city00.jpg The main strip in Douglas - mostly hotels
city01.jpg Parks and greenspaces everywhere - this is across the street on the coast
city02.jpg Looking out into the Irish Sea. As you can see, it's very misty and muggy; this seems to be the norm on the island, but when the sun peeks through the clouds, everything lights up.
city03.jpg More scenes from the beach - just about every structure is anywhere from 200 to 500 years old, or at least pieces of it are. Up until recently it's been mandated by the government, but even before then people had a tendency of "adding on" instead of tearing down and starting over, so most of the original structures on the island are still intact
city04.jpg The hotel where I stayed; the Sefton - very posh. From the outside it looks nice and big, but inside it's actually a several buildings subtly integrated - getting around the inside of the hotel was a total nightmare - there are at least 5 staircases leading up and down, and it your room is on the third floor there's only one proper staircase that will actually gain access to this wing. This hotel is actually several separate buildings that have not been torn down so I often felt like a rat in a maze trying to get from one end to the other. The first floor is actually the third - it was crazy.
darren.jpg Darren - the administrator for Enterprise, looking through a castle/dungeon door.
flowers02.jpg One of the many parks with lush gardens. It's amazing to see how well-kept everything is.
flowers03.jpg More of the gardens - due to the mild weather, Tulips seem to be quite prolific.
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flowers05.jpg One thing to note is that is was overcast most of the time I was taking pictures and still things are very colorful. You can imagine how beatiful the place is when the sun is out.
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iom-plane.jpg This is the plane I took from Manchester to the Isle of Man - not the smallest one on the trip!
iom00.jpg LOW TIDE! This is a very interesting picture! In the foreground is a harbor without water! The tide range here seems to be something in the area of 12-15 feet or more! So when the tide goes out, all the boats in the harbor are sitting on land, then later in the day when the tide comes back in, they're again afloat!
iom02.jpg This is Castletown - an ealy capital of the island.
iom03.jpg Castle Rushen - an incredible example of medieval castles.
iom04.jpg The outer area of Castle Rushen
iom05.jpg The streets in Castletown, in front of Castle Rushen
iom06.jpg Another view of the castle
iom07.jpg The portcullis as you enter the castle
iom11.jpg The inside of one of the buildings that is inside the castle's outer walls
iom12.jpg This is part of the dungeon - the ceiling; what you are looking at is the "door"; people would be tossed downt his hole into the dungeon - no easy way to get back up!
iom13.jpg These plaques were throughout the castle telling what purpose various rooms served during various time periods and other info.
iom14.jpg There were also models and mannakins in various places, supposedly dictating everyday life in the castle.
iom15.jpg This is the room where a Christian priest was apparently imprisoned for the medieval equivalent of contempt of court - the room is made up to appear like it might have been
iom16.jpg A plaque on the subject above
iom17.jpg A recreation of castle activities, with the bowman defending the castle and two guards looking down into a trap door into a dungeon
iom18.jpg A sample bunkroom for a guard; in this one they have the guard sitting on the toilet (complete with sound effects!) - I guess it was important for us to see this aspect of Manx life?
iom19.jpg Various dungeon tools
iom20.jpg* A nice view of Castletown from near the top of Castle Rushen - you can also see the harbor at low tide and the rolling hills and mist in the air.
iom21.jpg Elevated view of Castletown
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iom23.jpg A tapestry on the wall inside of Castle Rushen depicting a 16th century battle
iom24.jpg The King's dining room
iom26.jpg A larger dining area in the castle
iom27.jpg The throne room - note how they hang tapestries on the wall to make the castle's stone facade more cozy.
iom28.jpg A kitchen in the castle
iom29.jpg This is the South end of the island, you can see another island, the Calf of Man in the background - the currents were treacherous around here and there were quite a few shipwrecks; hence the cross/monument.
iom30.jpg Nice pictures of the scenery to the South
iom31.jpg Everything is so green - and this was an overcast day with the diffused light from the clouds adding a gray tint to everything, yet it was still beautiful.
iom33.jpg It's amazing to see slate rock jutting up, with lush, soft grass everywhere in between - an unusual combination.
iom34.jpg A look down at the surf pounding the rocky coast
iom37.jpg* A BEAUTIFUL scene of a small village near the south of the island - these luscious green grasslands went on forever, with fields of sheep and hand made stone fences.
iom38.jpg* Another view
iom39.jpg This is Peel Castle (in the town of Peel) - a more traditionally shaped castle on the coast, though not as well preserved as Castle Rushen (presumably because this castle saw a LOT of action) It was raining a lot so I didn't get many pictures of the castle.
mcastle00.jpg A little mini castle build on a sandbar in the bay - well I probably shouldn't say "Mini" because this thing is apparently quite large.
mike.jpg Me on the south end of the Island - we stopped at this little cafe which is literally on the cliffs and had sandwiches and tea.
mike00.jpg Self portrait in Douglas overlooking the Bay
street00.jpg Nice view of a street going up a hill with these ancient stone walls and beautiful landscaping - this was very common all over the island
street02.jpg This is the main shopping area in Douglas - lots of little shops - all of which keep bankers hours. If you want to do any late night shopping (past 5pm) in this city, you're totally out of luck. Even most restaurants and fast food places close at 5pm - really weird!