MAP Musings: Isle of Mann, Not Men

I had never heard of the Isle of Mann before my trip to England. There was a brief section in our England tour book which Kaylin and I read one day. This is what our England tour book had to say about the Isle of Mann:

This is not really a fun place to go to. I guess Peel Castle is kind of interesting, but really, it's not exciting and you will most likely be bored.

Okay, I'm paraphrasing. But honestly, that's what the England book led me to believe. I was not excited to go.

Seriously, whoever wrote that section was smoking crack because the Isle of Mann is only one of the most charming places I have ever been to. This was my view as we ferried in.

How could I not love it?

We ferried onto the Isle of Mann on the Mannanan (pronounced muh nan nan). First, let me say that when we got onto the Mannanan I was expecting a regular ferry with seats and maybe a concession stand. I was wrong. They make ferrys super fancy nowadays! One room had a flat screen with the news playing, another room had a flat screen with sports playing. A larger room had a bar with music videos playing and I learned that Europeans love Eminem and Lady Gaga. Seriously, I heard their music everywhere.

Back to the Isle of Mann. This is a view of the Promenade where much of the snazzy night life occurs. At night, it's lit up with white lights draped across the streets. I should have gotten a picture of it just because it was just so beautiful.

A view of from the house where we stayed. We had the privilege to stay with a family who live on the island and that Carrie served while on her mission.

The hotel across the way. Does it remind anybody of the White Sands hotel from Anne of Green Gables? Or the show Avonlea?

My cousin Jimi kept telling me to visit a place in England by the name of Torquay (pronounced torkie), mainly because it's a touristy town with palm trees. When we found palm trees on the Isle, Kaylin and I had to get a picture. We didn't make it to Torquay, but we still found palm trees!

Although it was hazy for much of the first week of our trip, we only experienced one day of true English rain. I'll be honest . . . I loved it. It doesn't rain over there--it mists. And so it's just wet and foggy and you don't know where the rain is coming from. It's kind of cool.

Inside the House of Mannanan. This was a fun place because it traced the origin of the Manx people. There was so much to hear about the Celtics, the Romans, the English, etc., and how they related to the Manx. Something interesting about the Isle is that they are their own country--they have their own money (which was kind of annoying because they would accept pounds and then give me their currency back which is not accepted back in England), their own government, laws . . . but they do not have their own army and so therefore this makes them a part of the United Kingdom.

Once again, more phones with cute little voices telling tales of Manx history.

By this point of the trip, I was past listening to information about...anything.

Mindy's face is killing me as we're approaching the place where they make kippers (salty, smoked fish). It's true, the smell was powerful, and Mindy's face is priceless.

Ew.

Ewww!

EWWWW!

A view of the town of Peel. You can see Peel Castle in the distance.

A better view of the castle. Gorgeous.

Peel Beach. Ah, so lovely. The weather was so beautiful that day and raging hot! I got burned again here, especially on my lips which was not fun. I was all prepared with sweaters and hoodies, I soon found out all I needed was a pair of shorts.

We didn't make it to Ireland on our trip, but I think visiting the Isle was as close to being in Ireland as possible. Everything was so green.

Don't ask me why I'm wearing that hat with that sweater.

Peel Castle. This castle is just a mere relic of what it once was. We walked through the ruins and tried to imagine what it once was like when it was full of people and life.

Roksana, one of our lovely hosts. She served her mission with Carrie and now lives on the Isle of Man. She's from Poland with the cutest accent.

Our other lovely host, Tonya. Roksana moved back to the Isle and now lives with Tonya. We couldn't have had better care than if we had been home with our moms.

I love the windy curves this image takes.

Inside the castle. Walkie talkies!

This is the cathedral inside the castle.

Another view of Peel Beach. I couldn't resist.

One of the fortification walls.

Into the dungeon. Creepy!

A view from the castle.

The Calf of Mann.

You really had to be there to understand this.

The Isle of Mann is home to the famous TT race, a motorcycle race where the roads become the race track. This is one of the world's most famous races and also one of the most deadly. Someone always dies which I guess makes it more exciting?