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| Ramsey Beach |
Yes. Some of you guessed correctly. We are holidaying on The Isle of Man in the middle of The Irish Sea. Famous for motorcycle racing, tax dodging millionaires and cats without tails, The Isle of Man, like most islands, is like a world of its own. I am sure there are people here who do not leave their island for years on end. Perhaps there is still a handful of old timers who have never left it.
Weatherwise, today was rather like yesterday. A thick layer of cloud was shoved out of the way by mid-afternoon and the sun shone from a blue sky.
In the morning we went to visit The Laxey Wheel - the biggest working water wheel in the world. It used to pump water from the associated lead and zinc mine but that closed forever in the nineteen twenties.
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| The Laxey Wheel |
After Laxey we went on to Maughold Head and then into Ramsey for lunch and a little stroll around the coastal town. The sky was still a thick fluffy blanket at that point but when we drove northwards towards Bride and The Point of Ayre sunshine began to illuminate the land and bright colours appeared once more.
It was beautiful at The Point of Ayre. A large Asian family were playing cricket amidst the gorse and I met a man I had chatted to on the ferry over here from Liverpool, The beach was a mass of flat stones, smoothed and made round by wave action over several millennia. There were billions of them - making a wondrous marine mosaic.
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| Shirley at The Point of Ayre |
And between the two lighthouses was a squat concrete building topped by large foghorns. Accidentally, it seems to have become a monumental art form - at least in my eyes.
Then home along the winding coast road to our spacious and rather lovely apartment in Douglas where I made an evening meal of YP Spaghetti which involves onions, lardons, a field mushroom, a sliced courgette and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese... oh, and spaghetti of course.
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| Foghorn housing at The Point of Ayre |
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| The east coast |
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| Station on The Electric Railway |
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| Point of Ayre |
Wow. What a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteWell... when Mr Sun decides to do his job Joe.
DeleteLooks like a lovely vacation spot. Love the pic of the waterwheel and I wanted to sit on that rocky beach and examine the stones, choosing a favorite for my pocket!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of 'lardons'...had to look that one up, too. You aren't a teacher, by any chance....?
Curious - do you bring your groceries along or does your apartment come already equipped?
We brought some things along Little Squirrel but plenty of people live on the island - about 86,000 and there is a big "Tesco" supermarket in the main town containing everything we would find in the equivalent shop in Sheffield. We do not have Walmarts by the way.
DeleteNow the foghorn is interesting but I'm concerned about the person peacefully sitting on the bench? Are they waiting for the siren to go off?
ReplyDeleteFortunately, the foghorn ceased booming in 2005 otherwise that woman would have had a nasty surprise coming her way.
DeleteWhat a beautiful place! I hope the two of you have a great time.
ReplyDeleteI hope that Gregg has bought you a thoughtful birthday present Jennifer - perhaps a new mop and bucket or a steam iron. Does "peaceful" count as great?
DeleteGreat photograph of the coastline.
ReplyDeleteMs Soup
Hard to get that picture in the cloudy weather. Thanks for noticing it Alphie.
DeleteThe east coast picture is my favourite of this lot. A place like that holds attraction in nearly all kinds of weather, I think, sun or no sun.
ReplyDeleteI have to check what lardons are, never heard the word before.
Perhaps I should have said "bacon bits" rather than lardons. Pam at Hilltophomesteader was also puzzled.
DeleteGood to see the weather is being kind. It can be a depressing place.
ReplyDeleteYes Adrian - a bit like Fife.
DeleteNo more like the Mull of Kyntre.
DeleteI had a boss many moons ago who was the Isle of Man. He was eccentric and wore dated suits. Have a wonderful break.
ReplyDeleteDated suits? You mean with dried dates sewn upon them or suits that he wore when out on his many dates with female employees?
DeleteGlad the sun has decided to grace your holiday with its presence. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAt least we are seeing some sun which is nice for March.
DeleteBeautiful! I'll have to go over there one of these days. That foghorn is truly peculiar looking -- and that huge wheel is pretty remarkable, too!
ReplyDeleteThere is so much to catch a photographer's eye here Steve... but good illumination always helps.
DeleteOnce again, a beautiful, beautiful post, Mr. Pudding. I hope you and Shirley have such good weather every day that you are there.
ReplyDeleteYour east coast picture reminds me of the coast line views of PEI in Canada. Lovely picture. And I agree that the fog horn is its own piece of modern sculpture.
You are so kind Ma Bear. I hope the Persian banquet went well and that you performed your belly dance for Big Bear. Shake that booty sister!
DeleteYet again beautiful photos YP. It looks an interesting island, and that east cost picture really does make it look almost exotic. Glad you had good weather too - it makes such a difference.
ReplyDeleteWe have had sunny spells on all three days we have been here so far. The weather is scheduled to change for the worse on Thursday which is when we will be leaving so that's okay by me.
DeleteI imagine it can be a very bleak place at times...probably more often than not. Interesting place to visit, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.