July 9: Motorcycling, Point of Air, The Craig, & Racing

Today we went for a motorcycle ride along the TT route.   Yes, we went Fast as there are no speed limits outside each village border. It's funny though because I never feel afraid because I know Tim is being careful.  He wants to have fun, but he knows the limits of his bike and his abilities and he wants to live to ride another day.  It was a VERY cool and windy day.   After riding the tt track we went to the coast at the"Point of Air" and we could see Scotland from the beach off in the distance.  Someone has actually written it in chalk with an arrow!  We walked the show and I collected some rocks to bring home. While the Beach was beautiful,  it's a bit too chilly for me.   60 degrees in July is not summer to me.  This is a beautiful place, but I wouldn't want to live here.
Pictures are here :  https://plus.google.com/photos/104423898538711271791/albums/6036435132884194641?authkey=CMGT886P17_ePw

July 8: Castle Rushen / Elevensies Tea

Today we went to see Castle Rushin. It is a very old Castle but pretty well preserved. I was really surprised at how small the rooms are andhow dark they were.  It must not have been a pleasant life living in those circumstances.  Once it wasn't used as a Castle anymore, it was used as a prison.  It was so solid and we'll built even though it was made of uncut stones piled up.  I'm seeing that the people in Europe reuse old buildings rather than tear them down or build new ones because they lack the SPACE. In the USA we take land for granted because there is so much of it,  but here land and space in general come at a premium.  All the homes are small in comparison to ours and everything in them as well,  from the appliances to the furniture. I guess I never really thought about how large our country is in comparison to each European country. While walking in the Castle I thought of the people who lived there and what their lives may have been like.   Seeing a real Castle,  its size and characteristics do not fit the romanticized picture I had in my head. Ate the Castle we had tea and headed for the races.
Pictures are here :  https://plus.google.com/photos/104423898538711271791/albums/6035215666108004977?authkey=CPqEpLSO-IGZmgE

July 7: Tynwald Day, Viking Village, and Tea (of course)

Today was Tynwald day which is a national holiday of the Manx people.  It is when the Parliament meets to discuss matters of state.   What I did not understand before is that the Isle of Man is a separate country and only militarily protected by British rule. Actually the whole thing is pretty confusing to me, I need to do further research.  The Whole ceremony while full of "pomp and circumstance" didn't actually accomplish anything.  We enjoyed going to the Viking exhibits and taking pictures of the historic buildings.   After this we went to a tea shop for lunch and just enjoyed the afternoon.  After our late lunch, I went back to the flat for a nap.  Tim and I always feel tired.   This is because we are always "on alert" in a sense.   Everything is a learning experience.   From figuring out how to work the shower in each place we stay,  to learning the different words they have here for items that are familiar to us.   One example is that I'd always heard of the English eating "tea and crumpets".  I wondered what a crumpet was.   Cathryn bought us some to try and they ended up being what we call "English Muffins",  only a little thicker.   They use different words for things.  They say "toilet" or "loo" instead of bathroom or restroom.  Our minds are constantly working to process all the new information.
The temperature is in degrees Celsius,  rather than Fahrenheit.   They call gasoline,  petrol and it's sold by the liter,  not the gallon.   The currency here is the Manx pound,  which is technically the same as the British pound except the Manx pound has a different picture on one side of the notes AND the mainland stores won't take the Manx notes and vise-versa!  If we look at the prices in pounds as dollars,  they seem about the same as in the U.S., but they really aren't because the exchange rate for the dollar is so low.   It takes $1.60 dollars to make one pound.   If we go out to eat,  and a meal is say 8.99 £,  it's really $14.36, almost double !  This is making us be extra careful with our money. We usually eat breakfast wherever we are staying and eat only one meal out per day. We won't be bringing back many souvenirs, but I did get myself a Viking necklace and Tim got a Southern 100 T-shirt.  Oh,  and I did get some rocks from the shore at Tintagel Castle. :)
After my nap we went out to where the races are being held.  We met some people there from the Netherlands.   Tim talked to so many people. He was in heaven talking to so many motorcycle enthusiasts.  For me,  the races weren't that exciting,  but it was wonderful to see Tim's face light up.
Pictures are here:  https://plus.google.com/photos/104423898538711271791/albums/6033328572776271777?authkey=CLyrwbSk85b4eQ

July 6: Church, Sunday Dinner, & Interesting Conversation

On Sunday, Cathryn was going to church, so she invited us.  Tim was itching to go on a lone ride, so he went riding and I attended church with Cathryn.  It was a wonderful experience.  We haven't found a church we like yet in our new area, so it had been a while since I'd been in church.  I realized just how much I missed it.  All the people were so welcoming and friendly.  The service was much like the ones we attended in Greensboro when we were going to Westminster Presbyterian.  After church they had tea in the fellowship hall and I had the chance to talk with a few of Cathryn's friends.  Cathryn is very invested in her church and community.  I really like that about her.  She is very much a soul like me.  I even went with her to check on her teen group who were camping this past weekend.  After church we went back to the flat and met up with Tim.  We wanted to take Cathryn to lunch so she chose a place in town.  We had a typical English Sunday Dinner of assorted meats, potatoes, pudding, and tea.  It was wonderful.  After dinner we went back to the flat and relaxed and just talked with Cathryn.  She has many of the same books in her book shelf as I have.  We also did laundry, and I did some work on my online class. I learned so much from talking with Cathryn.  The Isle of Man is a separate country and is a protectorate of Great Britain.  It has it's own government, laws, economy, currency and culture.  A person has to have 4 Manx grandparents to be considered native Manx.  The Manx tail-less cats are bred here, and ONLY here.  We learned that it is quite difficult to get permission to live on the island.  Cathryn is not native Manx and had to have a job request her in order to move here.  There is hardly any crime here.  The biggest crime they had last year was when a woman had a garden sculpture stolen from her yard.  It was returned to the police station a week later with a note of apology !  It is even more expensive to live on the island than in the UK as a whole as everything not produced here has to be brought over on the ferries.  The government owns the ferry lines and has a monopoly on it, the electric service, internet, and phone services.  So, they can charge what they want, and do so !  While some building of new homes happens, the new homes are made to look like the older ones.  More to learn tomorrow !

July 5th: Ferry Ride to the Motorcycle Meca, Island of Man !

We got up this morning and headed for Heysham to catch the ferry.  We loaded up the bike and settled in for the 3 hour trip.  The food on the ferry was expensive, but they had the usual offerings: a curry dish, and a "full English breakfast" which consists of: eggs, tomatoes (roasted or stewed or fresh) fried mushrooms, bacon, sausage, and what we call in the states "baked beans".  some places also include "chips"-- steak fries.
While sitting on the ferry we met up with an older gentleman who was also going over for the Southern 100 race.  His name was Bryan and we enjoyed talking to him about motorcycling, racing, etc.  Once we arrived on the Island, I understood why Tim loved it so much.  It is so picturesque.  The Island has several perfect little seaside towns.  We were couch surfing here so we went to meet up with our hostess, Catheryn.  She welcomed us with open arms, her flat was beautiful and we could see the race pavilions from her living room window !  Her place was so clean and neat, and honestly, the best accommodations we'd had thus far !  Cathryn had some errands to run, so Tim went for a bike ride and I wandered around the town for a bit.  We didn't stay up too late, we had much to do on the morrow !
Pictures here: https://plus.google.com/photos/104423898538711271791/albums/6033329059706981585?authkey=CLborfqbmNvnRA

July 4: Rainy day/Manchester Museum of Science & Industry When

When we got up in the morning it was raining. I'd  hoped to go back to Bath, but it wasn't an option as I misjudged the distance, it was 4 hours to Bath, not two, and we weren't going to do it in the rain. We donned our rain gear and headed for the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. At the Museum there was an exhibit about the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) and the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle. The need that I am wanted to see it so I went to do that while Tim went to look at old engines. It was a slow, relaxing day.

July 3: Lost in Bath / Travel to Manchester

We got rather a late start after our exciting trip the night before. The plan was to stop in Bath for a few hours on our way to Manchester and see the old Roman Baths, and maybe even have a Spa treatment or two. .. That was the plan anyway. When we first got into town we were surprised at how large a city it was. The first order of business for me, with my small bladder was to find a restroom, and quick! We were on a one way street when I spotted a McDonald's so I asked Tim to just pull over and let me off.  That's what we did, I had to use the toilet so urgently that I didn't think of anything else. I assumed Tim would go around the block and come get me and we'd be on our way. I used the "loo", and went back out to wait for Tim. There was a little bench outside the McDonald's so I sat there. When he didn't show for 10 minutes, I figured he was stuck in traffic since it was rush hour. When 20 minutes went by I started getting uncomfortable, then 40 minutes, then 45 minutes.... I couldn't call him because my phone was with him on the bike. I believed that he was either lost, or had been in an accident. Since he had the GPS, I started to think the latter. I started wondering what I should do. "Do I go into the McDonald's and ask to use the phone? Who do I call? I had no money, no identification, --nothing. Over an hour had gone by. . I was sitting there beginning to panic when Tim walked up behind me looking just as paniced as I. We cried in relief. Not only did he get stuck in traffic, he got caught in a traffic detour due to a University graduation which had just ended. When he finally got on to a clear road, he was lost. When he put the McDonalds address into the GPS, it took him to a Street but there wasn't a McDonald's there. He finally parked the bike and started out on foot to find me. Needless to say by the end of this ordeal we just got on the bike and rode towards Manchester. We arrived in Manchester fairly late, 10pm, and went to our host's house. We knocked for over 10 minutes before they answered, we thought we were in the wrong place. When they finally answered, we just went in and went to bed. No pictures today. :(