I moved on from England onto Isle of Man, another part of the United Kingdom! After a little media circus I ended up with the amazing Suzanne and Paul in Maughold.
I woke up at 8.30 and after a shower I had cereals for breakfast. Around that time the kids went to school, so I had to say goodbye to them. Chris works at a school as a teacher and her pupils really wanted to meet me in person, but unfortunately I could not do that, cause I had a boat to catch today!
Therefore Chris gave me a card for them and I wrote my excuse on it, just to make it up for them.
As my ferry from Liverpool was to depart at 10.30am, Andy and Chris brought me to the departure docks.
Even though I yesterday heard that the ferry was already paid and booked by my next host, Chris and Andy supported me with 50 quid – British Pounds- for on the road. It was the first time I had that kind of an amount in my pocket!
I thanked my Liverpool friends and got onto the SeaCat-ferry, which will take me up to the Isle of Man, where Suzanne and Paul had invited me.
When I first received their invitation, way back before my departure, I really had to look this name up in a map.
But it seems to be an island depending on the British Crown, but it has its own parliament, its own currency and somewhere on the island some people still talk Manx.
And you know? The cats without tails are originally Manx cats, from the Isle of Man.
The Island’s roads don’t have a speed limit; the average speed is however 20 miles per hour.
And the island is not backward in anyway: one out of five secondary school pupils can use an Internet connection on this island; every full-time teacher was given a laptop for professional use.
The Isle of Man is light years ahead of the rest of the world in the sophistication of its telecom, mobile and Internet technology – and it only has 75,000 citizens.
The ferry took exactly the promised 2 hours and 45 minutes to arrive at the city called Douglas on the Isle of Man, where Sara, a friend of Suzanne, picked me up.
Sara took me to the editors’ office of the island’s magazines publishing company, where I had a quick interview by a reporter of an on-flights magazine and used the Internet at their office for a little bit.
Around 3 o’clock another lady took me back to Douglas, where I got a free tour through at the Manx Museum.
In almost one hour I learned a lot about the nation’s 10,000 year-old heritage and discovered all kinds of fascinating facts and intriguing features. For example how the Vikings influenced the Celtic Islanders. Can’t retell that complete story here, but it was very interesting!
When I got out of the museum, I met Sara again, who had waited for me. A few minutes later I met Suzanne, who had to work until 4pm.
And at the museum entrance we were to meet John Gregory, a reporter from the Isle of Man Newspaper, and a photographer. Joining them a few minutes later Geoff Corkish, the communication manager of the Steam Packet ferry Company, joined them.
Hey, it’s getting busy here!
There was a quick photo shoot at the museum, where Mister Corkish officially welcomed me on the Isle of Man, followed by another interview by Gregory.
When the whole media circus was over, I got into Suzanne’s car and we drove from Douglas to Maughold in the North.
Maughold is not even a village; it is a hamlet with around 100 citizens, spread over an area 5 kilometres.
The tour on the Island was very impressive. The island is about 43 miles long and about 13 miles wide and at some certain high points I could see the Irish Sea at both shores. And the weather was good!
In the city of Ramsey, on the way to Maughold, I could even see the rough Scottish coastline on the other side!
At their home, known as the historic Hawthorne Cottage, I met her friend Paul.
Suzanne works at the Anglo Irish Trust, while Paul reconstructs apartments they both buy and let out.
Their cottage is a very old house and they had been reconstructing it for over 18 months. However I thought it look beautiful, according to them they weren’t finished yet.
The modem of their computer was defect, so I couldn’t use their connection to update this website, but I could use the Internet at another location tomorrow morning.
And as the first ferry leaving this island leaves in two days, I had to stay another day in Maughold. Ha!
Around 6pm friends of Suzanne of Paul visited us, they really wanted to meet me and they wanted to be on my photos. They stayed over for a barbecue, which I really enjoyed and after this we drunk some beers.
It was around 11pm when I said goodbye to them and slept in my own pretty bedroom on the first floor. Just to be ready for tomorrow.
