did reach our destination but enjoyed the narrow streets and quaint houses and shops along the way. Although Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserable and the  Hunchback of Notre Dame lived here we missed his house on our walk.

     Back along the main strip, we wandered with no particular aim except to find a place for a local drink. Judy had the cider and of course I tried the local beer. She has had a

few on this trip which is unusual for her. Now she wants to try Irish Coffee. This from a tea drinker! Since we were sailing at 2 pm we made our way back to the tenders. Everyone on the ship decided to go back at the same time. We were in line for probably an hour before we boarded a local ferry that probably carried 300 plus back to the ship. No sailing by 2pm today. Then they had problems with one of the davits (tender lifts) and so we did not get underway until nearly 4 pm.

     Lunch at the International Cafe in the Atrium with a pot of tea worked well as it always does. It has a limited selection of salads, sandwiches and desserts. They do not have any of those tray sized plates! All food is served which means that you are not as tempted to fill the plate to capacity.

Judy With Irish Coffee

It was a formal night, the first of 2 on this cruise. We dressed accordingly, had our photos taken (hoping to win the free on to go along with the frame that was in our room when we returned – one of the freebees on this trip) and saw a production show. They use to run close to 1 hour but this one lasted 35 minutes. The captain gave his speech, we had a glass of champagne and had dinner. The couple and 2 boys did not show up (no formal wear they said later) but a couple from Calgary were there. They missed the night before because of the long flight that had been delayed. We were happy to see them.

     We ended the night with a late night comedy act. I think we had encountered him on our last trip to South America. We both enjoyed the show.