Guernsey Island, A Crown Dependency

In 2012 I read the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and declared to Alex that I would someday visit the Island of Guernsey. Have you ever got lost in a book and felt such a connection to the setting without having ever physically been there? That happens to me often but  the deep connection felt for this little Island in the English Channel was a special feeling I couldn't shake.  Fast forward to 2015, we moved to Europe for a three year duty assignment and as we were compiling our travel bucket list, Guernsey was one of the first locations to get scribbled down. We had done a trip with some friends to Prague months prior and knew they would be great people to travel with again. After pitching the idea to them for a 4th of July trip to Guernsey Island, they were all about it. I hoped that all the Guernsey hype from my previous years of getting wrapped up in a book based on the island would live up to the hype and not be a total let down for all of us.

Getting to Guernsey takes a bit of planning because 1. it's expensive and 2. there's only one airline that flies into the island from England so it takes time to coordinate flight schedules and get logistics squared away. I was able to find relatively cheap airline tickets on EasyJet from Stuttgart to Gatwick but given the times, we would have to spend the night in a hotel and take an early morning flight from Gatwick to Guernsey on the sole airline servicing the island, Aurigney.

We flew in on a lovely day with blue skies, sunshine, and the perfect weather. As our plane descended, I peered our the window only to be overcome with the beauty of the place I had dreamt about for the last five years. The lush green countryside with cows roaming their pastures, dramatic cliffs giving way to the blue waters of the English Channel, and charming homes dotted the landscape caused a wave of excitement to overcome me and I couldn't wait to get off the plane and explore this idyllic island. Our stay at the Duke of Richmond in Saint Peters Port was incredible. The location was prime, we were treated so well by all the staff, and the English breakfast each morning was a real treat. For the next two days, we set out on foot to discover the island's spectacular coastline and uncover some of its rich history.  A few highlights from our days were hiking along the coastline and finishing at a small beach where we relaxed with cold drinks and allowed the children to run in and out of the water, splashing and chasing each other / taking a private gin tasting and finding our favorite gin ever followed by dinner / throwing a red carnation into the English Channel in remembrance of family member whose plane went down in the Channel during WWII.  This entire trip was everything I thought it would be and more! The island is one of the most charming, relaxing, and peaceful places I have ever been to.

Travel Notes

Accommodations
Duke of Richmond Hotel

Restaurants

The Pickled Pig 

Terrance Garden Cafe

Crabby Jacks 

Bella Luce Hotel (Gin Tasting / Dinner) 




Attractions
La Vallette Underground Military Museum 

The Little Chapel 


Transportation
We flew from Germany to Gatwick to Guernsey on EasyJet and Aurigney 

Itinerary- 5 days and 4 nights

• Day 1
• Depart Stuttgart in the afternoon and arrive in Gatwick 
• Hotel Check-in
• Dinner 
• Day 2
• Breakfast at hotel
• Airport to catch flight to Guernsey 
• Duke of Richmond Hotel Check-in 
• Explore Saint Peters Port 
• Lunch at Garden Terrace 
• Dinner at the Pickled Pig 
• Day 3 
• Breakfast at hotel 
• Aquarium 
• History Museum 
• Hike along the coastline 
• Lunch at beachside cafe 
• Dinner at Crabby Jacks 

• Day 4
• Breakfast at hotel 
• Explore island some more 
• Tour the little chapel 
• Gin Experience and dinner at Bella Luce 
• Day 5 
• Check out of hotel 
• Flight to Gatwick / Flight to Germany 

Catez, Slovenia

This was our final trip in Europe before packing up our household goods and moving back to America. I still can't believe we had the opportunity to travel so much in the last three years which had not only given us amazing memories but also shaped us and opened our eyes to new places, people, and intricate details of just a fraction of the world. I had high hopes that our last trip would be somewhere incredible to top off those three years but let me tell you, we were burnt out. We honestly had no desire to go anywhere else and were so focused on a smooth pack-out of our things and getting everything logistically ready to move back to America, I didn't have much more energy to plan an elaborate trip. Alex had one last work trip to Catez, Slovenia and would be spending three weeks there. He was staying at a nice hotel that had an indoor waterpark attached to it so we thought Brecken would absolutely love it. So that's that. The little guy and I would be flying solo into Zagreb, Croatia to meet Daddy and get a week break before the chaos of an overseas PCS move would be upon us.

Alex picked us up in his sporty Mercedes sedan rental car and we drove 25 minutes to where he had been staying for work, Hotel Terme. This was a clean hotel with an extremely dated interior. The lobby and restaurant of the hotel screamed 1970's but we found it to be neat, it was as if we were traveling in time! During the weekdays of our visit, Alex would leave early for work and Brecken and I would slow roll it to our buffet breakfast and either go to the waterpark or waste a few hours in the hotel room playing games and watching shows until Daddy was released from teaching his seminars in the early afternoon. When the three of us went to the waterpark together, it was probably one of the most fun times we've had as a family. Alex and I love waterslides.. LOVE them. These slides were super fast and after gaining some confidence, Brecken worked up enough courage to slide down alone. One time was all it took for him to be sold on the experience. Over and over again we went, getting faster with each run! It was hours of enjoyment and laughter. Other fun times from this trip was a night out in Ljubljana for Arabian food and a day trip to Samobor Croatia to walk around an easter market in the square. Slovenia and Croatia have been two of our favorite lesser traveled destinations in Europe. The countrysides are quiet and really lend a feeling of times past. It's very inexpensive to travel here and worth considering if you want a lesser traveled destination in Europe that fits a tighter budget.