St Peter Port

• Two short hops on Flybe Airlines took us from rainy Leeds-Bradford Airport to the sun-bathed “Bailiwick of Guernsey.” Such a good omen for the second half of our trip! However, weather doesn’t seem to follow omens, even good ones --- it remained chilly and unpredictable our entire stay.
  
  At our noon arrival, the island’s airport, clean and modern, was fairly quiet and a pleasing lunchtime setting. A taxi then carried us to our new accommodations on a bluff overlooking St. Peter Port harbor. What a nice view! Too bad it was only through the kitchen window, right over the sink:
  

  

  About 200 steps separated us from the main street below, the price to pay for a harbor view. Castle Cornet is prominently at center with the islands of Sark and Herm visible on the horizon (right and far left, respectively).
  
  Later, on walk-about, we examined more closely some of St. Peter Port’s features. The church steeple, for example, in the photo above, houses an interesting substitute for a bell tower --- no doubt, at substantial savings:
  

  

  
  Caught unprepared by this sign, we pondered whether to filter or not to filter ...
  

  

  and we’re still thinking about it. The sign means, we assume, “take turns yielding” but since we were not driving here, we could remain safely unfiltered.
  
  Outside town, even main roads are commonly quite narrow and carry considerable traffic. We were amazed that busses will drive AT NORMAL SPEED with their left wheels on the sidewalk when no pedestrians are present. Although curbs are only a few inches high, there is remarkably little lurching as the bus goes up onto the curb or drops down from it. Perhaps, special tires account for such stability.
  
  A short walk from our apartment, Candie Gardens were once part of a private estate. Established in 1894, the gardens have views over rooftops to neighboring islands --- even better than through our kitchen window:

  

  
  Near the gardens, the Victoria Tower confirms the importance of Queen Victoria’s visit in 1846 to the Channel Islanders, though she stayed only a few hours:
  

  

  

  
  Here and there, St. Peter Port contains some odd bits of architecture --- with identification not always obvious. Witness these three buildings:
  

  

  

  

  The second structure above is an old granary now occupied by businesses. The third building is likely a private residence.
  
  Eventually, we ambled out to explore Castle Cornet, passing scenes familiar to mariners everywhere. I really took a fancy to the little boat in the right foreground,
  

  

  thinking it the cutest vessel ever designed for boating --- a 3D cartoon “in the flesh” if I ever saw one. Wouldn’t it make the perfect accessory for my nautical cap?
  

  

  
  Other behemoths nearby were not nearly as cute. However, they reminded us that easy travel was readily available to other islands or to France or to England:
  

  

  
  A wider view of St. Peter Port is a benefit of climbing the Castle ramparts:
  

  

  There’s a reason --- explained later --- why the upper part of the Castle appears missing:
  

  

  The Castle contains several museums on different topics --- all are informative; some are truly outstanding. Below are museum displays depicting three 18th century officers huddled around a table and the firing of a fort cannon:
  

  

  

  A model of the Castle in its heyday displayed significant features missing today:
  

  

  While Castle Cornet has a long and complex history, one event in its life left an indelible impression. In 1672, a tremendous explosion of gun powder, ignited by an electrical storm, changed the shape of the Castle forever. The explosion destroyed the Castle’s Tower, Chapel and Governor’s residence and killed seven people. It’s not been the same since.
  
  By the way, just in case any reader wonders what the “Bailiwick of Guernsey” is, the following definition from Wikipedia is provided. Simply put, a bailiwick is a territory governed by a bailiff. The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a territory belonging to the British Crown in the Channel Islands that includes the islands of Guernsey, Alderney, Herm, Sark and a few smaller, lesser-known islands. The laws for the Bailiwick are made by parliament which is called the States of Guernsey and the head of parliament is called the Bailiff of Guernsey. This writer hopes there are no further questions.