The Real Jersey Shore!

Last weekend was nothing short of amazing! We took advantage of the extra Bank Holiday on Monday and headed to Jersey, a channel island. 

We started the journey early Saturday morning.. and by early, I mean early. We saw our first sun rise! To keep things interesting... we took along Baldy to help narrate our story. Baldy had his first cup of joe at the airport while waiting for our plane to arrive. It sure was cold and rainy, so it made the latte even tastier!

We arrived in Jersey in perfect time to do some sightseeing while our hotel room was being prepped. First stop on the list was Elizabeth Castle. It was super windy... so all we got to do was view it. Normally you would take a duck boat out to the castle when the tide was high but it wasn't operating because of the wind. It didn't stop us from snagging a few good pic's though...

Baldy got the first shot!                       

A view of the bay.. the first is looking toward the castle, the second is the other side of the bay. 

Next stop was the Jersey War Tunnels. The war tunnels were built/dug during WWII when the germans occupied Jersey. The museum was really good. It took us through the pre-occupation era all way through the present day. I had no idea how much of an impact the German's made on the island or that Jersey was even a part of WWII. Turns out it was the highest occupation during the war with 1 Germain to 4 residents, while France was 1 to 100 frenchman. Nor did I realize that the people of Jersey were given 24 hours notice to either stay or leave before the German's came. They had a powerful story to tell and we certainly left more enlightened to the history of the island. 

On the bus ride to the tunnels....

         Before we entered the tunnels...

Baldy enjoying the view after our 

wander through the museum. 

 Later we took a stroll around the harbor... 

Jeff found an interesting pole that made for some entertaining photos :)

 We called it an early evening after a relaxing dinner and drinks. 

                                Out hotel....

Sunday was a big day and probably my favorite of the trip! We took a tour around the whole island. The driver started out heading West to East with stops along the way. 

Our first stop was St. Brelande's Bay..

The seaside cliffs were breathtaking!

Then we moved up the coast and stopped to have a scone and latte in this cute little bay...

Stunning views!!!                              

As made our way further up the coast it was wide beaches and more scenery..

Baldy loved the views too!

Nothing but a little pond between us and 

America.. can you see it? haha           

In addition to the tunnels, the German's also made many bunkers along the coast in the event of attack. This was one of the bunkers. It was the perfect photo moment under the Jersey Flag too...

After all that sight seeing, it was time for some grub! We stopped at old water mill that was turned into a restaurant a few years ago. 

Can you see the water wheel behind the bar?

Baldy was hungry too! 

The last stop of the trip was on the east coast near Catherine Breakpoint. The spot was known for their sandcastles, ice cream and donuts. All were great :)

Totally impressed with the sand castles by this man!

Can you see the guy peeing behind the bus? 

The breaking point!

We drove past the Mont Orgueil Castle that Sir Walter Raleigh saved for the Queen! We didn't have time to visit so we went back on Monday to walk around. It was a huge castle, so I will let the pictures tell the story.

A view from the bottom...

climbing our way up

 

Thankfully the hawk had just eaten, so he didn't think Baldy was lunch!

Any my favorites from the weekend, that sum up the whole trip! 

We love the panorama shots :) 

Overall it was a great weekend! It was back to work Tuesday morning and boy was it a busy week. So we took it pretty easy this past weekend. It was lots of errands and housework. For a break saturday afternoon we went for a stroll around Angel in the north part of London. It apparently has the highest ratio of pubs and restaurants to residents in London. It did not disappoint and we had gorgeous weather to fully appreciate it. Now it is off to bed and get ready for the week ahead :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day Weekend!

~Cheers!

Feeling Blessed!

It has been an exciting 2 weeks!!! I had the opportunity to see Seaside Brighton for training with work and Jeff was able to visit on the weekend. We couldn't have asked for better weather at the beach... it was sunshine and breezy the whole week :) 

I travelled down on Monday. They had a nice laid back day with update/conference planned and a fancy dinner to follow. It was great to meet more people from other areas of the firm and offices. I took classes during the day and relaxed in the evenings the rest of the week. Thursday they had events and activities planned for everyone. I had so much fun on the segway, archery station, clay disk shooting and golf! 

A view of my hotel at night! 

I was lucky enough to have a room looking over the water... 

 A few mates I am working with right now.. Maurice and Andy

A few wonderful ladies I had the pleasure of meeting last week! Mas and another manager from our group

Needless to say, it was a great week and it was topped off when Jeff came down Friday evening. We started out the weekend with some classic fish and chips by the sea side. Saturday we set out to explore the 'Pleasure Palace' of King George IV. The exterior exhibits Indian influences and the interior has Chinese influences.  The tour was pretty cool because you listened to an audio player and could go at your own pace. I found it very interesting that many of the original pieces are now in Buckingham Palace and/or Windsor Castle. Another fun fact I found out is that the King became so obese he built a covered walk way to visit his grand stables under the doom without anyone knowing and that his bedroom was moved from the 2nd floor to ground level. The 'pleasure palace' because of the exotically beautiful buildings... 

Here are two regular pictures and then one panoramic view

We then ventured over to the Brighton Pier for some fun and games! They have roller coasters at the end of the pier and then carnival type games inside. 

Brighton Pier during the day

Brighton Pier at Night

Afterwards we got to relax by the pebble beach with a few cocktails and live music. The scene during the day at Brighton is very laid back and relaxing, it reminded us a lot of Wilmington! 

Later in the evening, we ventured over to the local casino :) They had 2 quid blackjack tables.. so it was hard resist! 

Sunday we ventured back to London and had a relaxing afternoon. It was hard to go back to work after such a fantastic weekend. Nonetheless, the week flew by and the weekend quickly snuck up on us again. We had a great date night on Friday at an Italian restaurant in Covent Garden. I have to say, this may have been the best meal I have had since being in London. The fresh, homemade pasta was amazing! 

Saturday we went to the World Club 7's 2013 Rugby tournament. Each team had 7 players on the field and they played for 2 seven minute periods. There were 8 teams and it was played in a tournament style starting at 11:30 am. Not only were the games interesting... but it was great people watching too! We say several banana's, a superman, spiderman, batman, ghostbuster, Marvick and Goose air pilots, Mario supercart, and a man dressed up as Kate with Price George. 

Here is a cool statue outside the Twinkerman Studium..

A view from our seats!

During the week we made some progress on decorating the flat... 

And I knew it was only a matter of time before this arrived! haha We are now the proud owners of another flat screen tv :) We picked it up on Saturday after the rugby game and have been enjoying a relaxing weekend of movies.

Last but not least... big thank you to my Mum for my package!!!! It is the little things that seem to mean so much. I love being able to call you and you make me feel better almost instantly! Love you mum!

Overall it has been a truly amazing 2 weeks and it marks our 2 month anniversary in London! Jeffrey, I love you more and more everyday and I feel amazingly blessed to here with you! Next weekend it is off to Jersey, a Channel Island, and I couldn't be more excited.