Old Jersey
We spent the Thanksgiving weekend on the island of Jersey (namesake of New Jersey) -- one of the Channel Islands which have, historically, been loyal to the British crown, but are located just off the French coast and which have their own independent governments. The islands, only about 14 miles from France are about 80 miles south of England. We knew very little about the Channel Islands before our visit and suspect that may be true for many of you, too.
Jersey is about 9 miles by 5, with a population of about 80,000 people. The biggest industry on the island is finance -- offshore banking and that sort of thing, with lots and lots of banks. And of course Jersey cows are prominently in evidence. Interesting that Jersey (the biggest of the Channel Islands) and Guernsey, a short distance away and the second biggest, both have their "own" breeds of cattle.
Jersey is governed by two people -- one is a royal governor appointed by the British monarch, who "looks outward" as the island's foreign policy, etc., is handled by Britain. The other head of government, called the Bailiff, is elected from among the 53 members of the island's governing assembly. The Bailiff "looks inward" and, with the assembly, is responsible for internal governance of the island, which is referred to as the "bailiwick". The climate is quite mild as Jersey is right smack in the Gulf Stream and actually has some palm trees on it. Some pictures of our visit to the island can be viewed at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/322724
The island is obviously prosperous, as one can tell from the very clean, well-maintained appearance of almost everything. By the way, if you want tobuy property on the island, you must have lived there for 20 years! But even more interestingly, if you want to RENT a place on the island you must have lived there for 10 years. "How", you ask, "can one live there 10 years BEFORE renting a place?" The answer is that you can rent a room or rooms within someone else's house -- but you cannot have control of the perimeter of the house and cannot have control of the external doors. So, if you are willing to live as a boarder for 10 years, then rent your own place for another 10, you can buy a house. IF you have a LOT of money! Houses that would go for $1 million in Monterey or $3 million in London would go for $5 million in Jersey. If, however, you come to the island with $25 or $50 million in your bank account, all this is negotiable and, for a tidy donation to the government you can buy that house right away! Interesting concept in government!
Jersey was occupied by the Germans for 5 years during WWII and went through very tough times of extended near-starvation and the typical German oppresion. It was not invaded by the Allies -- after the Allied re-capture of France, (only 14 miles away), the Islands became untenable for the Germans and they surrendered to a Royal Navy Lieutenant. We visited the very interesting War museum which is housed in tunnels dug by slave labor under the Germans to serve as a hospital for their army. We also visited the Durrell wildlife preserve which is devoted to saving endangered species which are bred there for potential re-introduction into the wild or at least into zoos.
The hotel we were staying at went all-out to put on a Thanksgiving dinner for the Americans staying there and they had the whole traditional thing -- turkey, cranberry sauce, corn (or maize, if you're British), ending with two kinds of pie -- apple and pumpkin. All in all a very pleasant 4 days and 3 nights.
Jersey is about 9 miles by 5, with a population of about 80,000 people. The biggest industry on the island is finance -- offshore banking and that sort of thing, with lots and lots of banks. And of course Jersey cows are prominently in evidence. Interesting that Jersey (the biggest of the Channel Islands) and Guernsey, a short distance away and the second biggest, both have their "own" breeds of cattle.
Jersey is governed by two people -- one is a royal governor appointed by the British monarch, who "looks outward" as the island's foreign policy, etc., is handled by Britain. The other head of government, called the Bailiff, is elected from among the 53 members of the island's governing assembly. The Bailiff "looks inward" and, with the assembly, is responsible for internal governance of the island, which is referred to as the "bailiwick". The climate is quite mild as Jersey is right smack in the Gulf Stream and actually has some palm trees on it. Some pictures of our visit to the island can be viewed at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/322724
The island is obviously prosperous, as one can tell from the very clean, well-maintained appearance of almost everything. By the way, if you want tobuy property on the island, you must have lived there for 20 years! But even more interestingly, if you want to RENT a place on the island you must have lived there for 10 years. "How", you ask, "can one live there 10 years BEFORE renting a place?" The answer is that you can rent a room or rooms within someone else's house -- but you cannot have control of the perimeter of the house and cannot have control of the external doors. So, if you are willing to live as a boarder for 10 years, then rent your own place for another 10, you can buy a house. IF you have a LOT of money! Houses that would go for $1 million in Monterey or $3 million in London would go for $5 million in Jersey. If, however, you come to the island with $25 or $50 million in your bank account, all this is negotiable and, for a tidy donation to the government you can buy that house right away! Interesting concept in government!
Jersey was occupied by the Germans for 5 years during WWII and went through very tough times of extended near-starvation and the typical German oppresion. It was not invaded by the Allies -- after the Allied re-capture of France, (only 14 miles away), the Islands became untenable for the Germans and they surrendered to a Royal Navy Lieutenant. We visited the very interesting War museum which is housed in tunnels dug by slave labor under the Germans to serve as a hospital for their army. We also visited the Durrell wildlife preserve which is devoted to saving endangered species which are bred there for potential re-introduction into the wild or at least into zoos.
The hotel we were staying at went all-out to put on a Thanksgiving dinner for the Americans staying there and they had the whole traditional thing -- turkey, cranberry sauce, corn (or maize, if you're British), ending with two kinds of pie -- apple and pumpkin. All in all a very pleasant 4 days and 3 nights.
posted by Chuck and Kathi Calvano @ 5:40 PM
0 comments
