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.