"All" Revealed

In my previous post, I gave you a few clues as to where exactly the "away" in the "Away in May" was, but they obviously weren't enough for any of you to guess right. 
Let me put them together again:

- I crossed water but still was - geographically, at least - in Europe.
- English is not the only official language of the place.
- The place has its own currency but a very similar currency is accepted everywhere, too.
- Fortifications feature prominently along the border. 

Admittedly, that is not very much to go by, but if I tell you where I've been, you'll slap your foreheads, exclaiming "of course!": Jersey, the biggest one of the Channel Islands, and a "dream destination" for me for many years.  

On Saturday, the 7th of May, we (the "we" will also be revealed shortly) took a plane from Stuttgart to Jersey. That had been my first surprise about this holiday, by the way: the existence of direct flights from Stuttgart, without having to change planes in London or elsewhere.

As you can  see on the map, it's not really far - just across the northern part of France, and accomplished in about 1 1/2 hours.
It took nearly as long as that from St. Peter (where Jersey's airport is) to Bouley Bay, where we were staying, in spite of it being not many miles apart:

But eventually, we arrived at Undercliff guest house. Their website is here if you want to know more - I really recommend it as a great place to stay, with lovely hosts and excellent breakfast.

Here are pictures from the 7th of May.
Our plane:
 

Getting off the bus in Bouley Bay and having a first look round:

View from our window across the gardens to the cliff top:

View from our window towards the bay:

Our room:

We had "stars" on the ceiling - sorry about the fuzzy picture, but it really was very nice and rather romantic to have them on as the only light in the evenings:

I said in my previous post that "all" (maybe not really all) was going to be revealed after my return. Well, now I am back, and shall keep my promise. It was interesting to see what some of you, my dear readers, had come up with, but neither a wedding nor a carreer as a super-model are on the cards!

Actually, it is quite simple: RJ and I have split up more than a year ago, and after some months of trial & error I met O.K. (those really are his initials, and I have his permission to use them here) who is the new (and hopefully, VERY long-term) man in my life. 

Maybe now you think, wait a minute, didn't she still mention RJ, only a few posts back for instance, in the context of setting up the new sofa? Yes, that's right. RJ and I remain good and close friends, and our working relationship has never suffered, both of us being determined to keep working together and staying friends.

When I first visited OK at his place (where these pictures were taken), I looked at his book shelves, as is my habit when I come to someone's place for the first time. It does help geting to know a person better when you see what kind of books they have, doesn't it?
Anyway, one of the first books I spotted was a travel guide about the Channel Islands. For many years, Steve and I had been talking about wanting to go there, but it never worked out, and I had sort of given up on the idea, imagining it too expensive and too complicated to get there.
Of course I thought that the book was there because O had been there - but it turned out that he, like me, had always meant to go without it ever having worked out. That determined the plan for our first (but definitely not last) holiday together!

We had a great week, with no nasty surprises about each other cropping up, and you'll read and see more about Jersey in the posts to come.