Isle of Man again

Welcome to the Isle of Man.

I think all of us took a picture of this awning. My mother took a picture of all of us "Corletts" under the sign - we were totally holding up the line. I haven't seen the photos she took yet. I hope that one comes out well.

from Wikipedia

The Arms consist of shield bearing the triskelion, a symbol consisting of three bent human legs, on a red field. The triskelion is an ancient symbol used in the Isle of Man. The supporters are a falcon and a raven. The falcon is used due to the historical importance of the bird in the Island's history in that when Henry IV of England gave the Isle of Man with all its rights to Sir John Stanley on condition that he paid homage and gave two Peregrine falcons to him and to every future King of England on his Coronation Day. This tradition carried on up to the Coronation of George IV in 1822. The raven is used as a bird that features in Manx legends. The shield is mounted by a St. Edward's Crown, representing the British monarch who is referred to on the island as The Queen, Lord of Mann.

The motto is Quocunque Jeceris Stabit (Latin: Wherever you throw it, it will stand)

A banner of the arms is used as the flag of the Isle of Man.

This sculpture is just outside the doors of the airport terminal. It was the most unusual representation of the triskelion that we saw on the Island. I really love the motto, wherever you throw it, it will stand. You can really see that in this sculpture.


The first thing we did was to get on one of the double-decker buses. I think these buses were actually in Ramsey, but you get the idea. We didn't rent a car on the island, so we were riding the other transportation options. It was nice, real nice. We bought a 3 day pass that allowed us to ride all the trains, the buses, and the horse tram.


We checked into our hotel on the Queens Promenade. It's the furthest end of the promenade away from the heart of downtown Douglas. Douglas is the largest, most populated town on the island - although it isn't called a city because it doesn't have a cathedral.

There is a gorgeous Panoramic view of Douglas Bay. Be sure and take a look. Out in the water you can see a little castle. It's called the Tower of Refuge. The photos I took were fairly awful. It was cloudy, rainy and I was too far away to get a good shot, but the links below have some really nice views.


Very close up view of the Refuge - Isle of Man Guide

Isle of Man: The Tower of Refuge Video

This is a really cool photo of low tide and the Refuge Castle.




The first day on IOM (Isle of Man) we all went down to the harbor to catch the steam train to Port Erin. These boats caught my eye as we were headed toward the station.



I really liked the old old stone on the top of this building. I'm assuming the brick has been covered over on the bottom portion of the building, but it's still underneath.



I can't remember where I took this photo, but it was IOM. It's a close up of an iron gate. I loved the chipped paint, the knob and the bright bright greenery.


This is the steam train station. It was gorgeous. The red brick was truly brilliant.

The steam train was very cool. It was individual cars with two bench seats, facing each other. All 6 of us were able to get one car. The ride was about 30 - 45 minutes down to Port Erin. We saw more pheasants and rabbits than I'd ever seen in my life. They don't have any natural enemies on the island, so they literally have the run of the place. The pheasants were just standing in the fields, hanging out. Same with the rabbits. Truly amazing.



This was the coastline at Port Erin. Rugged Beauty.

We walked around a bit and then took the bus to Castletown, then another bus to Douglas. When we took the bus from the airport, we had to sit on the first level, because we had bags we needed to hold onto & it was just easier to not haul them up the stairs. This bus ride though, we were without baggage! So we sat up on the top. I really liked that.

More to come. Tomorrow? I hope so...
Kristin