C6 - Sunday, June 12, 1983 - North Shore News

GOOD FOOD, EUROPEAN ATMOSPHERE

SO, WE HAD ARRIVED in London — but not
for long. ['d got this pressing urge to visit the

Channel Islands -
rangements to get there.
Before 1 left Canada, I

pestered every English
friend I had with, “Have you

ever been to Jersey? Or
Guernsey? Or Sark?” 1
struck out

Corinne Sharp, at the

British Travel Authority in
Vancouver planned the visit
for me. It worked out
beautifully except the ferry
to Sark doesn’t run on
Sunday. Some day I'll visit
Sark, but not this year.
Instructions were simple
— take a train to Portsmouth
from Waterloo  Satation.
Great! We'd have the best
part of a day to visit the
Mary Rose. Haven't you
been following the raising of
the sunken ship? The Mary
Rose was the flagship of the
fleet back in the time of

Henry the Eighth and
foundered before his eyes in
the Solent (Portsmouth

Harbour). With great care,
luck and skill, the ship was
raised last year. Almost
intact!

As we grabbed a cab in
Portsmouth I was excited
about visiting the famous
ship as well as Nelson's flag-
ship, Victory, both in the
harbour. “Sorry,” said our
driver. “There's been bomb
threats and the harbour is
closed to everyone since last

Tuesday.”

With umerring timing,
we'd picked the anniversary
of the death of hunger

striker Bobby Sands to make
a visit to England = and
although we didn't hear of
any bombs detonated the
fear was all around.

Portsmouth isn’t my idea
of a “must see” stop for
tourists. Since we had hours
to wait before our sailing on
Sea-Link to Jersey, the cab
driver took us to the Queen's
Hotel where we had a
sandwich and left our over
night bags. We visited
Southend Castle where a few
of the artifacts of the Mary
Rose are housed. The
original part of the castle
dates to Henry VI11. added
to by Charles [and recently
polished up to resemble
something Watt Disney
might have created.

It gave me hetle of a sense
of history — bare. sterile,
windy and swarming with
groups of school Kids loosely
supervised The artifacts
from the Mary Rose include
some leather jyerkins, shoes,

and made

immediate ar-

Travel -
wise

y Barbara
McCreadie

navigational instruments and
medical supplies. Far too
little to warrant a special
trip.

Food in the Queen’s bar is
wretched. Two things to
notice at the hotel (again,
not worth a special visit)

— the collection of antique
thunder mugs used as
planters in the bar.

— the ladies’ “retiring room”
upstairs. Built to ac-
commodate ae gaggle of
ladies in hoopskirts.

Catching the Sea-Link
ferry can be a marathon for
tourists. It boards, for an
overnight sailing, about 9 45
p-m. Some cabins = are
available for seven pounds a
person but are reserved
months in advance

We didn't have a reser
vation but I had my mind set
on oa cabin
managed to get ourselves
first in line at the dock by

Thus. we

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arriving at 7:30. When we
checked through, I left Mom
to grapple with two small
overnight bags and I took off
at a dead run for the ship.
The purser's desk is just
inside to the right and I got
on the top of the list for any
cabin that became available.
I lucked out and we got a
small cabin for two with sink
and toilet for $28. After I got
a look.at the lounge chairs
(they don't “lounge™!), 1
congratulated myself on
money well spent.

We dropped in to the duty
free bar — cheap drinks —
and talked with some fellow

passengers. Most of these
were on overnight ex-
cursions available for 25

pounds out of many English
tour offices. These include a
free breakfast, a tour of
Guernsey and two litres of
wine and one of spirits. “The
cost of the liquor alone pays
for the trip” I was told. Two

companies that’ were
mentioned:

United Bus Lines in
Alsbury

Selsea Travel in Selsea,
West Sussex (only 21
pounds). These excursions

are programmed every few
months and attract mostly
seniors. Bus transport to and
from the dock.

Next morning the ship
arrived in Guernsey at 6
a.m. and Jersey (our first

stop) at eight. We made a
mistake by having breakfast
aboard — the food on both
islands is excellent and
cheap. There is a_ heavy
French influence’ which

reflects on the food.

We never had a poor meal
on either island and the costs
low. 1
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been to Sark?

breakfast aboard Sea-Link
except to compliment the
chef on the high quality
cardboard he grinds for
sausages.

As for the two Channel
Islands we visited, in a word
“delightful”. You think
Hawaii has beaches? You've
got to see these. Being duty-
free ports the costs are much
lower than the British Isles
and as I said before, no poor
meals. More about the
islands next column but start
considering them for a week
or two. The weather is
generally better than Britain
but you must remember that
they have a Vancouver
climate and you can never
tell.

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