Queen Elizabeth II  greeted  the crowds, shaking hands and patting babies on her walkabout in the Channel Islands off the coast of France in 2005.   Photo by Gene Korte 

Guernsey, Jersey and Sark are the names of three of the four main Channel Islands that pledge allegiance to the Union Jack while located 20 miles from France. Isolated from England by more than eighty miles of the often rough waters of the English Channel, these islands have always been a place unto themselves, and in many ways they still are. The Channel Islands have their own currency and passports, for example, and on the island of Jersey, some court trials are conducted only in Norman French, not the Queen’s English.

But British they are. On the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands in 1945, the special guests of honor were Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.  Liberation anniversaries are of special interest here, as these islands were the only part of Great Britain that was occupied by the Germans during World War II.

The first ceremony of the day on Guernsey was an appropriately solemn affair in a meeting hall in St. Peter Port, this island’s capital city. From our seats in the balcony, however, the gathering looked like a glorious spring flower display, as every woman there was wearing a big, gorgeous hat.

At the parade, vintage military vehicles in tiptop shape, shipped in from England on ferryboats, came in a cavalcade that went on for hours. Soldiers in 1940s uniforms marched, and a man who was a ringer for Winston Churchill waved to the crowd from his wartime Jeep. There were several flyovers, including the sleek British Red Arrows with 12 planes in formation. Another grouping featured a Lancaster, Hurricane and Spitfire, all British World War II-era planes.

Before the royal couple left Guernsey, an island with a population of about 65,000, Queen Elizabeth strolled by the parade route in her traditional walkabout, greeting the crowds, shaking hands and patting babies. That afternoon she flew to Jersey for that island’s even more lavish festivities.

Known for its dramatic coastline, its pirate past and feudal present, our next day’s destination, Sark, is all of three miles long and a mile and a half wide. The 600 locals, who are mostly Brits and known as Sarkees, have a real lord of the manor and their own code of medieval laws that date back centuries. In 1565 the island was divided into 40 pieces of land, and that division remains intact today. Sark is self-governed, self-financed and has its own legislature.

After arriving at the harbor, we boarded the so-called toast rack, a tracker-pulled, open-sided bus that took us to the top of a steep hill where a few shops were scattered along a narrow road. Cars are not permitted on this island, so visitors and locals alike get around by foot, bicycle or horse-drawn cart, though a tractor hauls visitors’ luggage to their accommodations.

To get to the island’s Stocks Hotel, our home for the night, we walked through town, made a left at the visitor’s center, admired the big house on the lane, and then turned at the little sign by the meadow. Once there we followed the footpath by a sheep pasture until we arrived at the hotel that was originally built as a farmhouse in 1741. Later at dinner, I asked for the seafood that guests ordered the most. It turned out to be skate, a cousin to the manta ray, a mild-tasting flat fish as big as the sizable platter it came on.

While on Sark, we met local historian, Richard Dewe, who has been collecting World War II occupation memorabilia for decades. This photo, that document, it’s now quite a compilation. The only local who died during those five years, according to his records, was a young girl who stepped on a land mine. Although there were no battles here, the last couple of years of the war had food shortages for all, including the occupying Germans. What helped the Channel Islanders toward the end, according to Dewe, were the food packages from the Red Cross ship, Vega. Now, whenever an international disaster occurs that requires the work of the Red Cross, the islanders dig deep into their pockets to contribute in memory of their own time of need.

Jersey, yet another ferry ride away, has 20 miles of sandy beaches and a moderate climate. The largest of the Channel Islands, it’s also the one closest to France. In our few days on this cosmopolitan island of about 90,000 citizens, we saw newborn Jersey cows, country lanes, colorful gardens, an experimental orchid farm, even a family of gorillas at the zoo.

This island also has the most to see from the days of the German occupation nearly 70 years ago. The Jersey War Tunnels, known as Ho8, are one of the most popular visitor sites for all nationalities. Among its exhibits is Captive Island that shows how the occupation affected the locals. Designed as a bombproof barracks, the Jersey Tunnels eventually housed an underground hospital.

For a look at this part of the world during World War II, see “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press 2009).

ON THE CHANNEL ISLANDS

GUERNSEY:

Guernsey Tourism, http://www.visitguernsey.com, enquiries@visitguernsey.com, P.O. Box 23, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands GY1 3AN, +44 (0) 1481 723552.

Old Government House Hotel, http://www.theoghhotel.com, P.O. Box 47, Ann’s Place, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 4AZ Channel Islands, 01481738505. The OGH is the longest established hotel in St. Peter Port and when it was an 18th-century house, it was the official residence of the governor of the Island.

JERSEY:

Jersey Tourism, http://www.jersey.co.uk, Liberation Square, St. Helier, Jersey, JE1 1BB, +44 1534 500700, fax 44 1534 500899.

Jersey War Tunnels, http://www.jerseywartunnels.com, info@jerseywartunnels.com, Les Charrieres Malorey, St. Lawrence, Jersey, JE3 1FU, Channel Islands, +44 (0) 1534 860 808.

Somerville Hotel, http://www.dolanhotels.com, Somerville@dolanhotels.com, St. Aubin, Jersey JE3 8AD, Channel Islands, +44 (0) 1534 741226.

St. Brelades Bay Hotel and restaurant, http://www.breladesbayhotel.com, info@stbreladesbayhotel.com, 01534-746141.The Eric Young Orchid Foundation, http://www.ericyoungorchidfoundation.co.uk, Victoria Village, Trinity, Jersey JE3 5HH, Channel Islands, +44 1534 861 963.

SARK:

Sark Tourism. http://www.sark.info/, e-mail: contact@sark.info, Sark, Channel Islands GY9 0SB, +44 (0) 1481 832345. There is no airport on Sark. Visitors arrive by ferry, usually from Guernsey, a trip that takes about 45 minutes.

Stocks Hotel. http://www.stocks-sark.com. Originally built as a farmhouse in 1741, it became a hotel in 1895.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services, INC. for World’s Fare Syndicate

© 2005-2018  Diana and Gene Korte

Dubrovnik in Croatia on the Cote d’Azur coastline of the Adriatic is one of the best-preserved medieval walled cities in the world.       Photo by Gene Korte

The Adriatic is an inviting 500-mile-long sea with Italy on its western coastline and once isolated European countries on its eastern shores. Despite a delightful Mediterranean type climate, this region has been mostly off the American traveler’s radar until the last 15 years.

War raged in this region in the early 1990s, and before that the borders were commonly closed to the West for the 50 or so years of communist rule.  The jewel of the Adriatic, Dubrovnik in Croatia, was under constant siege for six months in 1991 by the Serbs. It was rebuilt in part with UNESCO funds and some say it is grander than ever.  Tiny Montenegro (population about 650,000) asserted its independence from Serbia and is one of the newest countries in the United Nations. Even Albania, one of the least visited countries in Europe, though still littered with hundreds of thousands of small concrete bunkers constructed in the 1980s to supposedly protect citizens from American invaders, now welcomes foreign travelers.

The Adriatic’s northernmost post is the Italian city of Venice.  Going south from there,  the Riviera-like coastline of Croatia (http://www.croatia.hr) showcases more than 1,000 islands, moored yachts and red-roofed coastal towns. Montenegro follows next with its towering mountains and bountiful beaches (http://www.visit-montenegro.com). And finally the sea reaches the colorful shores of Albania (http://www.albaniantourism.com), before the Adriatic flows into the Mediterranean.   Here are some of the finest stops along the way:

Dubrovnik in Croatia is one of the best-preserved medieval walled cities in the world. The best views are from the walls themselves – they are a mile-and-a-half in circumference – which circle the old city and date from the 13th century. During our visit, we viewed a passionate musical performance at the Dominican cloister. The Klapa Ostro Konavle group performed the traditional a capella klapa singing, famous throughout southern Croatia.

A half-hour from the Croatian port city of Sibenik, a town first settled 3,000 years ago, is the Krka National Park. Known for its waterfalls, wildlife and the terraced cascades of Skradinski Buk, I had the best ice cream of the trip here. Vanilija on a stick, bought for 50 cents from a park vender.

The small town of Trogir in Croatia, once controlled by Venice when it was an empire, is actually an island surrounded by a medieval wall with two giant gates that lead into a town of numerous small squares. It was in this town in particular that the Middle Ages seemed to be around every corner. A good example is the Cathedral of St. Lawrence. Among its timeless attributes are the 16th-century walnut choir seats and a legend of a local hero who was killed by the Venetians and carried away, but as the story goes, returned to Trogir with the help of the angels.

The most exciting moments in Montenegro after we landed at Kotor were driving on the 25 serpentine switchbacks with a speedy driver up to a small smokehouse that overlooks the fjords below. While there we were offered generous platters of the locally made prosciutto, cheese and bread along with honey wine. From this high point, we viewed the panorama of this country’s dark towering mountains, understanding the meaning of the word Montenegro–black mountains.

The 20-mile drive from the port of Durres in Albania to the capital city of Tirane was quite an eye-opener and not to be missed. Buildings are being torn down and simultaneously made new all at once with huge heaps of trash from both endeavors everywhere. While city planning and trash collecting are obviously backed up, the Albanians themselves appear enthusiastic about getting on with the 21st century. We saw young women in jeans and tank tops in Tirane walking in front of 24-hour gas stations, though neither sight was common.  This country of many contrasts also boasts outstanding Roman ruins.

We traveled for more than a week in the Adriatic as part of a longer trip that also explored the Mediterranean all the way to Portugal on Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic Endeavour (http://www.expeditions.com).  The company has exotic itineraries around the world from the Arctic to the Antarctic and owns and/or operates many small ships. All of them have experts who lecture and accompany groups on zodiac excursions.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services, INC. for World’s Fare Syndicate

© 2011-2014  Diana and Gene Korte

The Silver Wind, anchored here in Copenhagen, is one of ten Silversea ships, a fleet that travels to every continent and is often ranked first among small cruise ships. Photo by Gene Korte

Over the centuries one of the stars of this celebrated city has been Catherine the Great.  She ruled as Empress of Russia 250 years ago and were she around today she might be crowned the bad girl star of 24-hour celebrity news, at least among the royals.  She was probably the one who had her husband Peter III killed. During her marriage she had dalliances and children with numerous boyfriends, and palace rumor has it her last lover was 40 years her junior. And over three decades she added glorious architecture to St. Petersburg, expanded Russia’s borders and was a political powerbroker in Europe.

Fortunately for the rest of us, one of her other passions was art. Thanks to her, the Hermitage Museum (http://www.hermitagemuseum.org) exists today in St. Petersburg. Because subsequent czars added on to the collection, the museum is now many times bigger than the original and is housed in six buildings. To the credit of the Russian people, this gigantic monument to art has survived many wars and in both good times and bad.

We visited this historic city from the dock of our ship, the Silversea Silver Wind, http://www.silversea.com.  Our twice-daily excursions from this luxurious floating five-star hotel took us to some of Catherine’s greatest loves — art, music, ballet and a grand hotel.

A ROOM FULL OF MADONNAS & A LITTLE MOZART

One of the largest museums in the world, the Hermitage, has more than 3 million pieces of art, though not all are on display at the same time. It would take weeks, not days, to go through the areas of the Hermitage that are open to the public.    Among the famous Western art are the works of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, Rembrandt, Rodin, Monet and Matisse. After ascending the Hermitage Grand Staircase on our evening tour and walking at a steady clip, we pass through 15 rooms, admiring the work of all these artists. Imagine what treasures lie in the hundreds of rooms we didn’t visit.

One features only Madonna and Child paintings, another offers an entire wall of Rembrandts. A champagne reception is included and, much like an evening in one of Catherine’s palaces in the 1700s, that is followed by an evening musical presentation. The State Hermitage Orchestra performs mostly Italian music in the Great Skylight Italian Hall, beginning with the rousing “Overture to the Marriage of Figaro.”

SWAN LAKE AT THE PALACE THEATER

In this renovated theater with its comfortable side-by-side chairs and grand acoustics, on another ship excursion we are presented with a performance of one of Tchaikovsky’s most well known ballets, Swan Lake.  Afterward, our small group meets with one of the ballerinas, a slender young woman who stands in front of us in a remarkably graceful pose. In answer to our questions about her daily schedule, through an interpreter, she tells us that she rises at 6 a.m., practices ballet every day for six hours, and doesn’t retire for the evening until nearly midnight. She went on to say that it’s the life she aspires to and one that is led by all the ballerinas in the company.

A GRAND HOTEL

The Grand Hotel Europe (http://www.grandhoteleurope.com) wasn’t around during Catherine’s time, but some of her Romanoff descendants certainly must have stopped by.   Built more than 130 years ago, this renovated luxury hotel is so full of local charm and history that it couldn’t be anywhere else.  In our experience that is a hallmark of Orient-Express hotels around the world.

When we arrived, the Sunday Jazz Brunch in the L’Europe Restaurant was in full swing. Performances on stage vary, for instance, Friday night is ballet night.  On entering the majestic Art Nouveau restaurant, an attendant offered us each a small plate perched with a mound of black caviar.   Just inside the doorway a huge block of ice resting on its own table has captured a large orchid frozen inside with a spigot in place to pull for vodka. Catherine would approve.  Among the many artfully arranged table presentations in this room, some with tiny tureens of soup, others with robust displays of meat including a roasted pig, one end of the seafood table was awash in shades of orange. Salmon eggs, lobster, giant crab, shrimp and red snapper. Yes, of course, there are tiny plates of dessert, too, but who wants to linger for those when the  hotel offers 35 varieties of its own chocolate.  Catherine, a chocoholic herself,  demanded in her 18^th century royal manner that her hot chocolate be served only in  Parisian silver dishes.

SAILING ON SILVERSEA

We spent three days in St. Petersburg’s harbor after docking at several Scandinavian seaports and crossing the Baltic Sea.  Every summer Silversea offers many such departures, as well as voyages to all the other continents as well. Among the many pluses of this all-suite cruise line and its ten ships are bigger cabins, fewer passengers — between 100 and 500 — a no tipping policy and free alcohol that made us feel more like guests than customers running a tab. Silversea has been voted the world’s best small ship cruise line many times by readers of travel magazines and travel agents around the world.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services, INC. for World’s Fare Syndicate

© 2013-2014 Diana and Gene Korte

Glamis Castle, one of the stops for The Royal Scotsman, has more than 300 rooms. One of its most famous residents was Queen Mum,  the current Queen Elizabeth’s mother.  She grew up here the ninth of ten children. Her pink-walled sitting room is on the castle tour.     Photo by Gene Korte

Our four-day journey on this 36-passenger, maroon-and-gold liveried train across the Scottish Highlands began with a traipse to the tracks led by a kilted bagpiper at Waverly Station in Edinburgh while we passengers came along behind him.

Glamis Castle, a stop on this rail journey arranged by Abercrombie & Kent (www.abercrombiekent.com), has more than 300 rooms with knights’ armor in some of the hallways and numerous giant portraits of the previous 17 Earls of Strathmore gracing many of the walls.

Today Glamis is perhaps best known for its connection to the recent movie, “The King’s Speech.” King George VI of Britain, the film’s main character, was married to the current Queen Elizabeth’s mother, Queen Mum. Glamis was her family home. She grew up here the ninth of ten children, and her sunny sitting room is on the castle tour.

For many years the gleaming carriages of the Orient-Express train, the Eastern & Oriental, have taken travelers in grand style from Singapore to Bangkok.       Photo by Gene Korte.

Many regard riding the rails on fabled trains as one of the world’s great travel experiences. They hark back to a golden age when every moment of a journey was to be savored and enjoyed. They’re located on most continents and offer a level of service, posh surroundings and all-inclusive fine dining that you will not find on any commercial airline flight today, never mind on a road trip where you have to do all the driving. And in this economy there are bargains to be had when booking passage on luxury trains that include reduced prices, extended stays and additional stops.

Among these one-of-a-kind trains are those operated by Orient-Express. Some of their collection includes the Hiram Bingham in South America that travels from Cusco to Machu Picchu in Peru, the Venice Simplon Orient-Express in Europe and the Eastern & Oriental Express in Southeast Asia. They all offer exclusive china and crystal, white linen and handsome rail cars. And as you gaze out the window, each train creates the magic of a bygone day, http://www.orient-express.com.

To continue reading this article, go to http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2009-04-07/sf-jewish-journal/0904060054_1_machu-picchu-hiram-bingham-trains

For more information about train travel in general, visit The Society of International Railway Travelers, http://www.irtsociety.com.