Charlotte:
We went on a ferry all night long and got to Isle of Man early in the morning. I had a bad sleep on the ferry. I had to sleep on two chairs pushed together. For a blanket I used Dad’s sweater.
We stayed at the ferry port for awhile and ate some snacks from Costa. We had to wait until buses were working and our hotel was open.
We finally left and went on a horse tram to our hotel and left our bags. We couldn’t check in to our rooms until 3 o’clock. It was only 9:30am.
Sam:
Next we took the horse tram again to get to the electric railway. We went to Laxey. It had a mini steam train that went through a mine. Then we visited the Great Laxey Water Wheel. It is the biggest waterwheel in the world. We climbed up to the very top and saw a great view and the mechanisms. Then we took a long hike that led to nowhere. I was so tired!
Charlotte:
We got back on the train and took it up Snaefell mountain. It was a nice view and very beautiful. I had to watch out for sheep poop when I was walking around. We took a photo of me holding a cloud.
Sam:
After going up Snaefell mountain, we went back to our hotel in Douglas because we were really tired after being up pretty much all night and we were finally allowed to check in. I shared a room with Grandma and Charlotte. We went for a nap. I slept a bit and played video games. Our room was about three times bigger than my Mom and Dad’s room.
Charlotte:
For dinner, most restaurants were already closed, so we went to a pizza place. I ate some fries and garlic bread shaped like a pizza. Then we went back to the room with Grandma and Sam to sleep more.
Mom and Dad:
I’d love to say that we woke up this morning, well-rested in the Isle of Man, but that would be a little too generous. The ferry ride was from 1:30am until 6:00am, and very few of us were able to sleep. The seats were all divided not allowing us to lay down or spread out at all, even though there were very few passengers aboard. Some people resorted to laying on the floor. Charlotte curled up between two small chairs and slept for several hours. Sam tried to curl up around the end of a bench and slept on and off. The adults had very little sleep (or in my case, no sleep at all).
We were happy to disembark and catch our first glimpse of my ancestral land. However, because it was so early on a Sunday, we had to wait for transit to start, and thus spent a couple of hours in the sea terminal cafe before heading to our hotel to stow our luggage until we could check in at 3pm.
We made our way down the seaside promenade on a horse-drawn tram. It was so quaint!
Once our luggage was safely left at the hotel, we got back into the horse tram to its terminus to connect with the electric tram. We took that to a little village called Laxey, home to the world’s largest water wheel. We started off towards this attraction and noticed a little steam train that would take us through part of the old Laxey mines. We got onto the mini train, learned a bit about the history of the are, and enjoyed a ride through a tunnel. Then we made our way to the water wheel.
hat a beautiful feat of engineering! We climbed the narrow stone staircase up several storeys to reach the top platform. It provided a great view of the area, but I will admit that I was surprisingly afraid of the height. My legs were quite jello-y when I looked down and I felt a little breathless. Needless to say, I was happy and relieved when my feet hit solid ground once more.
We followed a hiking path to explore the mines, but after quite a long time, we still couldn’t find them, so we decided to head for lunch.
We had soup and sandwiches and then boarded another electric train to go up Snaefell mountain, the island’s highest point. Watching the scenery varying between coastline, small villages, farmland, and leafy green forests, I can honestly say that this island is one of my new favourite places on Earth.
The view from the top of Snaefell was stunning, as expected, affording us a glance at most of the island. I could have sat up there all day… had we not been so tired, of course. With grumpy, dozey kids and very heavy eyelids ourselves, we returned to Douglas and our hotel to check in and have a much-needed rest. Dad and I got our own room as Grandma took Sam and Charlotte for a couple of nights.
We met for a late supper. Our choices were very limited as many restaurants were closed on Sunday evenings after 7pm, so we opted for a little pizza place.
Back to the rooms for a good night’s sleep…🤞
Sam and Charlotte take on the world! 