Isle of Man – the plans

Tomorrow I will leave for a week of holiday to the Isle of Man.

Some bits of information about the Isle of Man:

• The island is about 32 miles (48 km) long and between 8 and 15 miles (13 and 24 km) wide, the island has an area of around 221 square miles (572 km²), which makes it only slightly smaller than Bornholm.
• It is located in the Irish sea, between the UK and Ireland.
• Tynwald, the Island’s parliament, was nominally founded in AD 979. It is arguably the oldest continuous parliament in the world.
• Its highest mountain is Snaefell, with a height of 2,036 feet (621 m).

  According to an old saying, from this mountain one can see six kingdoms: those of Mann (the island itself), Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, and … Heaven.

  And the great thing is that the island has a true Mountain Railway that brings you to the top of it.

  If Snaefell as a name sounds Nordic to you than you are right, the Vikings have been on this island and the island has also been under Nordic kings.

• Apart from the mountain railway, the island also has a stream train service and a “normal” train service. I plan to try all three of them, and they are particularly handy if you want to do a non circular walk. I plan to do a lot of walking too by the way.
• The island has one of the weirdest symbols on their flag I have ever seen: a three legged triskelion.
• The island does have the pound as their currency but they do mint their own coins with Isle of Man related themes. They also have their own Isle of Man stamps.
• The isle is famous for its Isle of Man TT.
• The Bee Gees are born and raised on the island!
• People living on the island are called the Manx.
• There are 5 lighthouses. (Marked by the pink circles on the above map.
• About 80.000 people live on the island, of which about 26.000 in the towns capital Douglas.
• The island is a popular location for films.
• I will stay several places on the island:

  Peel (which is where Bill Captured the Castle)

  Ramsey, which is very near to Maughold Head

  and a last day in Douglas, the capital.

Being surrounded by sea, beach, hills and lighthouses, this can’t really go wrong can it? Well as long as I remember to drive on the left side it can’t. I just need to make sure I wake up in time, my flight leaving Gatwick at 8.50am (it will take about an hour to fly to the island from London) means that I have to leave home at 5.45am which is not the time of the day where I am most clear in my head …

I’ll be back in London on Saturday the 17th but expect to write something here before then, Billy Mac will accompany me, as will my camera and a good book.