Liverpool and Isle of Man

one of the all time best perks of now having all our kids out and about and doing their own thing is that i am able to accompany paul on his business trips! and he trips to some amazing places. i first tagged along to europe at the end of last year. he confessed that with me along he took it at a slower, more civilized pace than he normally would have but in saying that, we did cover six countries in 10 days: england, isle of man, wales, switzerland, france and italy. so, thanks for taking it "slower" paul, enabling us to savor together not just what you had to do, but what we wanted to do too.

with the plethora of photos i have of our travels, i will sporadically post them now and again on the blog. so let's begin with our arrival in liverpool, england and then our days on the beautiful isle of man. our first stop, upon arriving in liverpool from denver was penny lane and i mean get off the plane, pick up our car and go kind of first stop. yep, the penny lane which was actually a familiar and much used neighborhood bus depot for the boys, that inspired paul mcartney and john lennon to write the song of the same name. liverpool, childhood home to all of the beatles. what fun to be there and let paul especially indulge in his admiration of these guys. the other fascination i have of this city is its role in the history of my family. from both sides, many of my 2nd great grandparents emmigrated from the u.k. and europe from the port of liverpool. it was incredible to walk the docks and picture all the happenings there in the early 1800's.

next day, paul had a meeting on the isle of man so we boarded a quick half hour flight destined for this beautiful island in the irish sea that has always intrigued me. the isle of man, affectionately known simply as mann, did not disappoint, wow! first of all, our accommodations were dreamy - my favorite airbnb to date. photos 2 and 3 are the view we had over the harbor and onto the green rolling hills dotted with sheep. while paul was at his meeting, i explored the city of douglas walking down the shopping alleys and over to the ferry port. i also stood outside of the fence of the neighboring school to watch the carefree children lucky enough to live on this gentle, green island.

paul and i spent the rest of our days driving the island exploring its 100 mile breathtaking coast. stopping here and there for fish and chips, historical sites and lighthouses, hiking, chatting with fisherman and locals and learning all we could about the island. we saw green, rolling pastures of beautiful prized horses, and acres and acres of sheep as well as pheasants, seals and kept our eyes open for a manx cat, the domesticated, tailless breed traditionally believed to have originated on the island and known around the world. the island is also known worldwide for its annual isle of man tt motorcycle race. we followed most of the 38 mile track on which the race takes place, nearly all of the island's public road system.

 i would like to share a few fun facts with you about this small, only 30 miles long and 15 miles wide, but endearing island destination:

- it is self-governing but a british crown possession and is not a part of the european union

- it has the oldest standing parliament, tynwald, since being established by the vikings in the 900's

- the original language was manx, a gaelic language, unfortunately only a handful of people still have any knowledge of it

- the currency is the manx pound

- the flag is a triskelion made up of three armored legs with golden spurs on a red background - i love this symbol and heard many versions of its meaning, one explaining that "no matter how we land, we will always stand"

- the bee gees are from the isle of man! back in high school when the bee gees were the bomb, i first learned they were from the isle of man and have been intrigued ever since 

Decide what 

kind of life

you want

and then 

start saying no

to everything

that isn't that.