Off to Channel Islands

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We started our latest adventure by flying from San Francisco to London. Once we arrived at the airport we headed to the Central Bus Station and bought a ticket to Southampton from National Express. We bought a ticket using our credit card and then waited an hour for the next bus. When we arrived in Southampton we walked to our hotel the Southampton West Quay. After checking in we walked around the town and had a beer at a 800 year old pub. The manager was very nice and we bought him a beer which is the equivalent of giving a tip. The next morning it was raining so we took a cab to our ship which was very near by. The ship is the Celebrity Eclipse, which is a beautiful ship. Our ship arrived at St Peter Port in the Channel Islands the next morning. We had booked an excursion to Shark Island. We took a tender to St Peter Port then took a boat to the island of Shark. Shark Island has no cars only tractors. We rented bicycles and spent the day riding around the island. The island is beautiful with lots of flowers, green plants and high cliffs. All the roads are dirt and there were very few other bikes. The island is three miles long and a mile and a half wide. Many people from our ship took horse drawn carriage rides. On our ride we stopped and visited La Seigneurie Gardens. The gardens surround the home of Sark's Seigneur, which is the home of the Lord and Lady of Sark Island. The island is a favorite place for star gazing. The island keeps light pollution to a minimum by having no street lights and no outside lights on buildings. The island has been officially designated as the World's First Dark Sy Island. The island would make a nice quiet romantic place to stay for a weekend, they have hotels and campgrounds.

After our bike ride we returned to Guernsey Island by boat. Guernsey has cobbled streets with lots of shops and restaurants all within walking distance of the harbour. We did some window shopping and bought a hot chocolate before returning to the ship. Our next stop is Ireland.

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