The Icelandic volcano almost canceled this trip as ash filled the airspace over the UK and Europe causing flights to be canceled and airports to be closed. So dire were the predictions that on Wednesday we began to make alternative plans for the next two weeks. But the day before our scheduled departure, the airspace was reopened and we were on our way via Heathrow to Edinburgh, Scotland.

EDINBURGH

We had reserved a room at the Grassmarket Hotel in the Grassmarket next to the Royal Mile (1). The Grassmarket used to be what its name implies: the place where farmers bought and sold grains and feed. It had also served as the site for executions. Now it is lined with pubs which, at first, gave us some hesitation. However, the pubs are well monitored and outside areas are closed early, so, despite the weekend, noise was no problem.

After a light lunch in a local pub, we walked the wonderful streets of the 'old city' and visited St. Giles' Cathedral or the High Kirk of Edinburgh. Marking the midpoint of the Royal Mile with its distinctive traditional Scottish crown steeple, this Church of Scotland has been one of Edinburgh's religious focal points for approximately 900 years and is regarded as the mother church of Presbyterianism.

Soon, we knew we were in Scotland when the weather changed and it began to rain. So we headed underground (literally) and toured Mary King's Close,
a warren of hidden ‘closes’ where real people lived, worked and died in old Edinburgh. (2)

Tired and without a dinner reservation, we settled for another pub meal (of Haggis) and an early bed.

Saturday was sunny and warmer so we elected to take a “free three hour walking tour” of the old city offered by SANDEMANs. This shrewd marketing approach draws large crowds and pretty much guarantees that the guides, who work on commission (i.e. tips), work hard to impress.(3) With a very dramatic guided named Mark, who was working on his Ph.D. in religion & culture, we visited and learned about Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Mile, the Mercat Cross (the central meeting place where Royal proclamations and other official announcements were read), Greyfriars Kirkyard (cemetery) and Greyfriars Bobby and William Wallace and the Stone of Destiny, amongst many other things. The ‘stone’ was stolen by Ian Hamilton in 1950 which made for a good story.

We had made reservations at Maison Bleue,(2) a small restaurant nearby, and enjoyed a relaxed meal of Calamari and Duck Paysanne along with a bottle of Chateau Musar, a favourite Lebanese red wine.

Awakening Sunday to sounds of Scottish rain, we were happy to know that we were flying on FlyBe airlines to St. Helier, the capital of Jersey.

After our delightful time in Guernsey last fall, we thought that we should broaden out and try another Channel Island. But...

Jersey is not Guernsey!!

JERSEY

What is missing is the beautiful harbour, the sense of sophistication and style, the quaintness of the streets, the ancient with the tasteful modern– practically everything!

For instance, while St. Peter Port has a lovely harbour viewed from the town or the water.

St Helier's fathers have decided that the harbour is a good site for a fitness centre, a multiplex theatre and condominiums that look like low income housing.

Our hotel, The Stafford, was very adequate, very reasonable and well situated in town but there was little to do in town. So quiet and disappointing was our first impression of St. Helier that we made plans for a one day side trip by ferry across to Saint-Malo for the next day.

Saint-Malo is a port city in Brittany in north-western France on the English Channel an hour away from Jersey by Condor Ferry. While the modern part of the city is a busy port, the old walled town is a tourist mecca of restaurants and shops surrounded by beaches and guarded by island fortresses.

There we enjoyed walking the town (twice because it is rather small) and a leisurely and sunny lunch of wine and local mussels in an outdoor restaurant before catching the last ferry of the day back to St. Helier.

With nothing of interest to do in St. Helier the next day (The Tourism Office practically confirmed our impression), we caught a local bus to Durrell Wildlife Sanctuary. "Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is an international charity working globally to save species from extinction by working in some of the most threatened environments on the planet, focusing on the rarest species and the most fragile habitats."(4)

Headquartered on 32 acres in Jersey (formerly Jersey Zoo), Durrell shelters and breeds species threatened by extinction. Some of our favourites were the lemurs, orangatangs, meerkats.

We then bussed to Gorey, a village in the parishes of St. Martin and Grouville on the east coast of Jersey, one of the three main harbours of the island and with the castle of Mont Orgueil constructed to protect the island against the French. Dinner of Jersey Plaice and Vegetarian Canneloni was had at Little Italy (4) close to the hotel.

So dreary was St. Helier (you get the point?) and so pleasant in contrast was Durrell that we chose to return there the next day before being rescued by the ferry to Guernsey in the afternoon.

GUERNSEY

St Peter Port was as we had remembered and the first evening we tried out one of the resturants that we had not been to last fall - Da Nello on La Pollet (5) With fresh lobster and linguine and grilled prawns, we were not disappointed.

The mornings of the next two days were spent at The Priaulx Library researching past family connections on the island. After a pub lunch on Thursday at the Ship And Crown overlooking the harbour, we refamiliarized ourselves with St Peter Port, did some shopping and explored areas of town where my ancestors had lived and worked. (Many addresses were either incomplete or have disappeared in the intervening years.)

Friday afternoon we had lunch at La Nautique - my favourite calf's liver and black pudding - and then took the #3 bus to Cobo Bay on the west side of the island for a walk on the beach and coffee.

Then the Liberation Concert on Friday evening at Beau Sejour. Each year, Guernsey remembers the occupation of the island by the Nazis during WWII and its liberation

Just imagine a gorgeous young blonde woman with an exquisite porcelain face suitable to a Chanel perfume advertisement and a figure inviting high fashion. Then imagine a soprano voice like Maria Callas’. Put them together and you get …

Katherine Jenkins (6) a welsh mezzo-soprano, classical-popular singer of arias, popular songs, hymns and light classical music.

Saturday started off cool and cloudy so we took the local bus to visit The Little Church in St Andrews Parish, (6A) which is assumed to be the smallest chapel in the world.

Then we wandered the country lanes and ruettes en route to the German Occupation Museum at Les Houards in Forest Parish. Tucked behind the parish church, this smallish museum contains a fascinating and extensive collection of WWII relics covering the five years of German occupation from 1940 to 1945. For instance, the hardship of the occupation years is brought to life in a diorama of a farmhouse kitchen. “Meals were made from very meager rations. The farmers wife cautiously keeps watch while her husband listens to the BBC on his illegal crystal set. The family pets have been bought inside to prevent them from being stolen and eaten by the hungry occupying forces. '(6B)

Sunday was again a cool and grey day when we took off to Morning Service at St. Martin's Parish church where my great, great grandfather William Loney is buried and where my grandfather was baptised in 1880.

The skies cleared in the afternoon so we took the ferry over to Herm, the smallest of the Channel Islands which was purchased from the Crown after the second world war by the States of Guernsey in order that its pleasant atmosphere could be enjoyed by Guernsey residents. The States now rent the island to a tenant, who is expected to maintain the island for the benefit of its visitors.

Getting back to SPP by 6 pm we were in time for Chorale Evensong at the Town church, where my great, great great grandparents had been married in 1820. Although the congregation was small the service was wonderfully 'high church' with an excellent, strong choir.

The evening ended with a lovely dinner of Lobster Rissoto and Penne Vodka at Mora on the Esplanade. (7)

It turned out that Monday was a bank holiday (May Day) and everything was closed. Tana had seen an advertisement for an Antique Fair just outside of SPP and we trundled off only to find that there aren't many antiques (at least not for sale) on the island. Although sunny, Tana found the weather too cool and decided to stay in and read Les Miserable, her challenge for the holiday as it was written by Victor Hugo during his exile in Guernsey.

George took off to the Monday’s big annual race meeting at L’Ancresse at the northern tip of the isle. A hit with locals and racing fans, the course is spread out around a golf course with the 4000 or so onlookers positioned on a knoll overlooking the track.

There was little chance of getting a bus back to the hotel after the races so I decided to walk from Vale "into town," half of the length of the island. An hour later I was home having come to realize how small this island state really is. I could have walked the whole length in two hours and the width in another hour and a half.

Next morning we caught the bus to the airport for our 10 am flight to Gatwick and on to Oxford by bus - not the best of planning as we could have flown to Southhampton easier and been much closer to Oxford. Well, next time.

OXFORD

Oxford is always Oxford! We stayed at Heather House on Iffley Road, ate lunch at the King's Arms, browsed through Blackwell's and went to evensong at Christ Church College.

The next day we met our friend, Michael Piret, the Dean of Divinity at Magdalen College for lunch at the Turf, went to the newly remodeled Ashmolean Museum and then to our favourite - Chorale Evensong at Magdalen. Dinner was at Fishers Restaurant on St Clements near the Magdalen bridge, 'voted one of the Top 10 fish restaurants in the UK by the Times.’ It was a new find for us and a great restaurant with grilled sardines followed by smoked haddock and prawns over sticky rice. (8)