Reasons 26 and 27
The Island Games
This was a two-weeker because the Island Games have been on. The Island version of the Olympics takes place every two years on one of the islands, and this year it was the turn of Jersey to shine.Both my husband and daughter were officials for the Sailing and Sailboarding categories, and it was lucky that they were working down the road from the college as I got a chauffeur to work in the mornings.
The opening ceremony was last Saturday, and each of the 24 Islands taking part showed up, together with our version of the 'games-makers', who were assigned to either a sport or an island.
By the end of the week Jersey topped the medals table, with an amazing display of sport from all involved.
Many records were beaten, including that of the weather!
I felt sorry for the people from the Northern islands of Gotland, Aland, Hitra and Froya, as well as those from the Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney, who had to put up with temperatures of over 33 degrees C. Even our athletes found it hard going at times.
The teams left yesterday or today, having had the time of their lives.
The games are known as the 'friendly' games, and that was clearly borne out by the friendships, both rekindled and newly started.
Everyone is now looking forward to the 2017 games in Gotland, but I'm sure that the competitors will look back with pleasure on their time in Jersey, as will the islanders,who showed overwhelming generosity of spirit and patience while roads were closed and alternative routes sought.
Sounds like a fantastic event and a memorable one as well!! Glad you enjoyed it :-)
ReplyDeleteI've just posted up 3 reasons in a row, as 6 of the days in the last 3 weeks we had no phone line or internet, so a bit difficult to do much. Luckily we found a makeshift solution...