21 Jun 2024, Friday

 21 Jun 2024, Friday

Prioritized Daily Task 

St Peter Port, Quersney

10:30 pm - David Knight, Hypnotist in Coral Theather (Eric was part of the group to be hypnotised) 

I was up at 5 am, had prayer, got dressed, and went down to the 6th deck at 5:40 am.  There were 3 or 4 people already waiting to get the first tender tickets for their families to get off the boat this morning.  The Royal Caribbean crew started giving out tickets before 6 am.  I got 12 tickets, came back to our cabin, and went back to bed.  Later when Debbie was getting ready to meet our group and before she left, we had prayer together.  The family went to breakfast and I slept until everyone was getting on the tender to so in to the Island of Guernsey. I paid our Citi Visa credit card statement for June to be paid on July 12th and tithing for August 2024.  I rode in a separate tender over to the island going by the old fort.  It was constructed in 1780, Clarence Battery was built as one of the original outer defences of Fort George, Guernsey's major military headquarters in the late 1780s. It was the island's principal fort during the French Revolution and home of the German Luftwaffe's early warning system during World War II.  The Islands of Guernsey are what’s known as an ‘archipelago’ – a collection of islands located on the English Channel between England and France. Guernsey is the largest of five, and its sister Islands of Herm, Sark, Alderney, and Lihou are a short boat trip (or even walk) away. Although considered to be hidden gems, the islands were not able to evade German occupation during World War II.  We walked up to the house in Guernsey is where Victor Hugo (1802-85) lived in the latter part of his life and wrote Les Miserables.  We did not have tickets to tour his home and no tickets were available until after we departed the island. We were able to visit the gardens in the back of the house and take pictures.  Victor Hugo is considered the most important of the French Romantic writers. Though regarded in France as one of that country's greatest poets, he is better known abroad for such novels as Notre-Dame de Paris (1831; The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) and Les Miserables.                                All five Islands quickly found themselves under German rule, each serving their own purpose for what became known as ‘Hitler’s Island Madness’ as the Channel Islands became the most fortified place in the world.  Sark Island is a unique time capsule as one of the few remaining places in the world where cars are banned and exploring on foot, by bike, or on a horse-drawn carriage is the best way to get around.                                             We had lunch at the Terrace Garden Cafe on Cornet Street, where Elain and Lori Lynn caught up with us.  Eric was too sick to come.   After lunch the girls wanted to go shopping.  We stopped at the Hotel Chocolat for dessert.  We took a picture of a 1918 city water pump people used to pump fresh water from a river below ground.  Matthew and Melodie walked over to tort built by the Germans.  Debbie, Vickie, and I went back to the ship on a tender with Madeline, Bella, and Ava.  At 7 pm we all went to dinner.  Later we watched parts of Origans, a National Geographic documentary before going to the Coral Thether to see David Knight, Hypnotist.  Eric and Matthew were two who volunteered.  Matthew was not chosen as a candidate to be hypnotised.  Eric was but told us afterwards he was faking being hyponotised and David Knight knew he was faking.  He went to the ones to make suggestions he knew were under his hypnotic spell.  When we got back to our cabin Debbie and I had prayer and to bed at midhight.  

                                        tenders leaving Jewels of the Seas about the same time

                                              Tander unloading passengers at dock in Guernsey

Victor Hugo's home in Guernesy

                                  Street to the dock to dock for our Tender to the Jewel of the Seas

                             Old hand water pumped used over a century ago to pump fresh water

 (these paves in the street are similar to the pavers in our back yard at our home in Lehi, UT except          our pavers are about 2 inches thick and these are close to 14 inches thick.       

                                                 These pavers are put down to last.)

                                              Grandpa, Matthew, Ava in front of Hotel Chocolat

                                                           Grandpa McAlpin at lunch

                                                                             

                                                                                    Debbie at lunch at Terrace Garden Cafe

                                                                               

                                                                                     Elain, Matthew, Lori Lynn at lunch 

                                     Vickey Whitson, Ava, and family at Garden Cafe for lunch

                                    Family in front of the Village Garden Cafe on Cornet Street, Guernsey

                                   Note the van in back of picture has his left tire driving on the sidewalk

                                             The sign reads, "Maximum Vehicle Width 6 ft."

The left mirror has been hit by the mirror on another vehicle that was too close (it is held on and together with black ducktape - reminds me of my rental car in Belfast, Ireland)

                                                                                                     

Very narrow street, note the center line in the street and the two sidewalks on the side 

                                                                                                

                                                                                                        Narrow Street in Guernsey         

                                                                              

                                                                             The 75th Anniversary Liberation Statue

On 8th May 1945, Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe, and the Islands of Guernsey were freed on the following day. For 75 years, Liberation Day has and will continue to be celebrated on the 9th of May, while Sark Island celebrates theirs on the 10th. It gives islanders a chance to rejoice in their freedom and reflect on those who had to endure everything that the Occupation brought with it.