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!