Guernsey

The first stop of our cruise was in Guernsey. I learned that there are islands in the English Channel, called Channel Islands! I was surprised to learn this, as there are islands off the coast of Ventura, California, that are also called the Channel Islands. Makes a bit more sense in the English Channel I suppose.

I was also surprised to see on a map that Guernsey is much closer to France than England - we could faintly see Normandy in the distance. But it was a political reason that they ended up belonging to England.

My In-laws had decided to rent bikes, so we ventured onto the island and searched for the bike shop. I was impressed with the island - it looked like Catalina's harbor, but with a lot of nice flowers. Clearly they take pride in their flowers!

It had been a long time since I'd ridden a bike, but I managed to avoid falling down! The Girl and my MIL both managed to fall into traffic (right next to the bike path!), and luckily I was not there to see either. I said a prayer for the Girl as she rode off without me.

K and I decided to ride over to the Castle Cornet, an old castle on the island. It was fun riding the bike there, as there was less traffic and it was much faster than walking.

We walked around the castle and got a really good view of the canon they fire every day at 1pm. Even tho I knew they were going to fire it, it still surprised me when it went off. I kindof screamed and took a less-than-perfect picture.

It was interesting to find that England abandoned these islands during WW2, as they were too close to France and too hard to defend. That must have been an interesting time to live there.

When it came time to ride back to the bike shop, I followed K into traffic and said a silent prayer for the best. We ran a red light in a busy intersection, and everyone was driving the wrong way, but I just followed him and we made it back without incident. Whew!

That afternoon and evening we watched BOLT, DEFINITELY MAYBE, ENCHANTED, and BRIDE WARS. For dinner I had ceasar salad, black bean soup, and tiger shrimp kabob.

I just bought a book about Guernsey that takes place during the German occupation, and I'm looking forward to reading it! It's called THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Schaffer. I'll let you know if I like it...