Destination: Guernsey!

Hello, my darlings!

So, I finally managed to make it to Jersey's rival island--Guernsey, and I must say, I really enjoyed it. Gyles and I only had enough time to spend two days there, but it was plenty of time to see what I wanted to see and hang out with his cousin Daniel and his beautiful wife-to-be (and mother-to-be), Sarah.

We took the good ol' Condor Ferry to Guernsey around 4:30p.m., so by the time we got there and settled in it was time for dinner. We were treated to a BBQ at their lovely, new house where we were staying for the next two days. I'm a born-again vegetarian, so they cooked me up a delicious, meaty tuna steak that I poured way too many chili flakes on. Hot! I missed out on the Thai Green curry sausages that Daniel had going on the barbie along with steaks, chicken and shishkabobs. I ate the veggies off of one skewer and passed the cubes of chicken on to Gyles' plate. The real treat at dinner though was the garden-fresh vegetables that Sarah's dad grew himself. We had perfect potatoes and crisp, bright green snap peas! We were also served a delicious homemade caesar salad that Sarah made herself from scratch! The creamy dressing was fantastic mixed in with the salad and Parmesan shavings. We watched some TV, ate some Magnum White ice cream bars, played a few games of Rummy and then headed upstairs to get our beauty sleep for the next day.

 

On our second day we had an early start! Sarah kindly dropped us off at the Little Chapel on her way to work. The Little Chapel is possibly the smallest chapel in the world! "It was built by Brother Déodat who started work in March 1914. His plan was to create a miniature version of the famous grotto and basilica at Lourdes in France. Guardianship of the Little Chapel now rests with Blanchelande Girls College, which is run by a Charitable Trust." WOW! What an amazing sight to see. The website I saw for it on some Guernsey tourist site did this wonderful work of art no justice at all. You have to either see it in person, or see it for yourself from my pictures! I took a bunch while I was there because I didn't want you guys to miss any of it. It's crazy what can be done with millions of pieces of broken plates, mugs, blue china, shells and stained glass! Absolutely beautiful and I'm so happy we went to see it first thing in the morning.

 

 

See! It's truly a beautiful sight. We only spent about 20 minutes there because we wanted to catch the next bus down to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital where Gyles' nan lives. We got off at our stop and walked a good 15 minutes to the ward. After our visit we walked to the Hertz Rental station down the road to get our hire car! From there we took off to town for some shopping and lunch. I was delighted to finally find a Guernsey shot glass for my awesome cousin Kat who collects them. I tried every tourist-y store we passed until I found one in the last shop we popped into. Success!

We finished up in town and darted back to the house to meet Daniel for the England game that started at 3. I changed into my England shirt and then we walked down to Daniel's local pub. It's not your typical English pub though, it had colorful, glass lanterns in all shapes and sizes hanging from the ceiling. Moroccan-inspired carpets layed out on the floors with two-seater, dark brown leather couches set up in rows in front of a huge, drop-down projector screen, which was playing the England v. Slovenia game of course. Next to all of the two-seater sofas were single leather couches. We grabbed a trio of seats in the front rows and I sank into my single sofa with a cold pint of cider and black in my hand. USA was playing at the same time, and I'm glad in the end we (England and America) both advanced.

After the game we walked back to the house and got ready for dinner. We ate at the Crow's Nest down in town on top of a bar. It was great except I think I'm allergic to shellfish. I ordered mussels for dinner and later on that night I was sick to my stomach. I was also sick the night I devoured lobster. Who knows what caused me to be sick both nights, but I will definitely be avoiding shellfish for a long time to come.

This morning Gyles and I took a tour of the island before we had to turn ourselves in to the harbour for departure back to Jersey. We ate lunch at a quaint, Thai-garden themed restaurant right next to the town's church. Now we're off to watch the game somewhere in town, or maybe we might stay in for the night. Two weeks from today I'll be home with my mommy and daddy in Ft. Myers! I can't wait to see you guys and Lauren and Bandit and everyone else. Post soon!

xx

Lindsay

p.s.-I just realized today that I really miss Starbucks!

p.s.s.-Comments are greatly appreciated =)

England v. USA

I hope the pictures speak for themselves. It was a tied score, which was great for us. A ridiculously fun night in town at a rowdy, England-fan-filled bar with my love. I miss all of my American friends and family and I love every single one of you.

ps- mom, this was the night I rang you. I love you!!

xx

Lindsay

Glorious Gorey

One of the best things to do while you’re visiting Jersey is to walk. There are special footpaths made for walkers, and also tons and tons of walking maps created just for walkers to follow. If walking on your own with a map doesn’t tickle your fancy then why not join a guided walk? That’s what I decided to do on Friday last week.

 It was the perfect day for walking, too! Sunny, hardly any wind and I’d guess the temperature was about 65 degrees (sorry my fellow Floridians who are suffering in the diabolical heat right now, I love you!!). So I rang up the Pontac House where they always have a printed list of things to do on the island for every day of the week and I asked about the walks that would be taking place the next day, Friday. Gorey is one of the most beautiful and historic places here and one of my personal favorites, so when I heard that there was a guided walk called “Glorious Gorey” taking place at 2 p.m. I decided to go for it.

Arthur Lamy was the guide for my tour, but not just any old guide….a Blue-Badge guide. There’s a small number of Blue-Badge guides in Jersey and I was lucky enough to have one as my guide. He’s a third generation Jerseyman and he’s been a tourist guide for more than 15 years! He’s also a writer and apart from walking tours he does cycle tours as well.

I had Beth drop me off at the meeting point for the walk, which was the bus stop at Gorey. I thought for a second that if I was the only person signing up for this walk then I would quietly and discretely sneak away and call Beth to pick me back up. I saw Arthur ride up on his bike and lock it up, it was 2 o’ clock on the dot and I was still the only person standing at the bus stop. As he walked up the street to the bus stop I had to make a quick decision--leave or stay? Of course I stayed! He looked really cool and I wanted to give it a chance.

 We ended up going on the three-hour walk together and I really got a lot more than I expected. Arthur was incredibly knowledgeable, intelligent and he knew more about the island and about Gorey than anyone I know. We walked through the village lined with shops, restaurants and hotels then up to the castle. From the castle we went up a steep hill and down a small lane to some Neolithic graves! He showed me where the man who captured the Rosetta Stone lived, the gravesite of Sir William haley, the author of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and he told me the short version of the Lilly Langtry story. By 5 p.m. we were walking back up the route of the old Jersey Eastern Railway back to our starting point. I had such a good time! You get to see so much more of the island by foot than you ever would by car. I will be doing another walk very soon that’s for sure. And for only £5 there’s no better and cheaper way to spend your day.

I was completely parched after the walk, so I popped into the Dolphin Hotel to wet my whistle with a pint of cider and black. That’s my favorite drink to have here, it’s a pint of Strongbow cider with a dash of blackcurrant to give it an even sweeter taste. Inside the bar one of the first World Cup games was playing. Sitting at the bar on my own and sipping on my pint of cider and black made me feel like I was truly having a Jerseylicious day. Cheers!

xx

Lindsay