Canadianjulie's travel blogs:
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Isle of Man - my new home away from home
Entry 13 of 38 | show all | print this entry |
After my last entry in Liverpool, I went back to the hostel for dinner, where I met Rachel (from Wales) and Melissa (from New Zealand) - two girls who had met a month ago while travelling. They were super friendly and invited me to have a drink and play pool with them, which we did! During a fresh air / cigarette break, we were standing outside the hostel when an obviously drunk man with a beer under his arm approached us. He introduced himself as George and continued to tell us he'd just been released from prison after being locked up for 18 1/2 years. After we gave him all fake names and Rachel (aka Ann) gave him the rest of her cigarette, he suddenly went mad and started yelling at Melissa (aka Nathalie), calling her selfish and vindictive, and saying that she didn't want to anger him or it would be the last thing she would ever do! I guess prison doesn't really help with social skills... We convinced him to leave shortly after and retreated inside, so all is well, and now we're left with this crazy story!
After packing up my belongings, I headed to the Liverpool Pier to board a ferry headed for the Isle of Man (and stood at the intersection of Canada Boulevard and Mann Island!). the ferry was delayed by 30 minutes, and had to wait an additional hour before it could leave for the Queen Elizabeth II cruise liner to turn around in the port and finally dock. It was quite a bumpy ride, but I met a very friendly Manx girl. When I finally arrived in Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, Katie's mom came to pick me up and drove me to Katie's house, wher eI had a cup of tea and waited for my friend to return from work. It was so good to see her again after four years! In our first strange mind-reading moment, we decided to have fajitas and wine for dinner, and ended up talking and catching up for hours!
When we woke up to rain the next morning, we decided to indulge in a lazy day and watched BBC's 'Pride and Prejudice', which we had started the night before (after talking about my trip to Bath and our mutual love of Jane Austen and Mr. Darcy!). On Saturday evening, we were invited to join five of Katie's friends for a sushi party. As it turned out, I was the only one who knew how to roll sushi (thanks to Fiona!) and taught the others how it was done. We had a wonderful night filled with good food and good conversation. I even discovered a new, and very cool, instrument called the 'hang'. This rare and hard-to-obtain instrument is like a steel drum (shaped like two woks stuck together) and makes a sound I'd never heard before! Everyone was so friendly and inclusive, it felt like I was just hanging out with my friends. :)
Luckily for us, Sunday brought a beautiful sunny day. I had given Katie some Canadian maple syrup to thank her for letting me stay there, so I made French toast for breakfast. I also baked an apple pie, because Katie had received a load of apples and we were just discussing my love of baking...so I got inspired! We then drove all around the island, where I got to see beautiful mountains, the sea, and even Ireland and England! We ate lunch outdoors at a quaint restaurant and headed north in the afternoon to visit a waterfall and the 'Calf of Man' - the Isle of Man's neighbouring baby island! We visited Katie's friend Anthea for a cup of tea, and headed to her parents' house for tea (which is actually dinner...it gets quite confusing! haha). Her mom cooked us a delicious lamb casserole, and we ate the apple pie for dessert. Back at Katie's, we watched 'The Chorus' which is an excellent film!
It was great to have Katie show me around the island - I feel like I got a real sense of what it's like. It felt like home, especially because I was in the good company of her friends and family. I discovered that Manx people are extremely friendly - and quite as superstitious! Not only do all the regular superstitions apply, but you must also thank the ferries when you drive over their bridge, and whatever you do - never say the word 'r.a.t.'! Even writing it now is quite an offense (notice the periods). I learned this lesson the hard way on Saturday night, when I blurted it out, thinking nothing of it, and everyone in the room stopped talking and stared at me in shock! Ooops!! Another thing about the Manx, which might have even shocked me more, is that they share one of our 'ever-so-unique' Quebec signature dishes....the poutine!! I couldn't believe it, I thought it was ours, and only ours! Although they call their dish 'chips, cheese and gravy' (how original...haha), it's pretty much exactly the same, minus the curds. Unbelievable! I actually tasted it for lunch, and it wasn't half bad!
Where I stayed:
Katie's House
Latest Comments (3)
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Man from Prsion (reply)
Oct 9, 2008 10:58 EST by ajayoub
Oh my GOD! Please be careful, you never know what can happen. I almost fell out of my chair reading this part of your blog honey. Katie's and her family seem to be so very nice and please thank her mom for me for picking you up. I miss you and please be careful out there sweetheart. Continue to have fun and enjoy your trip. I love you so very much.
Hugs and kisses.
Mom
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Re: Oups!!! (reply)
Oct 8, 2008 06:25 EST by canadianjulie
C'est fait! Merci :)
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In reply to:
Cette entrée a été datée le 6 novembre.
Peux-tu la changer???
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