Week Two: Jersey

Aunty Chandi and Uncle Bruce have lived on Jersey in the Channel Islands for a few years now, but we finally got to visit them this summer. Jersey is beautiful. Getting there, however, wasn't pretty.

After a three-hour drive to arrive at the ferry in Poole so we could be two hours early for the ferry, we waited patiently to park the car on the boat and get to our front row seats. The harbor was lovely and calm. We had no idea what we were in for.

 After the harbor, we set sail in somewhat choppy seas and started to feel sick. By the time we were halfway there, we were all throwing up. Savitri and I were the worst, but the boys were not having an easy time either. Our journey was made two hours longer because some poor man on the boat had a heart attack, and we had to stop and wait for a helicopter to come get him. Our 7-hour journey ended with us safely in Jersey and still pretty green.

Gratefully, Uncle Bruce was at his house to welcome us and we had a good rest there. Aunty Chandi and Grandpa were supposed to take the ferry the next day so we could all spend some time in Jersey together, but we got some bad news when we arrived at the house. Poor Grandpa had fallen and broken his other hip! 

He and Aunty were at the hospital while we spent the week in Jersey. Ben and Uncle Bruce worked and the kids and I explored. Savitri and I headed back early (on an airplane this time!) so we could help Aunty Chandi and Grandpa, and the boys came back on the ferry a couple of days later. Gratefully, our prayers were answered, and they had smooth sailing on the way back.

Anyway, as I was saying, Jersey is beautiful. It is only nine miles by five miles, so there are beaches everywhere. We visited quite a few of them, and it was always a trek down to the beach followed by a steep staircase climb back up.

The first day we were there, Savitri and I stayed home to recover from the trip and the boys hiked to a beautiful spot right by the house.

There are frequent avian visitors to the house, since Aunty Chandi likes to feed the wild chickens and a seagull named Sammy. Savitri got to feed Sammy when we were there too.

Since Ben was working on U.S. time, he had mornings to spend  with us. On one of those mornings we went to Mont Orgeuil Castle on the east coast of Jersey. The locals call it Gorey Castle. I have unaffectionately named it Lizard Castle. 

When I planned our excursion, nothing I read indicated that the castle was the home to a large colony of wall lizards. It was terrifying. The boys had a good time exploring, and so did Savitri and I once we made it (running and screaming) past the outer walls.

On another morning we explored the shopping area in St. Helier, Jersey's capital. We found a great indoor market and lots of fun shops.

We were also able to explore with Uncle Bruce when he was off work and on the weekend after Savitri and I had left.

The Bruces reunited!

 On my last day there, Ben and I were able to visit some cemeteries where his ancestors might have been and took some photos for billiongraves.com.

Although lots of things tasted great in Jersey, we would like to congratulate the Jersey cows on their fine milk. The ice cream there is the best we've ever had. Yum.

We really loved Jersey. The only thing that would have made it better would be having Aunty Chandi and Grandpa with us.