Yesterday evening we had a stroll down to the marina. Our destination, the fish canteen.
The fishing boats are moored just opposite.
The meal didn’t disappoint. A tremendous platter of fish and shellfish.
This morning the weather was dry but cloudy. There’s a lighthouse on the cliffs high above the bay. Time for a walk. It was a long climb, but we got to the top.
Lovely views of the bay, the village and the mountains.
Tomorrow we’ll be heading home to Shrewsbury. Awaiting us is a diary full of visiting tradesmen, but at least we’ll have a fully functional kitchen by the end of the week.
We’ve enjoyed watching the little trains pass beneath our balcony, so we thought we’d take a ride on one today. The railway has been here since 1912. We’re going a short distance inland to the town of Soller. The line continues from there to the capital, Palma. The trains are always busy.
A conductor comes along each carriage collecting fares. A single to Soller is 10 Euros. The journey takes us past orchards of orange and lemon trees, and olive groves. 25 minutes later we arrive in Soller.
Although there are lots of tourists, Soller remains a proper town with a good selection of shops. We grabbed a pastry from one of the many bakeries. The town square is impressive with very nice old church and some grand municipal buildings.
We caught the train back down to the port after lunch. There’s a fisherman’s canteen down by the harbour which looks like a good bet for a fishy dinner, so we’ll give it a try later.
The mountains above Port de Soller have some challenging roads. Many of these have been rendered redundant by tunnels, but they are still very popular with Lycra-clad cyclists – we see dozens of them every day heading up into the hills. This weekend however the mountain roads are reserved for racing cars. All sorts of different cars take part, everything from rally cars to single-seaters. After the race some of the cars were on display at the prize-giving ceremony in the village square.
Every half hour or so a train meanders along the promenade. It’s very popular, and it takes passengers from here up to the inland town of Soller a few miles away.
A short climb above the marina takes us to the village maritime museum. There’s quite a lot to see, and they even have a mini-cinema with a historic film.
We had thunderstorms in the afternoon yesterday, but today normal service was resumed with hot and sunny weather.
We’ve had a busy September with our renovations in Shrewsbury. The electricians are finished, the new floor is down in the hallway and our new washer-drier is installed. Next week we have a new cooker hood and hob to be installed, along with a replacement fridge-freezer which hopefully won’t freeze our salad like the existing one does. We have a gap in our calendar of just a few days, so yesterday we boarded a plane at Birmingham and flew down to Mallorca.
Our hotel is in Port de Sóller, and we’re right on the seafront.
It’s a nice little village on the north-west coast. We got here quite early yesterday thanks to a speedy taxi driver finding a way around the traffic jams, so we had plenty of time to stock up on life’s little essentials (as much wine as we could carry) before we headed out for dinner.
Our paella was lovely, and we made our way back to the hotel After dark the view of the harbour is still spectacular.
Yesterday evening we caught the bus (15) to the nearly village of St Aubin. It’s a classic seaside resort, with a wide sandy beach and a harbour surrounded by pubs and restaurants. We have a reservation at the Anchor bar & grill overlooking it all.
The food was the best we’ve had since we arrived on Jersey, and lobsters were consumed once again.
This morning we walked into St Helier. Our first port of call was the museum, where we watched a very informative film about the history of the island. In the garden is a statue of Cupid riding a Centaur.
This is actually a copy of a Greco-Romane marble which was once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte. The original is currently in the Louvre in Paris.
Just across the road from the museum is Liberation Square, named to commemorate the liberation of the island from the Nazis in 1945.
The plaque reads: AT THIS PLACE ON 9TH MAY 1945, ADVANCED PARTIES FROM THE ROYAL NAVY AND THE BRITISH ARMY LIBERATED JERSEY FROM NEARLY FIVE YEARS OF OCCUPATION BY THE GERMAN FORCES. THEY AND THE RETURN OF THE BRITISH FLAG WERE GREETED BY THOUSANDS OF ISLANDERS WITH RELIEF, JOY AND GRATITUDE. ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT DAY, THE STATES AND PEOPLE OF JERSEY DEDICATE THIS LIBERATION SQUARE TO COMMEMORATE THAT HISTORIC EVENT AND ALL THOSE WHOSE EFFORTS AND SACRIFICES MADE THIS POSSIBLE.
In nearby Royal Square, a slightly weird statue of King George II overlooks the French market. I’m not sure why he’s dressed as a Roman Emperor, but hey ho.
The market itself is good, with lots of delicious smells from food stalls.
A short walk brings us to the Maritime museum. Val is peeking out from behind a propeller salvaged from the wreck of the mail steamer Caesarea II, which struck rocks here in 1923.
The tower behind the propeller is St Helier’s war memorial. Another St Helier curiosity is the steam clock ‘Ariadne’.
This steam powered clock on the waterfront was built to commemorate the Ariadne, one of the first steamships to sail between England and the Channel Islands. Every hour the paddle wheels turn and steam is emitted from the funnels.
And that’s just about it for our holiday to Jersey. Tomorrow we’ll be back in Shropshire to deal with electricians, plumbers, window blind fitters and floor tilers. Deep joy.
This morning we caught the number 28 bus to Jersey War Tunnels.
The Channel Islands were the only Sovereign territory to be occupied by the enemy during the second world war. Once it became obvious that the German invasion of France was inevitable, a decision was taken to demilitarise the islands. This meant that they would not be defended in the event of attack. Thousands of residents chose to evacuate to England.
Many more chose to stay however. England was being bombed after all, and Jersey was not.
The Germans set about turning the islands into a fortress, determined that they should not be retaken by the British. Part of this plan was the construction of a large underground hospital, and the remains of this is what we’re visiting today. I won’t reproduce the history of the occupation – Jersey Heritage has a good article here. Here are some pictures.
The tunnels are vast – we walked about a kilometre. It’s also very cold down there – between 5 and 10 degrees. There’s a nice visitor centre and a cafe where we had lunch.
Super dinner at the Quayside restaurant last night, lobster followed by crepes suzettes.
The sea was like a millpond.
Jersey has an excellent bus service. The fare is £2.50 no matter how long or short your journey, and even the smallest villages have a bus stop. This morning we caught number 7 to a place on the north coast called the Devil’s Hole. The hole itself is a sea cave, and in stormy weather with a high tide seawater shoots upwards towards the cliff top. Conditions today are completely calm, but we’re not here to see the Hole itself. Rather, it looks like a good starting point for a cliff walk along the rugged north coast.
It’s very warm again, but there’s a breeze blowing off the sea so we make good progress. Eventually our destination is in sight.
This is a tiny fishing village called Grève de Lecq. It’s very picturesque.
Next to the beach is a seafood shack. Time for lunch – we shared a lobster roll.
The beach is lovely.
After lunch and a wander around the number 9 bus picked us up and took us back to St Helier. Jersey is only 9 miles by 5, so it doesn’t take long to get anywhere.
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