Holidays

We're just setting off to the shops when we get waylaid by a neighbour. It turns into a half hour chat, mainly about holidays. Another neighbour comes across to join in too. We're told of the delights of the Algarve, of a cruise to St Petersburg, of the north side of Cyprus, of holidays planned in Croatia, and we wonder if we'll manage holidays again.

We're contemplating seeing if we can get away. We're wondering about the exotic Isle of Man. The  ferry port is just minutes away from us. On the ferry/seacat, the Fox should be able to move around if his leg starts playing up. The island itself is fairly small so we should be able to get to most places within an hour's drive. That's if we want to go visiting somewhere. I seem to remember from my numerous childhood holidays there, that there is plenty to see & do, with variety too. The Fox has never been so it would be somewhere new for him.

And of course there's the food. The Manx kippers... The scallops.......Mmmm Mmmmm.

Personally I am grateful for the Isle of Man. I suppose it was probably there that my interest in history & historic buildings was born. The one place we visited every year in my childhood was the castle in Castletown. In those days, in each room, they had little stage sets of what the room would have been like in its heyday - very enlightened in the 1960s. These models helped the place come alive to a young child, as I was then. I avidly read some of the historical plaques. I loved the place. Unfortunately, if we do get to the Isle of Man some time, that is one place I can't see us visiting. In the thirteenth century they didn't build such places with wheelchair access in mind!

The real thing against the Isle of Man is the weather which is unpredictable as it is in any part of Britain. But now I expect some days we will just want to take it easy, not go anywhere much, rest up to give the legs of both of us chance to rest up a bit & recover. 

Anyhow I'm looking into the matter, seeing if I can find somewhere that appeals.

Meanwhile we went off shopping. We were surprised, after a very wet start to the day, to find ourselves eating once more in the garden. As the meal ended the skies darkened. We finished in a leisurely manner, had just got ourselves in, when the skies opened & the rain came down. Very British weather!