Random Trip Pics

Beth and I-The Sleeping Giant, Isle of Man

It's been three years, but here are some of my favorite people and places.

Beth, me, Charlie-Niarbyl, Isle of Man

Beth-Montogmery's, our favorite Glaswegian coffee shop

The gang-Royal Overseas League, Edinburgh, Scotland

Douglas, Isle of Man

Sarah and Suzy, Roslyn, Scotland

Promenade, Douglas, Isle of Man

Earl, Suzy, and the world's best fish and chips-Douglas, Isle of Man

Sunday Roast-The Islay, Glasgow, Scotland

Peel Castle-Peel, Isle of Man

Beth-Auchentoshen Distillery, Glasgow, Scotland

Promenade-Douglas, Isle of Man

Sarah and Clint-Wallace Monument, Stirling, Scotland

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Tynwald Day-Isle of Man

Long time, no blog!

Has it really been three years? Much has happened in the interim which I will not bore you with. Suffice it to say, life is good! I have missed one international adventure-a trip to Rome with my son in 2011-but there is another on the horizon.

My husband and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this September with a trip to London and Paris. It will be my 4th trip to London-hands down, my favorite city in the world-and my first to France. That man must love me because he certainly isn't a Francophile. If I had to guess, I would say this will be our first and only trip to the City of Lights, so I'll have to savor every moment. I have to give a shout out to Midnight in Paris for this one. I so loved that film when it came out last year that I saw it 3 times in the theater. That was Josh's inspiration for the trip, so thanks Woody Allen!

Today is all about baby steps, so I'll simply start describing my new adventure with this short intro. I'll update soon-hopefully sooner than 3 years from now...

Glasgow and Edinburgh, Days 28-34

Geez. I am terrible at keeping up with this blog! Let me see how well I can cram the last week into another in a long line of brief posts.

Saturday last was Day 28. This was a fun day. Clint, Sarah, Suzy, Shri and I got up and caught a train to Stirling. We visited Stirling Castle, which was home to several Scottish kings, including James IV and V, and was also the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. It is also near Bannockburn Battlefield and the William Wallace monument. We happened to be there on the last day of a traditonal dance conference, so we got to sit in Queen Anne's Garden and watch bagpipers and dancers from Scotland perform. The castle offered beautiful views of the surrounding countryside, which was a nice change after being in the concrete jungle of the big city. After being on Man for so long, I was spoiled by the beautiful scenery we were constantly surrounded by. Being in Glasgow and Edinburgh (or even Belfast and Dublin for that matter) doesn't really compare in that sense. After the castle we went to the William Wallace monument so Clint could have guy time. We wandered back into town and found a little Italian place for dinner, which was quite good. Then it was another train ride back to Glasgow.

Sunday last was Day 29. I was supposed to head into Edinburgh to cheer on Beth, Shri, and Lauren, who had foolishly entered a "hill race" as part of the Highland Games. It turned out that the hill they ran was actually Arthur's Seat, which is about 2,000 feet high, almost a mountain...Well, the weather turned out to be pretty gloomy and rainy in Glasgow, so I assumed it would be there too, and sadly, I wussed out. Clint, Suzy and I stayed in town and did some exploring. We had tea at the Willow Tea Room, famous for being designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, then we walked to Glasgow Cathedral. Then it was off to the Islay Inn for our last Sunday Roast of the trip. A group from the seminar met up with us there, and we visited for a bit.

Monday was Day 30. We had a double session of class at the University of Glasgow to wrap up Beowulf and start Sir Gawain. It was Shri's last official night of fun with the group, so we really blew it out. Beth, Shri, Clint, Sarah, Suzy, Charlie and I had a wonderful dinner at Konaki, a little Greek spot in the nieghborhood. Then all the ladies went back to the dorm to dress up for the night (we haven't exactly been at our prettiest on this trip, so it was a nice treat). We met up with another group of seminarians at the Islay for some live, local music for a bit, then we headed to the Ben Nevis, a little whisky bar in the neighborhood. Then Shri, Suzy, Charlie and I took a taxi to the City Centre and hit up a few other bars. We stayed out way too late, got some greasy Chinese food to take home, then we drank one last bottle of red wine in the kitchen before turning in.

Tuesday was Day 31. We had a wonderful guest lecturer, Katherine Lowe, who talked about Beowulf. After lunch we met Katherine and her colleague Deborah, an art historian, in the university library to look at three beautiful illuminated manuscripts. The first was a devotional book that had several owners, one being Sir Tomas More; the second was a practical book written by a surgeon who specialized in anal fistula, which had some really humorous and horrifying illustrations; and the third was a gorgeous guide on falconry owned by French King Philip. I was completely jealous of the art historian whose job it is to work with these books, and many others in the collection, on a daily basis. That was supposed to be my job, darnit! Anyway...for Shri's very last dinner, Clint, Sarah, Beth, Lauren, Shri, Earl, Jan and I went to the Mussel Inn. After that, we relaxed at the dorm and spent quality time with Shri while she packed up. We were still pretty pooped from the night before.

Wednesday was Day 32. We had our last official class meeting at the University of Glasgow to finish up Gawain. Beth and I grabbed some lunch to go from Starving Marvin's, then we basically hung around the dorms, visiting with folks and working on our paper proposals for the seminar. Clint, Sarah, Suzy, and had dinner at the Mother India Cafe, then we stopped by the Islay for a glass of whisky. The rest of the evening was spent doing research, discussing with Clint and Charlie, and typing up my paper proposal. It was a quiet night.

Thursday was Day 33. It was our last day to have the whole group together, so I was feeling a bit sentimental. We took our last train to Edinburgh in the morning. Beth, Suzy, Emmanuel, Clint, Sarah and I took a cab Rosslyn Chapel when we arrived. It was a wet and cold morning, but the chapel was absolutely stunning. It was under a canopy of scaffolding, and has been for twelve years now, which you could climb and walk around. That was pretty cool; we were actually walking around at the level of the buttressing and spires of the building. Inside, the chapel has been restored already, but no photography was allowed. It was the most intricately decorated building I have ever seen; it was truly incredible. Our tour guide told us that they went from 30,000 visitors a year to 200,000 after the DaVinci Code came out in 2006. Sheesh! You could aslo see the damage left where the film crew had placed the star of David above the lintel of the stairs going down to the crypt and then pulled it off. We walked into Rosslyn after that and had lunch at the sweetest little country pub, then cabbed back into Edinburgh. The group split up for a bit; Beth and I went into the National Library again, then spent a lovely long time lounging in th eplaza outside the National Gallery, listening to street performers. The whole group met up at 4:00 at the Royal Overseas League for our last meeting/dinner. It was really nice; everyone was all dressed up and we presented our paper proposals before dinner. After dinner, the group split up again and said our final farewells; sad. Beth, Suzy, Emmanuel, Clint, Sarah, Christine, Wendy, Charlie and I stayed in the bar for a while at the club watching the sunset, then we headed over to the bar at the Caledonian for Pimm's cups before heading to the train station for home. It was a really nice goodbye to the group and to Edinburgh.

Today is Friday, Day 34. This is my last day as part of the group. Most everyone is gone now; just a few stragglers left, and by Sunday, all will be gone either home or on other adventures. It has been a very low-key day. Got up, had my last breakfast at Montgomery's with Beth, then did laundry. I packed my bags up, grabbed some lunch at the Sugar Qube with Beth, then taxied over to Central Station to print out my train tickets for tomorrow morning to meet up with Josh and Blake in London. We've made dinner reservation at the Neighbourhood Bar, the first place we ate when we arrived here, to celebrate my birthday a few days early. After that I'll be off to bed and out of here. SADNESS!

Glasgow and Edinburgh, Days 24-27

To recap the rest of the week so far...

Tuesday was Day 24. We met for our first class session at the Department of Celtic and Gaelic at the University of Glasgow. We got our visitor library cards there to do research and had our first discussion of Beowulf. I had lunch with Charlie at a cute little pub called the Oran Mar (I believe), which was a converted cathedral; very pretty. We had a second class session after lunch. Dinner consisted of leftovers from the night before (sorry that's not very glamorous) and most of the evening was passed in the common kitchen, chatting with a big group of folks and drinking some wine. Eventually we wandered over to a spot in the neighborhood called The Goat, then called it a night.

Wednesday was Day 25. We met again at the Department of Celtic and Gaelic to discuss Beowulf. We spent several hours reading various critical essays on the poem and working in the library. I had a quick bite to eat on campus, then we had another class meeting after lunch. After class Beth, Earl, Lauren and I took a cab to the Auchentoshen distillery for a tour and tasting. That evening dinner was had at the Islay Inn (no more leftovers!) and a group of us went to open mic night at the '78, a spot right next door to our dorm. The music was actually pretty good.

Thursday was Day 26. We met again at the Department of Celtic in the morning. Thomas Clancy, a grad school pal of Charlie's who arranged for us to work in the department, spoke to us about languages and literature in medieval Scotland. It was very interesting. After that, a big group of us high-tailed it to the train station to head in to Edinburgh. We had a 2:00 appointment at the National Library to see some of Byron's papers from the John Murray Archive (squeal!). It was such an amazing experience. We looked at 5 different folios: Byron's last diary, a scrapbook sent to him by one of his "lady friends" Lady Caroline Lamb, a manuscript by Byron and the transcription done by Mary Shelley of it, his original manuscript for Don Juan, and a notebook filled with over 100 poems (some written on the pages of books he'd torn out from places). We also looked at numerous loose letters, several from Mary Shelley (mostly complaining about how horrible his handwriting was), a bill for over 500 pounds from a wine seller that he had owed for 6 months (that amount would buy ALOT of booze in 1811), and various letters to his publisher and his doctor. I wish we had more time to spend with the papers, but our window was short. I might go back next week and request to see different papers. After that, Charlie, Beth, Lauren and I headed off to the National Gallery. Then Charlie and I met Shri for dinner and drinks at the Edinburgh branch of the Royal Overseas League. The dining room looked onto Edinburgh Castle; it had a terrific view. We stopped at a little pub after dinner for whiskey and wine, then caught the last train back to Glasgow.

Today is Friday, Day 27. I took advantage of the day off from class to sleep in...very very late. I got up for lunch with Sarah and Clint at the Islay (we must like that place) and now I'm doing laundry. It's kind of a low-key day of rest. I think we'll be heading to the movie theater by the University this evening to see Harry Potter finally. Other than that, Korean for dinner is the plan. Tomorrow people are undertaking different road trips, so I'm not quite sure where I'll end up yet!

I'm still going to direct you to Facebook for pictures at this point...

Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland...Days 13-23

Yikes! Sorry to have to cram SO much together, but I have little choice. I am going to give a bare-bones recap of these days, just to give myself some peace of mind and get caught up!

Friday, Day 13 we were in Dublin and it was my very favorite day because I got to see the Book of Kells. Honestly, that was the highlight of the whole trip to Dublin for me; it was really all I wanted to see...I was giddy with geek joy!

Saturday, Day 14 was another day of travel, that time from Dublin back to Belfast. A good time was had by all; and no one was attacked by Orangemen. Yipee!

Sunday, Day 15 was ANOTHER day of travel, that time back to the Isle of Man. We took the ferry to Douglas, then cabbed our way to our new home on the island at Castletown on the southern coast. We stayed at King William's College, which was literally right at the end of the airport runway...but it was also right across from the Irish Sea and was a magical little place. It was reputed to look like Hogwarts, but it was nowhere as grand as that.

Ahh, how the days start to run together here...Monday, Day 16-Friday, Day 20 were spent roaming around Castletown, visiting Castle Rushen there, nearby Rushen Abbey, taking a couple of trips into Douglas to get online (ARGH!), spending lots of quality time playing ping pong in the game room of our dorm, lounging at Hango Hill (site of the execution of Manx national hero William Christian in the 17th century) on the Irish Sea or on the lawn watching a cricket match. It was a nice, leisurely break after that short, hectic week of travel in and around Ireland. It felt like all we did there was go from one place to another! I definitely need to go back...The slower pace of the Isle of Man was much-welcomed. We also took one last trip into Peel to have dinner at our favorite little pub there, the Central; we also went back up the coast to Laxey, traveled around quite a bit on the steam train...it was wonderful. To say farewell to the Isle, we had quite a busy day on Friday. We took the steam train to Port Erin, hiked up the biggest, steepest mother of a hill you've ever seen (it still pains me to think about that incline) to see a Prehistoric spot called the Sleeping Giant. According to legend, St. Patrick came to the Isle and deposed Manannan, the Celtic god of Man, throwing him down from Snaefell Mounatin. Manannan rolled down the mountain and landed in the Irish Sea. The Sleeping Giant is a rock formation on the coast where you can see Manannan's head and face, lying on its side, submerged in the sea. It sounds totally hokey, but it was a really beautiful spot. After that hike, we spent some time in Port Erin, and then headed up to Niarbyl for dinner. This was an amazingly beautiful spot on a cliff, right over the sea, where we had dinner and battled the wind to watch the sunset. It was spectacular.

Saturday, Day 21 we got up early, cabbed into Douglas and hopped a ferry bound for Heysham, England. It was really sad to leave the Isle of Man for the last time. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived there, and I must say, after all the other places I've been on this trip, it was absolutely my favorite. It was such a little gem. I MUST go back some day! Back to the story...we arrived in Heysham around 1:00, then hopped a bus for the 3 hour ride into Glasgow. Travel, travel, travel! I will be sooo glad to be in one spot for a couple of weeks! We got into town and to our dorms around 4; unpacked, then headed out into the neighborhood to explore. Beth and I found a lovely little spot with terrific food, cheap wine, and free wi-fi called the Neighbourhood Bar. My fab friend Tito, who just happened to be in the neighborhood for the weekend too, met us there. It was really great to see a familiar face from home!

Sunday, Day 22 we got up and met Thomas Clancy, a professor at the University of Glasgow who is hosting us while we are here. He gave us a brief intro to the city and school; we'll be working there at the Department of Celtic and Gaelic for the next two weeks and hearing lectures from various literature, linguistic, and art history profs. I am very excited! Then we headed off to the Kelvingrove Museum, which has the most ecclectic collection I had ever seen; it was like a science museum, natural history museum, and art museum rolled up into one! After that some of us ventured to a street market and off to the Islay Inn for the Sunday Roast and some local whiskeys. Tito met us there again and a good time was had by all!

Today, Monday, Day 23 we all hopped the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh because it is a university holiday here, so there was nothing we could really do at the school. We took off as soon as we arrived (whenever one follows Charlie, it is a task in itself; the man has the longest legs I've ever seen, and his pace is always that of someone escaping a burning building) and headed to Edinburgh Castle and the National Library. Literature geek alert!!! I registered at the library today as a reader so that I can go and look at manuscripts from their archives...here's the drum roll: they house the John Murray Archive, which contains 12,000 papers, letters, and various manuscripts belonging to George Gordon, Lord Byron, including his letters to the Shelleys, etc. I am so excited!!! I will be making an appointment to go back and sit down in one of the reading rooms to work with some of the papers. I don't even know how to firgure out what to request first! I am giddy giddy giddy! Shopping was done, dinner was had, Scottish ales were consumed, and we hopped the train again.

WHEW. I am pooped. I can probably actually upload pics on this page again, but I am too darn tired. At least I'm up to date! All pics are still on Facebook...

Belfast and Dublin, Days 11 and 12...

Here I am in Castletown, Isle of Man…stuck with no internet connection. It’s hard to believe that a private boarding school has no 21st century amenities. I bet they have wi-fi at Hogwarts, damnit.

Day 11: The journey to Ireland went well, and we landed in Belfast on Wednesday afternoon. It was a bit gray and rainy, but as our cabbie said on the way from the ferry terminal to the hotel, “If you don’t like the weather now, wait 5 minutes.” So true! We checked in to the hotel and headed out to explore the neighborhood. The cabbie had suggested a pub right around the corner called the Duke of York, so we thought we’d start there (cabbies always seem to know the best spots). Well, the place was straight out of Hollywood. It was THE perfect Irish pub: cozy, quaint, walls and ceilings covered with yellowing ads for local whiskeys and beers, autographed pics of local boxers hanging behind the bar, wooden benches and hammered copped tables; it was heavenly. Not only that, they served a wonderful lunch menu that was almost the cheapest food I’ve had since coming overseas; cheap and excellent. It was at that spot that I fell in love with a cranberry, brie, and rocket bap. I had at least one a day while we were in Ireland. To truly immerse ourselves in the moment, we all ordered Redbreast whisky for dessert, as one member of our group described it, “the Rolls Royce of Irish whisky.” He did not tell a lie; it was wonderful…and I hate whisky, just ask Josh.

After lunch I schlepped around town to the bus and train stations, securing group tickets for the trip to Dublin, then visited another spot called The Spaniard, which was an Irish pub very oddly dedicated to Salvidor Dali. We tried to eat dinner at one spot that refused to seat us because two people in the group were wearing tennis shoes. This was no classy joint; they actually had panties hanging from the ceiling as part of the decor. I couldn’t figure out why they thought we were so shockingly tacky. We ended up at a pub called Farrington’s instead where I had a wonderful veggie lasagna.

We had a class session in the evening to discuss the Mabinogi, then we headed back out to the Duke of York for evening drinks. For a Wednesday night, the place was packed; it looked like a Friday or Saturday night out anywhere else.

Day 12: Thursday we got up, had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, then cabbed out to Armagh, the site of Emhain Macha. The journey there was really interesting; apparently Armagh was the site of a major IRA bombing during the Troubles, and there is still much tension there, despite recent peace agreements and disarmament. It was the first place where I saw IRA graffiti (The War is NOT Over, IRA-CIRA), this of course, spray painted on one of the brick walls, topped with barbed wire, that separated the Catholic part of town from the rest. Our trip to Emhain Macha itself was really terrific; an archaeologist named J.P. Mallory met us there and walked us through the site, explaining how it was tied to The Tain and the mythological past of Ireland. When we got back to Belfast, it was time to head to the train station. The journey from Belfast to Dublin took about 2 hours, and it was really lovely. (Again, we got to see a good bit of the countryside, and several other cities infamous during the Troubles. It was a bit unnerving because the last two days we were there was the annual Orangemen Parade, and there had been bomb threats and attacks on churches and other sites all week long. Belfast was the site of the largest parade on the 12th, the day we were leaving. Clearly, nothing happened to us, but it did worry me to know that when we pulled back in to the Belfast train station from Dublin, that it had been closed the day before due to a bomb scare.)

After we arrived in Dublin, walked to our hostel, which I dare not recall here for fear of re-living the horror of that shower, we headed out into the night. One of the guys in our group had a friend in Dublin who arranged a private room for us to have dinner at the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in all of Ireland. We had Irish stew, had some lovely conversation, and then Seamus sang some traditional folk songs for us. It was a great welcome to Dublin.

That’s all I can do now; I’ll fill in the rest of the blanks later! Pics on Facebook, if this network will allow me to do that!

Isle of Man, Day 9 & 10

Well, it's actually Day 11 now, around 9 am, and the group is sitting in the the sea terminal in Douglas, waiting for the ferry to take us to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since we haven't gotten there yet, I'll stick to IOM events that I have missed for the last couple of days; you'll be reading about Ireland soon enough!

Monday was Day 9, which was Tynwald Day on the Isle of Man. It's a celebration of the more than 1,000 years of the democratic parliament that governs the island. It was really interesting to see the pomp and circumstance involved. We took cabs to Tynwald Hill, which is a tiered hill where the celbration takes place every year. The ceremony starts with military bands and marching, is followed by a church service, and then ends with the procession of the members of the law-making body up the hill to proclaim to the public the laws that were passed during the last year. In true British style, there were many kilts and ladies in fancy, feathered hats to be seen. Behind the hill there was a huge carnival set up, where one brave member of our group ate a kipper bap and lived to tell about it; bless him. After the festivities, we all headed back to the hotel, had a 5 pm class session on the First Branch of the Mabinogi, our text for the week. My roommie and I had a lovely bottle of wine and dinner at an Indian restaurant, then spent some time socializing with the group back at the hotel.

Tuesday was Day 10 and our last field trip while stationed in Douglas. We got up, breakfasted, and got ready to leave. Well, most of us did leave, and a few of us stayed behind a bit at the hotel to make phone calls to make arrangements in Ireland (this includes me). We took the electric tram up the mountain to Maughold, which was another lovely churchyard with stone crosses by the sea. We split up after that, some traveling on to other lovales, some heading back into town. I headed back into Douglas, had lunch on the Promenade, then spent more time making travel arrangements for the group. We had class again at 5 to discuss branch 2 of the Mabinogi, ordered in takeout, and drank much wine. It was our last night in Douglas, so all stayed in for the night.

Well, it's boarding time! More later!!! Check Facebook for photos!

Isle of Man, Day 7 & 8

I am so exhausted. It's almost midnight and I've been up and out since 5 am, so this will be super duper short!

Yesterday, Saturday, was meant to be a day of "rest." Beth and I dropped off our laundry in the morning then set off to find our crosses on the Isle we had been assigned. We found Beth's cross at Michael and then attempted to find mine at Braddan. Obstacles were met and overcome; I'll leave it at that for now. Just know that there was much waiting in the rain for buses, being left in the middle of nowhere, and taking Charlie's name in vain for giving us our assignment. After we finally managed to reach the hotel that evening, it was time to go out to have a pint for Earl's birthday (and to celebrate the 4th of July).

Today, Sunday, we were up at 5, catching an early cab, and heading to Peel. A group of us had chartered a boat to go to Whitehaven in Cumbria, England. The boat trip was beautiful; it was an amazing day to be on the Irish Sea. The trip took about two hours and I really enjoyed myself; we could see the Isle of Man (of course), Ireland, Scotland, and England on the way there. Whitehaven itself was a sleepy little port, but our goal was to get out to the Lake District. We tried to find a way to Beatrix Potter's Cottage, but on a Sunday with limited time, it was not going to happen. Instead we took cabs to the nearest lake, which was at Ennerdale. It was a magical little spot. We hiked out to the lake, had a lovely little picnic lunch with cheese, fruit, bread, and red wine on the shore and then hiked around through the wildflowers. We had lunch back in Whitehaven, had a pint at a pub and watched the end of the Federer/Roddick match at Wimbledon, then headed back out to sea. The return trip was a bit bumpier, but we were back in Peel by 9...just in time to see the dramatic finale of the annual Viking Festival on the beach. It was truly entertaining; the Viking invasion of Man was staged, the first Tynnwald was staged, then a Viking burial ship was set afire at sea; all of this was dramatic music and monologue being piped over loudspeakers. It was quite a sight. You must go to that Facebook link to check it out!

Bed time!

Isle of Man, Days 5 & 6

So, big surprise, I'm behind on this blogging thing again. I'll keep it short!

Thursday was Day 5 on the IOM, and it was pretty low key. We had our last class session of the week in the morning. This time Charlie demonstrated some of the Old Irish pronunciations in the Tain for us (and then we sadly attempted to mimic him). We chatted again about the text as a whole and called it a day. When we get to Ireland next week, we will be looking at sites from the Tain, so we will still be discussing it a bit, even though our official book next week is the Mabinogi. We'll work with that one on Monday and Tuesday before we head off-island.

Suzy and I got lost trying to find a post office, then ended up having tea at the Manx Museum again. We ventured down to the Promenade and had dinner at an Italian place called La Piazza. After that we came back to the hotel, congregated on the patio and in the lounge, and went to bed early.

Friday (today) was the first official day of our long weekend in Douglas. It had rained during the night for the first time since we arrived, so the temperature had cooled off quite a bit when we got up for breakfast. A group of us decided to be adventurous and book a horse trek, even though the skies were still stormy and gray. By the time our cab van arrived, it was raining pretty steadily, but we soldiered on. The drive to the horse farm itself was a bit of an adventure itself (especially where we crossed the tiny bridge with the sign post that marked "Weak Bridge"). The farm was lovely, settled in the middle of several hills in the village of Cronk y Voddy. It had been probably 20 years since I had been on a horse, so it definitely took some getting used to. The trek was terrific; the landscape was beautiful, even though the fog and the rain followed us there. At one point it was raining so hard that I could see nothing. Thankfully, we had Briony, our amazing guide, who led us through it all. The trek lasted for about two hours, and by the end of it, we were drenched, and covered in horse hair. I loved it! Our cabbie was waiting for us at the farm when we got back, and he ferried us home again. Showers were in order all around, and another trip was made to the Manx Museum for tea. Now it's about six p.m., we're lounging again, and preparing to head back to the Promenade for dinner at a pub by the Irish Sea....more later.

Keep checking that Facebook link for pictures!

Isle of Man, Day 4

I know that I'm less than a week in to my five week adventure in the UK, but I think that today I discovered my favorite spot on the Isle of Man. We had another session this morning with Charlie and the Tain, then headed out for another field trip. This time the group traveled to the town of Peel to visit the House of Manannan.

We all took our own routes there, whether it was by bus or cab, and most of us ended up crossing paths somewhere during the day. I chose the cab route, which was well worth the few extra pounds. The House of Manannan was really kind of hokey, by was also really wonderful. From there we walked along the harbor to Peel Castle on St. Patrick's Isle (which is really not an island, since it is attached to Peel by a thin strip of land). This, for me, was the highlight of the adventure so far. The castle and surrounding sea were simply breathtaking; I know that's cheesey, but there is no other way to really describe it. All I wished was that I had a picnic basket, a bottle of wine, and a journal with me so that I could lie on the grass and enjoy it for several leisurely hours. My roommate and I plan to go back and climb to the top of Peel Hill, adjacent to the site, and do exactly that this weekend, if the good weather holds up.

We spent some time dipping our toes in the Irish Sea, then went in search of dinner. After some wandering we came across a pub called The Central Bar where we had drinks and a dinner of tapas with some wonderful Argentinian red wine. It could not have been more charming.

We loaded up a mini van cab, headed back to Douglas, and then our "usual" late night crew headed out for a pint or two at a neighborhood pub. It seems that we've explored a different one every night now.

After our session tomorrow, the group is free until we meet again Monday morning. My roommate and I plan to take a tour of the TT circuit this weekend, since the sites where the crosses Charlie assigned us to research are located along it. Other than that, I think we plan to stick to the Isle...unless Charlie can come through with some cheap tickets to Reykjavik (FINGERS CROSSED).

Pictures still will not upload here, so keep using that Facebook link!

Isle of Man, Day 3

Today was truly fantastic! We started off with breakfast, then off to class. Today our speaker was one of our profs, Charles MacQuarrie, linguist extraordinaire. He spoke about the background of Indo-European languages, then a bit about our first book up for discussion, the Tain Bo Cuailnge. After that we broke up into groups to start discussing the study questions Charlie had given us on the book (which is clearly his favorite; there are over 100 questions on this book and maybe 20 for each of the others).

Then, it was field trip time! We walked down the Promenade and tried to catch a ride on a horse tram, but ended up at the Electric Railway temrinal before we found one available. We took an hour-long ride up to Mount Snaefell, the highest point on the Isle. According to legend, one can see Man, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, the Irish Sea, and Heaven from the top of the mountain. Unfortunatley, Manannan's cloak kept us from seeing too far out. We spent about an hour exploring the mountaintop, which was amazingly green and mossy and springy and covered with sheep and battered by time and wind. When we came back down to Douglas, we caught a horse tram, which carried us back to the hotel.

At dinnertime, we headed to the Sea Terminal and boarded a crusie ship, which took us on a three hour tour of the Isle. We had a few setbacks, but all in all, the cruise was really enjoyable. We got to spend time together both as a whole group and mingling around in small groups. The Isle and the Irish Sea were both beautiful at night.

After that, some of us headed off for a pint at a spot near the sea...and here I am, back at home! Still having picture troubles (ARGH), so for now, keep checking that Facebook link back a couple of posts.

The Isle of Man, Day 2

Today was our first full day on the Isle. We started off with the (now) usual full breakfast, although a Manx one, not English. The only difference is that the bacon here is really salty and fatty; it's really good with toast, eggs and tomato!

Today was also our first official day of "class." We had our first speaker this morning; Jennifer Kewley Draskau is one of the few experts in Manx language on the planet. She has written a book on Manx grammar and pronunciation that is now being used across the Isle. It was written especially for the one school on the Isle that has a Manx immersion program. The language has been virtually lost since the 19th century and has not been taught at school or spoken by natives here for generations, but there has recently been a revivial.

After our meeting, the group walked down to the Manx Museum for a crash course in the history of the island, from the prehistoric to the present. It was a lovely little spot, high up on a hill that overlooked the water, from where one could see the city and the hills beyond. At the museum, we were each assigned a different Manx stone to research by Charlie, one of our two professors. I was given a rather famous stone from Braddan to research. We scurried around the museum and library on our little scavenger hunt and then had a lovely tea in the dining room.

The afternoon consisted of our first shopping trip to the local supermarket and a cat nap before dinner. One of the ladies on the trip was celebrating her birthday today, so we got dressed up and took her out for Indian food. We went to a nice spot on the promenade, overlooking the sea, then ended up at a pub near our hotel for a few drinks.

I am still having trouble uploading pictures to the blog here, so you might just have to check the link to my Facebook page from the previous post for new ones, for now!

London, Day 2 & 3, and the Isle of Man

I'm behind, so I'll give the short short version of events again...

Saturday in London: my roommie and I got up, had English Breakfast (we did NOT try the baked beans; I'm sorry, it's just too strange), went to the British Museum (SO crowded, and cat mummies? weird!), strolled to St. Martin's in the Fields, had tea at the Crypt there, and headed to the National Gallery. One thing we saw really disturbed me: Friday night, hundreds of people held a vigil in Trafalgar Square in honor of Micheal Jackson, and during that some number of them decided to DEFACE the outside of the National Gallery by writing notes to MJ all over the bricks. A much funnier scene we witnessed on our way back to the hotel: near the British Museum in Bloomsbury Square (a lovely little park where people picnic and sunbathe), we saw a 60-something year old woman, dressed very nicely in a sweater, long skirt, pantyhose and heels...squatting and urinating on a bush in the park. It felt like I was right in the middle of Bourbon Street. That night we met up with a few people from our group and had dinner in the neighborhood; very low key.

Sunday in London/Douglas, Isle of Man: had English breakfast again, strolled around the neighborhood in the direction we had not explored yet; almost EVERYTHING was closed, so we went to Charles Dickens' House. Then we found a perfect little pub on Queen's Square, had a pint, and took a taxi to London City Airport. The flight to the Isle of Man was short, but turbulent. The Isle is soooooo lovely! As we flew in, it was like a perfect picture post card: cows and fields and cliffs and ocean. We took another taxi to our new hotel and finally got to meet up with the rest of our group (only about 5 of the 15 of us had been in London for the weekend). Beth and I carried our gear up to the 3rd floor, unpacked our bags, then the whole group went walking to the Promenade, the seafront area in Douglas. We had dinner and drinks in the basement of a little Italian place, then half of us ended up at a little Irish pub where more drinks were had...Now, I am off to bed!

P.S. I have tried 5 times to post pics with this post, and it is still not working. I'm posting some to my Facebook page, and I'll try here again later!

London, baby!

A small part of the wall of Chimay bottles downstairs at Belgo

Satan Ale, the beer and its eponymous glass, at Belgo

Belgo at sunset (around 9:30 PM)

The view from the bicycle taxi

The ladies wanted to eat here, but the men wanted the beer selection at Belgo's


I am here. I am exhausted. Where to begin...

I shared a taxi from Heathrow into the city when I arrived at noon. Apparently, jet lag is a good look for me because the cabbie gave me his number and told me to "ring him for coffee or drinks." If anyone is lonely in London, I'll be happy to pass Tyler's digits on to you.

I arrived at the Park Inn, Russell Square and was SO pleased to discover both hot water and air conditioning in my room. Score! Beth, my roommate for the trip, arrived; we introduced ourselves and napped. We set off to meet the rest of our group around the corner at the flat one of our professors is renting. Drinks were had, plans were made.

The group took off on foot, walking from Bloomsbury to Covent Garden, where we had dinner at Belgo. It was a really interesting spot; all Trappist, Belgian beers and food stuffs served by waiters in Trappist robes. Our Columbian driver almost ran over a small dog in his bicycle taxi.

I know; this is the Cliff Notes version of the adventure so far. I am worn out and will report with more zeal soon!

The Final Countdown...

With only 9 days left until my departure, I'm starting to get pretty excited. I did a trial run on packing with the medium-sized suitcase yesterday with surprising success. I managed to get all of my clothes rolled up and jammed in to one side, leaving the other for the copious amount of other junk I need to take. I made tedious, long lists of everythig that fit in the suitcase, all the tech junk going in my backpack, and all the small stuff I still need to get (sunscreen, dramamine for those 3 hour long ferry rides across the Irish Sea, etc.). Today I will be heading to Target with the supply list, and after I knock that out, I should be ready to go.

Suzy, one of the ladies in my group, and I will both be arriving at noon at Heathrow next Friday, so we'll be sharing a taxi into Bloomsbury. There are about six of us who will be arriving early in London for the weekend, in addition to our group leaders Clinton and Charlie, and we'll be having an official meet and greet at 4 PM at the Royal Overseas League near St. James's Palace. I can't wait to meet everyone; we've done more than a fair amount of e-mailing since we were all notified of winning the fellowship, but it will be nice to connect the faces with all the snarky comments. This should be a lively group! In addition to drinks on Friday, we've planned a visit to the British Library, British Museum, a performance of As You Like It at The Globe, eating lots of dim sum, and having many more drinks. A busy weekend it will be!

Stumped.

Last week when I picked up my plane tickets from the travel agent, I noticed a disturbing discrepancy regarding luggage regulations on my first two flights. I will be flying into London on Delta, and after a long weekend in the city, I will be flying to the Isle of Man on Aer Arann.

Detour: First and foremost let me admit how terrified I am of flying, under any circumstance. My first plane flight was a 9-hour nail-biter to London fifteen summers ago. Back then, you could smoke on international flights, and I still smoked, so that eased much of my tension. Not only do I have to undertake another Trans-Atlantic crossing (without the aid of nictoine), but shortly afterward I also have to fly on one of the smallest planes known to man. This is my nightmare flight. (Okay, maybe after the recent plane crash in Brazil, both flights have featured strongly in my nightmares). In reality, that flight will only be 45 minutes long, but in my wild imagination, it will last much longer.

Back to the topic: My Delta flight allows two suitcases between 50 and 70 lbs. on international flights, but my Aer Arann flight only allows one suitcase of no more than 33 lbs. (Darn that tiny plane!) I was already close to panic mode at the thought of having to pack every item I might possibly need during a span of six weeks into one suticase, but now this? I must admit, I am stumped. I'm trying to imagine how my suitcase, clothes, shoes, toiletries, books, and miscellaneous junk will weigh less than 33 lbs. I'm also wondering why I bothered buying three new suitcases. It's like the Rubix cube of packing.

Why in the world do I need a blog???

If you are reading this blog, you probably already know (and love) me. Otherwise, I can't imagine why you would be here. Just in case you stumbled upon this by mistake, let me explain the reason for this blog's existence.

I am a high school teacher in suburban Jackson, Mississippi. I teach senior English (Brit lit) and AP Art History. This spring I was awarded a fellowship, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, to study Celtic literature, language, and art in the United Kingdom. There will be fifteen teachers in the group from all over the country, although I am most definitely in the minority as a southerner. We will be spending three weeks studying on the Isle of Man (in the cities of Douglas and Castletown) and two weeks at the University of Scotland at Glasgow. We will also spend time in Dublin and Belfast, Ireland, and Edinburgh, Scotland.

My wonderful, enthusiastic co-workers convinced me that I needed to keep a blog this summer, in order to keep them up to date on my whereabouts and my activities...so here I am. As of today, I am three weeks from my departure, so there's not much to report. In the interim I will probably upload some info on the texts we will be discussing this summer and some of my travel plans. Hopefully you will be spared from all the gory details of my packing and preparation, but only time will tell. For now I will simply say, hello, dear reader! This link will take you to the program's web site so you can see what's in store for me.