Greetings from Guernsey

We left the Faroes and flew to Copenhagen for two nights.  We rode the Hop on-hop off bus, which always gives a good overview, plus a canal ride.  We saw the Little Mermaid statue and other sights.  There are bicycles everywhere.   Car driving is discouraged.  Anne has posted pictures.  Stunning new buildings next to lovely old ones.  Then we flew to London Gatwick, then to Guernsey.

Anne and I have been enjoying sightseeing here in the Channel Islands.  We arrived Friday, the day after a commemoration of the 78th anniversary of the Battle of Britain which saved Britain from Nazi invasion in 1940.  There was a small parade and then a church service on Sunday which we attended.  You can read more if you google The Battle of Britain.  All countries that have a British connection seem to have strong patriotism and much respect for the heroism of their ancestors.  They also know their history as well as the world's.  We really need to do a better job in American schools.  On Saturday we took a boat ride to Sark Island.  It had Nazi visitors for 5 years, but the Dame of Sark was a formidable person who dealt with the Germans.   The Nazis did occupy Guernsey.  We took a most excellent tour with Mike Maugey of Guernsey Taxitours.  Mike's French family has been here for more than 200 years, but there has been life here since 4500 BC.  He shared so much with us.  He told us the Nazis brought thousands of Russian, Polish, etc., slaves to build their fortifications which still number more than 800 on this small island.  The islanders were not mistreated as long as they obeyed curfew and the laws.  The Nazis who were assigned here knew they were lucky to spend the war years here and not on the eastern front.  We had already seen much of St. Peter Port and were very surprised when we toured rest of the island seeing flat, sandy beaches and big cliffs.  We went inside a burial chamber called Dehus Dolmen from 1500 BC.  Mike told us that the opening is positioned to see the sun of the solstice through the doorway.  Pictures from Guernsey and Sark Islands will be in the next blog post.

We fly to Gatwick tomorrow and on to Isle of Man.  Be sure to look at the blog.   We hope everyone is doing well.   I think we got a bit of sunburn while we've been here.  Gorgeous weather.

A & M

from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy Tablet