Our day began with a quick breakfast followed by a short
line up as we waited for the tenders to take us to shore. The ride was pretty quick and we were soon
stepping off the boat onto the beautiful Guernsey Island.
The three of us began by walking along the pier heading
towards an old fort. On the way we came
across a local gentleman who chatted with us for a while; he was very friendly
and showed us some of his English charm.
On our way to the old fort, we stumbled across one of the
cutest things I’d seen in a long time; a training pool for kids to learn how to
sail. There were about three adult men
standing in the water wearing waders coaching at least a dozen children in
miniature sized sail boats. The three of
us stood there and watched them for a good fifteen minutes. One little girl was freaking out because she
was scared and the men just encouraged her to keep going. I was amazed at how well these little kids
were able to handle the various ropes and tasks involved in sailing; so
impressive! The cuteness factor was off the charts; it is something I’ll always
remember.
Soon after, we came
to Castel Cornet. This was built by the
English in the 13th century to control the harbor. Since then it had been developed and expanded
as military needs have changed. It was
besieged by the French during the Hundred Years War and changed hands four
times. During the English Civil Wars it
was the last Royalist stronghold to surrender to Parliament.
In 1672, a huge explosion demolished the heart of the medieval
castle and its dungeon. English soldiers continued to be garrisoned there until
1940 when it was occupied by the Germans.
In 1945 it was given to the States of Guernsey and now holds five
museums, four historic gardens and hosts a variety of events.
The castle was beautiful to look around especially since it
was situated right on the waterfront.
Jessie took lots of beautiful photos.
We continued our walk along the pier and made it to the lighthouse where
two men were catching fish. It felt
wonderful to have the ocean breeze in our faces and enjoy the freshness of the
morning.
Walking back into the heart of the town, we took time to
window shop and observe the cute little businesses. We stopped in at the tourist office to
exchange some currency and get a map. It
was probably good that this was our only English stop because we realized that
money really doesn’t stretch that far here; it’s nothing like Spain.
Continuing on our adventure, we walked through some little
streets and made our way towards the infamous gardens. Once we arrived, we were surrounded by the
lush beauty of nature (and very talented gardeners). We took time to smell the flowers and then
parked ourselves on a nearby bench; giving ourselves the opportunity to take it
all in. There was a young family playing
on an open patch of grass in front of us; a father on the ground rolling down a
tiny hill with his little daughter—it was lovely.
As we walked through the botanical gardens we found a
greenhouse that was filled with beautiful plants and flowers. Hildy enjoyed looking at the numerous orchids
inside. We also went inside the
restrooms, which featured a three-in-one sink unit that would soap, wash and
dry your hands using sensors… very high-tech!
Continuing on our walk, we went back to the centre of town
and found a pub with a good wifi connection.
We decided to stop for a snack and catch up on some correspondence with
home. Knowing that we had a bit of cash
left over, we ordered garlic bread and a crab cake (the size of a large
egg). These two little appetizers came
to a total of $30 USD… we were all floored! Hildy made the comment that the
food wasn’t worth it, but the experience definitely was!
As we continued back through town, we did some window
shopping. The streets were lined with
tourists from the ship and everything was overpriced so we appreciated with our
eyes, not our pocketbooks
Heading back to the ship, there was hot chocolate available
as well as warm towels before we got on the tenders; that’s one of the things I
love about cruising… such service!
Finally we arrived back on the boat and had a delicious meal before
relaxing for the rest of the evening.
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