Sark

 Hello Everybody, 

Today we got off the island and country hopped to Sark, which if you can believe is even smaller than Jersey at 3.5 by 1.5 miles and a population of 500. These were our smiling faces before we crossed the English Channel. 

These are our slightly green forced smiles part of the way through crossing the English Channel. Jes shared that back in the day if you were a criminal who sought sanctuary in one of the parish churches you were granted respite for 8 days. On the 9th day you could either face your conviction and serve time or you could walk the perquage out to sea. If you had a friend with a boat you could safely make it to France, if you didn't you could try to swim and probably die. After our experience on the roller coaster of a ferry ride that had me feeling quite green and miserable until we were allowed to go upstairs for fresh air, I can confidently say I'd either swim to my death or spend an eternity in jail before I'd do that again!

Once we made it to Sark we got took one of the only three methods of transportation on the island, a toaster rack tractor! John Deere to be exact, which had me giggle. 

We decided to walk around the island so we can see everything at a slower pace and stop for lots of pictures along the way!

 

The entire island is so green! I loved all the trees and the charm of Sark, specially when we passed the horse drawn carriages! 

We then crossed over the bridge to little Sark and walked almost half of the peninsula. The entire concrete path and railing was made by German prisoners of war in Sark. I learned that  Dame Sybil Hathaway decided to remain on the island during Nazi occupation and the rest of Sark followed her lead. She basically received the Germans politely, negotiated with them for favorable treatment of the islanders, including enforcing proper etiquette like having Nazis bow and kiss her hand before conducting business. Life was still hard under occupation but because of Dame Sybil their lives were better than those of the other channel islands. Talk about a force of nature! I can't imagine the strength to greet your occupiers and invite them in for a cup of tea. 

The views were incredible!

We then stopped for a well deserved lunch before ambling along the other side of the island. 

I found my favorite flower on the island! This woman had opened her backyard to strangers to walk through and she had the most beautiful garden with an entire bush of these blooms. 

Before we knew it our time was up and we had to catch the ferry home. It was a beautiful day exploring with friends! It also put the size of Jersey into another whole perspective, compared to Sark, Jersey is like an entire metropolis! 

Until tomorrow friends! 

Lots of love, 

Carolyn