Saturday 5 November 2016

Five On Friday - About Guernsey

Hello, thank you for popping in, and thank you for your kind responses to my last post.  Lorrie captured my feelings perfectly when she described "gentle domesticity" and I have found some comfort in it this week, pottering around the house and garden.

There is also comfort in routine and so today I am joining Amy at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday.  I mentioned last time that the Best Beloved, The Teacher, Flashman and I went to Guernsey last week to spend some time with The Mathematician who is working there during her university placement year.  Here are five things we enjoyed in Guernsey.
 
1.  The Food
 
Unsurprisingly, the seafood was abundant and delicious - we enjoyed crab, mussels, scallops, prawns, calamari, sea bass... from 1st October for six weeks every year the Channel Islands run an event called Tennerfest during which participating restaurants offer special menus priced between £10 and £20.  We took advantage of this while we were there and ate some spectacular food.

Mini Fruits de Mer at Crabby Jack's

The Best Beloved's lunch at Crabby Jack's

 Seared Scallops with Rocket Salad at Urban Kitchen
  
2.  The German Occupation Museum
 
Guernsey was occupied by German forces from 30th June 1940 until 9th May 1945 and this privately-owned museum, developed from one boy's collection, comprehensively covers that period.  It is old-fashioned, stuffed full of documents and artefacts which have been put together thoughtfully in a series of themed roomsWe enjoyed it very much and told the attendant so; he replied that they have fewer and fewer visitors each year but that those who do come seem to be increasingly appreciative. 



 
 
3.  Fort Grey Shipwreck Museum
 
Fort Grey is a Martello Tower built in 1804 in Rocquaine Bay on the west coast of the island.  Getting there is an adventure as we had to walk out along the causeway and then climb the steps before entering the doorway, but it's not nearly as much of adventure as it was before the museum was opened in 1976 as until then, there were no steps and no doorway: the only way to get in was to use a ladder!  The museum is small but fascinating, the location is fab, looking out over the Hanois Reef and its lighthouse, and the attendant was lovely.  What more could you ask for in a museum?





 
4.  The Little Chapel
 
The Little Chapel is very little indeed at 5m x 3m and was first built in 1914 as a miniature version of the grotto and basilica at Lourdes.  This is its third incarnation and unfortunately, it is covered in scaffolding because the ground beneath it is subsiding.  (We have a family joke that wherever I visit, there is scaffolding - the only time I have been to Venice, the entire frontage of St Mark's Basilica was  covered in scaffolding!)  Major restoration work is underway to rescue the building and although it was closed for several months at the beginning of this year, it is now open and we were able to go inside.  Wowee!  These photographs don't do it justice; it is A-MA-ZING.


 
 
5. The Beaches
 
Ah, now you know how much I love to be beside the sea and wherever you are in Guernsey, it's never far away.  I couldn't wait to take my shoes off, feel the sand beneath my feet and paddle in the shallows.  I picked up shells - striped limpets, buttercup-coloured flat periwinkles and top shells glinting with nacre - explored rockpools and simply watched the light change over the water.  Bliss.

 






I had a romantic notion to sit on a beach with the Best Beloved and watch the sun set over the sea and although we were able to do just that one evening, the sky was cloudy so the reality didn't match my imagined scene.  It wasn't bad, though.

 
 
Of course, the best thing of all was being with both of my precious girls.
 
Now, if you have the time please hop over to Love Made My Home and see what everyone else is sharing this week.
 
See you soon with, I think, a post about knitting.  It's that time of year again.
 
Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x


 
 

26 comments:

  1. Your meals look delicious. I've had a yen to visit Guernsey ever since i read the book Guernsey Literary Society.

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    1. It's a lovely place to visit, Janet. I've never heard of that book and have just had to look it up. I like novels which are set in a place I am visiting, the visit sort of adds to the experience of the book. Thanks for the tip. x

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  2. Looks like a great visit with sights to see and good eats. My favorite combination. To do it all with loved ones is the cherry on top! Happy weekend to you.

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    1. Absolutely true, Ellen, it wouldn't have been as good without the loved ones. Hope you had a good weekend. x

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  3. Glad you enjoyed Guernsey, obviously not the best channel island, but not bad! Isn't the tennerfest great. There are a couple of places in Jersey actually doing three delicious courses for £10. Beautiful sunset photo. B x

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    1. Well obviously it's not the best, Barbara! I think Tennerfest is great, it enabled us to eat in places we couldn't normally consider - and I had the best calamari I have ever eaten. x

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  4. It looks like such a beautiful island. I've never visited, but hope to one day. Thank you for sharing your week. Enjoy your weekend. x

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    1. Thanks Marie, it really is a great place to visit. x

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  5. It took me a while to get through this post because somehow I kept ending up back at the photo of scallops. My favourite.

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    1. They were scrummy, but I think my heart belongs with the crab. x

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  6. I'm surprised more people are not interested in visiting Guernsey after the publication of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I know that story revealed new history to me, and I'd love to visit the museum to learn more.
    With good seafood dinners, plus walks on beaches - sounds like a wonderful trip!

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    1. It was wonderful Lorrie, and just what we needed. Now I had never heard of that book but now you and Janet have both mentioned it! I think I am going to have to seek out a copy. x

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  7. What a beautiful spot to spend time with your family. I like that the Canadians thought first and foremost of chocolate in their food parcels, but prunes?! I'll bet that was met with sour faces! Love your photos of the seaside, so pretty :)
    Wendy

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    1. Thanks Wendy! I thought you'd be interested in that photo - the people of Guernsey were on the brink of starvation when those parcels arrived so I think they would have been as grateful for the prunes as the chocolate. x

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  8. Sounds like a wonderful trip all that amazing food is making me feel hungry even at this time in the morning. Such a shame the visitor numbers are going down for the museum. Take care.

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    1. Isn't it a shame? I learned so much there, and it wasn't an expensive outing, and it helped me to really make sense of a lot of the concrete builings we saw on the island. x

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  9. So glad you got to be with The Mathematician, we love Guernsey and sailed there a few years back, we keep meaning to take our boat back, one day I hope x

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    1. My sister and her family sail and she told me that she loves Guernsey, having taken the boat there several times. She hasn't visited as many countries in it as you have, though! x

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  10. It all looks rather wonderful! Glad you were able to spend some time with your family in such a lovely place. The beaches look wonderful. I've only been to Guernsey once in 1977 but would love to return one day:)

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    1. The beaches are lovely, Rosie, and the sea wasn't cold - there were people swimming without wetsuits! Not me, obviously, but hardy natives. I had never been before and would like to go again. x

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  11. Ah now this brings back memories of our one and only trip to Guernsey when our youngest was only months old. I took so many photos, it was all so beautiful. Sadly though I hadn't put a film in the camera so your lovely photos are great to see! x

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    1. Oh what are you like!! It is a beautiful island, even in October with almost no sunshine. x

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  12. The sea food looks delicious and I really enjoyed reading about the places you visited. Guernsey is somewhere I would love to visit one day.

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    1. Thanks Annie. That seafood tasted as good as it looks, it was a real treat. x

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  13. the seafood looks lovely and would love to be there to try some. very interesting about the little museum. it must be hard to keep it up with less visitors each year, but would be sad to lose that perspective of those years.

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  14. I'm not big on seafood, but I think the museums look very interesting, and I love the sand, shells, and sea! It made me sad that the little German Occupation museum is getting less visitors. Enjoyed your post.

    Cindy Bee

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