Anyone for lobster?

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.

St Brelades Bay

We had a lovely fishy dinner last night at a place just around the corner from our hotel called Aromas. This morning we caught a bus to a village called St Brelades Bay. It’s a bit of a tourist trap so the bus was busy, but it’s a lovely spot.

There are some quieter corners.

We found a signpost pointing to a footpath over the headland, so we followed it uphill. On the top of the headland is a very nice network of paths leading in all directions. We navigated our way to a bus stop and 5 minutes later bus number 12A picked us up and took us back towards St Helier. We hopped off at a beachside crab shack called The Lookout.

We had a late lunch of crab sandwiches and walked the rest of the way back to our hotel. It’s been another blazing hot day, and it was a relief to get back to the luxury of an air conditioned room. Beers to follow, and tonight we have a reservation at a seafood restaurant called Quayside.

Jersey

Yesterday morning we drove up to Liverpool airport. Liverpool is a good airport. Parking is immediately opposite the terminal, check-in is done by an actual person rather than a recalcitrant machine, and the cafe is table service without having to resort to ordering with your phone. Nice views too.

Our flight south takes about 50 minutes. A taxi takes us to our hotel on the Esplanade in Saint Helier, Jersey’s capital.

We have a very nice room on the third floor, with splendid views of the bay and Elizabeth Castle from our balcony.

As night falls, the castle is illuminated.

There was World Cup football last night with Norway playing Brazil. Despite being very much the underdogs, Norway won the game. We have some Norwegian guests in the hotel, and needless to say they were delighted.

Of course England had a famous victory over Mexico overnight, but to our eternal shame we were too tired to stay up and watch.

This morning we had a nice breakfast and we went for a wander around Saint Helier. There’s a big marina, which is exactly the same as every other marina we’ve moored at back in our sailing days. Some things never change.

There are some nice gardens along the waterfront.

Despite a little sea fog this morning the sun has shone all day, and after grabbing some pastries for lunch we retreated back to the hotel for a couple of hours. We’ll pop out for ice creams later before choosing a restaurant for tonight’s dinner.

Sleap airfield

About 10 miles north of Shrewsbury is an airfield called Sleap. It was created by the RAF in 1943 and used for training bomber crews. The RAF left in 1966 and now the airfield is the home of Shropshire Aero Club.

It’s busy today, and a group of brave souls are trying wingwalking.

There’s a nice garden for watching the action.

One thing that you can rely on at civilian airfields like this is a good cafe. We had a very nice bacon bap for lunch. There’s an arrivals board so we can keep tabs on what’s going on.

Another intrepid wingwalker is ready to go. It’s really popular.

A nice couple of hours out at Shropshire’s only civilian airfield.

Busy day

Our old mate Rob messaged yesterday to say he’s in Shrewsbury for the weekend, and would we like to meet up for a beer. Of course we would! Here we are at the Admiral Benbow with Rob and his lovely partner Elaine. The afternoon flew by while we enjoyed our drinks in the garden.

We spent a happy few hours catching up and reminiscing, before we headed home to get ready for our next event. We’re off to the Abbey again, as the Rock Choir are playing a concert. The choir are incredibly (and deservedly) popular, and the place was packed.

We enjoyed a super concert. Although the photo looks quite formal, the concert was great fun. Sarah was singing, and afterwards we headed to a nearby pub for drinks.

Shrewsbury Abbey

Our local abbey opened for business way back in 1083. It had a bit of a wobble during the Reformation (thanks Henry) but it’s still standing and functioning as a parish church today. The abbey is situated on Abbey Foregate, on the eastern side of the town.

The custodians of the abbey are keen to keep it alive as a destination for leisure as well as a place of worship. As such, regular concerts take place here, and tonight we’re in for a real treat.

The abbey has been modernised inside, and of course there’s a bar. The concert was really good.

On the way home we stopped at a couple of pubs and followed England’s victory against Croatia in the World Cup. Great night out.

Basel bars

There’s a bar in the old town called L’Unique, but it’s better known as The House Of Rock. It’s full of memorabilia of rock & roll legends from down the years, sort of like a Hard Rock Cafe, but much, much better. Needless to say, the music was excellent. A few pictures:

They serve nice food too – we had wild boar burgers.

Huge life-size mural on the wall outside.

On the way back to the hotel we pass a bar called Rio. We had to go in.

Basel has an endless supply of really nice bars. It’s a pity we couldn’t visit them all.

We have a flight to Manchester later this evening, so hopefully we’ll be back in Shrewsbury by midnight.