Guernsey Day 1

Friday, 27th August 2021

In Britain there is always a bank holiday adjoined to the last weekend of August. As my birthday is also at the end of August, we usually take the opportunity to go away for a long weekend. Birthday celebration as an excuse for a bit of travelling!

This year we decided to only travel where no testing was required to avoid hassle. We went as local as possible. So we headed out to Guernsey, an island in the English Channel (Canal de la Manche in France). When we booked the trip, the rule was that people travelling from the UK would only need to provide evidence of Covid vaccination. A week before the trip the rules had changed and we now had to self-administer rapid antigen tests on alternated days after arrival, being mandatory to buy from the Guernsey government a pack of 5 tests per person at a cost of £25 per pack. Oh well... at least there won't be any pre and post-travel testing and the tests aren't expensive.

It took us an afternoon to get to Guernsey:

• Cycled to Southampton Parkway Airport train station (10 min).
• Missed our scheduled train (my fault, as always!) and boarding the next train to Poole (1 hour train ride). We were lucky enough that we weren't asked to pay for another set of tickets as a single trip bought on the day would have cost more then the advanced return tickets we had!
• Cycled from Poole train station to Poole ferry terminal (15 min).
• Joined the Condor Liberation ferry. Lunch was bough at the Co-Op up the road from the ferry terminal to avoid paying the over-priced food in the ferry boat. The ferry departed on time at 2.15pm and took 3h to get to St. Peter Port in Guernsey.

The island is small and fairly flat so it was a no brainer: we brought our own bicycles so we can cycle around the island.

Cycling to our hotel, effectively crossing the island from south to north, took 20 min. Wayside Cheer Hotel, at Grandes Rocques Bay, is where we are staying. We booked a superior double room for an extra £80 as the hotel rooms looked quite tired and this was my birthday after all. In the end, we don't think the extra money was worth it. Accommodation in Guernsey is expensive and we did not get value for money.

We had dinner at the hotel which, again, was disappointing. Jorge's vegetable soup had more cream than broth or vegetables and my beef stroganoff had sauce without cream. Portions were filling though. There was also a kids' Karaoke party and we had a speaker facing our table. We ate fast and left without having dessert. It cost £34.50 and it wasn't worth it.

We ended the day watching the sunset through our bedroom window.

Guernsey Island

The island is situated off the coast of Normandy and it is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. The Bailiwick of Guernsey comprises a number of islands, of which the biggest are Guernsey, Herm, Alderney and Sark.

A Crown Dependency is a self-governing possession of the Crown. It is not part of the UK nor it is a British Overseas Territory nor it is a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. The island is linked to the UK via the monarch, not via the parliament. It is an independent territory and it has it's own parliament and language.

A bailiwick is a territory administered by a bailiff. In the case of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the bailiff is the civil head and presiding officer of the States of Guernsey (parliament) and the head of the judiciary of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The bailiff is appointed by the Crown and generally holds office until retirement age.

The Bailiwick of Guernsey has a Lieutenant Governor, who is the appointed representative of the Crown, acting as de facto Head of State in Guernsey, and serves for as long as the Crown wishes. The Lieutenant Governor is the liaison between the governments of Guernsey and the UK and his/hers duties are primarily diplomatic and ceremonial.

Guernsey is the second largest island in the English Channel and the largest in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It has had English and Normand influences throughout history and it's language (Guernésiais) is a mix of English and French, the street names being the most noticeable use of the language.

The island is just 65 km² and fairly flat, with beaches on the north-west coast and cliffs on the south coast. 

Bailiwick of Guernsey
Credits: Wikipedia

Guernsey flag
Credits: Wikipedia

Guernsey coat of arms
Credits: Wikipedia