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!