Foreign Couple spotted on Isle of Man

August 22 - August 24

The Isle of Man is a small tax-haven in the middle of the Irish Sea. It is part of the UK but it seems to follow their own law when they wish, since it is so isolated anyway. We set off on our Steam Packet ferry catamaran and arrived late at night to see the coastline of Douglas lit up and full of motorcycle fans. There was a cycle race this weekend on the island; the Isle has been known for its friendliness to motorsports for over a century but I swear this had NOTHING to do with me wanting to visit ;). With the hotels and bars full of racing fans, whitewashed sea side buildings and curving bay promenade I was immediately comparing it to the principality of Monaco, also long having been on my list of places to visit. Anyways we tiredly checked into our hotel and
I looked forward to my day exploring the island and motorsport attractions.

We rented our crappiest and smallest car ever, a Chevy Matiz, and visited the start/finish line grandstands, pits and paddock of the circuit. Lots of fast looking cycles, historic looking signage and cool souvenirs. We took two laps around the 40 mile island road circuit (not closed off for practice until later) and I enjoyed every minute of it in our glorified golf cart Chevy. Many motorcycles passed us but I was too busy taking in all the turns, sights and roads to care. Castletown, Ramsey and Douglas were all awesome places to enjoy the sea and motorcycles. I will have to return again some day because 1 day was not enough. There is a car rally earlier in the season and Jessie read that there are several island racing championships in which visitors and particpants can partake. Awesome Awesome Awesome place to race and visit to see the landscapes. One day I want to live here and just race all year around the island.

August 17 - August 21

Returned the Ka, got back home and time to get ready for our big Ireland Adventure.

Our Sunday flight (which we orginally missed) was otherwise uneventful. Arriving in Belfast we we got a taste of sweet-home-Chicago by watching Dark Knight at the theatre. Good movie, I bet someone is building a bike like Batman's right now to ride around with a cape on.

We were anxious to see the Giant's Causeway and other natural sights in Northern Ireland so we rented a Renault Clio and took the wonderful and somewhat treacherous coastal route. The Causeway was just as impressive as we were led to believe. We also visited a small rope bridge which offered geat views and even a quick thrill. Another fun drive on back roads back to Belfast and we hopped right into a taxi for one of Belfast's famous taxi tours. Although Belfast has been much more peaceful lately, the Troubles (as the North/South, Protestant/Catholic, Separatist/Unionist violence was referred to) were explained to us by our driver. I didn't know that there remain skirmishes but even today the division walls and automatically closing gates are still in use. Coincidently and unfortunately while we were there we heard reports of North police officers a few towns away being attached with rockets and grenades while we were in town. While this city reminds me of the divided Berlin, Berlin has since removed outward violence between the two sides. I am sure it is easy for me to say, but it seems like a successful, wealthy and healthy area of the world could/should find something better to do besides fight. Our taxi had many British Leyland parts like my Range Rover, many of which had broken in the same way!

We took a bus to Dublin then hopped into our fourth rental car of the journey to drive to Sligo and Galway. Both towns were great coastal communities but for whatever reason failed to ignite much passion in me. I did enjoy the (free) Galway Museum, however and the city had a great, flooding river running through it for scenic views. Next to the rental car facility there was a fantastic JDM import car centre which was like a candy shop to me!

Back in Dublin, in an effort to save money, we bravely opted for a 10-bed dorm for two nights. The hostel itself was fine but our guests were late arriving party animal snorers, unfortunately. We got through it knowing that we would be enjoying our time around the great city and our next stops would be nicer. While in Dublin we enjoyed the Temple Bar restaurant and pub district, an historic walking tour and the Guiness brewery. Since I am kind of an old fart, this was a busy and partying time of year to visit so not my cup of tea but luckily the city had better things to do like photography exhibits, film viewings and plenty of cultural history.

One more stop on this trip to share, but for now I need a break.

August 7 - August 17

Here is a big post. This post includes a long weekend trip to Wales and a week long trip to Northern Ireland, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

While in Liverpool, wandered past Anfield Football Stadium where Liverpool FC plays. Happened to be a big game there and I hear that they are now in the World Championship so good luck to them. We also went on a Cain's Brewery tour which was pretty good.

Ok, onto a trip further from our flat. We set off in our rental Ford Ka for Chester, England. Well known for its well preserved architecture (from 1st - 19th centuries especially), Roman ruins and Tudor style row buildings. A great walking tour (containing much good natured and murderous teasing on nearby Welsh culture) included a long journey around the city's circumferential wall. This city was very fortunate to have its architecture and walls protected from Hitler's Blitz. I would put this town high on my list of places to visit or even visit again.

Next up, we crossed the border into Wales and visited a disappointed private castle home. Fortunately a guard there recommended Conwy Castle (as our flat maintenance man did). We were very very happy with this castle and the town of Conwy, Wales. It was an archtypical castle, although gutted, and next to a wonderfully picturesque martime village. This town also had a another surrounding wall which was able to be walked on (like Chester).

We spent the night in yet another walled city called Llandreron or something, picturesque as well, and we visited a nearby pub which was oddly called the Little Black Boy Inn or something. Good beers, though. We tried to understand the Welsh language while eavesdropping but we had just as much luck with that as we did with the signs.

We drove through the scary looking mountains of SnowdoniaPark and had some rain and clouds. The roads here were bettered only by the ones in the Scottish Highlands so I enjoyed revving up the Ka and running it around the turns. I guess this explains why Top Gear regularly films around here.

The next day was spent in Cardiff and a great hostel (Riverhouse Backpackers was probably the best hostel we ever did or ever will stay in). Frankly we were pretty tired and broke from our earlier spending so we didnt do much here except eat and look around downtown and the riverside park. I did see the Millenium Stadium which is home of some stages of the WRC Rally GB.

Jul 28 - August 6

Not much to report here, just somethings I have been noticing and seeing. To save some money, Jessie and I are laying low and just trying to do some cheap things around Liverpool. We had a big splurge of 8 GBP each for a Cain's Brewery Tour which was pretty good; the building was quite old and interesting to look at and learn about.

I discovered a great collection of books at the Liverpool Central Library. This country is more enthused about motorsports I am interested in (Think Formula One, Rallying and NOT Nascar). There are about 3 months worth of solid reading there for me but I am sure I won't get to everything,

I stumbled across a Chess Tournament at St. George's the other day...that has never happened to me before but I went in and enjoyed it for about 8 minutes. It would have been much more interesting if the players had 30 second time limits.

Sometimes I watch the city's major roundabout from a park on a hill. I wish we had more of them in North America; they are quite efficient (and I think fun to drive briskly through). The intersections are always ultilized when there is someone wanting to use it and they result in much safer collision angles if the worst should happen. I heard Obama talking about ways to save gas with hybrids and plug-in cars. If we could eliminate the 20% or more of unnecessary signal interesections from streets back home I think we would save significant amounts of fuel (and injuries).

I am missing my car (my 4 runner when we go to the countryside, my old BMW when I read about car racing or watch videos).

Yesterday after getting groceries I went for a long walk around Liverpool. I visited a motorsports shop and talked with the owner for a while about his tarmac rally-prepared Vauxhall Corsa. He did an excellent job with the interior and his hand-made carbon fibre body panels. I coudl tell the car had only been driven 3 times since it still looked professional, clean and without a scratch on it.

Next I walked up the hill to the Williamson Tunnels. Very short story: the eccentric owner had labourers build them bascially as a make-work project before they became useless cess-pooled sewage and garbage dumps. After a quick stop to what would be a UK Lowe's competitor (Hardman's DIY and Garden Centre) I heard a loud dirtbike roaring around the streets nearby. 10 minutes later I see the bike parked next to a black Ford Focus wagon and circled by several guys in black clothes....the unmarked city police. I guess they nicked the guy for no registration, loud exhast and or reckess riding.

BBC has some great programs: Top Gear (of course), the Dragon's Den and The Long Way Around. The last show is Ewan McGregar and his buddy riding their BMW motorcycles from London to New York via Asia. Great show, I can't wait to see more next week.

Our next trip will be to Dublin, Belfast and the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man has been a goal visit of mine for a while due to its extensive motorsports history, features in Top Gear and its rural, unrestricted roads. Renting and driving a car there should be fun!

Thats all for now. Later.