May 12

St. Peter’s Port, Guernsey.

This is a quaint port and easy to get around. We used ship tenders to go from the ship to shore (one of them actual “died” – I was not on it when it “died”, but I did get a sense that something was wrong with this tender)!

I had arranged for my mom to take a taxi around the island with another couple from New Mexico, Barb and Rich. We met at the Vines bar in the Piazza and headed to the tenders. Once onshore, they were picked up by their driver and I headed for a walk along the main Esplanade heading to Castle Coronet.

The castle has a long history – from the 1300s to German Occupation in World War II and the liberation. There is a canon that is fired every day at noon. The fort itself is quite interesting – with surprises around each corner. The best part, at least in my opinion, were the little gardens. Each one sectioned off and neatly planted with vegetables or herbs. One garden even had little cannons – this had been an active fort.

The weather was mostly sunny – but there some rain, mostly in the form of a few sprinkles and at least one heavy downfall. I was able to duck into a tea room until it passed.

Of course, I picked at a Guernsey apron to add to my collection. I have a feeling that my friend Mary is going to try to “borrow” it. It has a Guernsey cow on it. I also got some quick WI-FI at the Information Centre to send a message that “all was well.” I hope to get my internet running on the ship shortly – just so much to do this time.

Getting back to the ship was fun. The tender I was on had an engine failure in one of the engines, which made it difficult to maneuver. While I did leap from the tender to the ship, it was considered unstable and was then taken out of the rotation for ferrying people across from the ship to the port and back again.  I also heard that there was at least one couple that were late getting back to the ship, so we were late leaving. I really did not know what was going on, I was taking a meditative rest in the thermal spa!

At 3, there was an event for all the members of our cruise critic roll call. It was nice to meet in person the people I’ve been following online since I booked this trip.  This is how I met Barb and Rich, the people who included my mom on the tour of Guernsey.  I also met several people from Canada – Whitby, Colberg, Ottawa, and Timmins, just to name a few.

Dinner was a formal night. Waiting in line, we met a man from Vancouver Island who was a former manager at CIBC. Our dinner companions were from Pennsylvania and Australia. I had duck comfit, French onion soup, grilled lamb and a peanut butter & chocolate cheesecake with an Oreo crust.

By the time we finished dinner, it was after 10 PM and we thought it would be good to call it a night.  Tomorrow would be another early day.