Holiday!

We had the rest of the week after the bank holiday off work and we took a trip to the Isle of Man with the young man’s parents for the Manx GP. They used to have a motorbike and go over for the TT back in the 60s so this was something of a nostalgia trip for them, and the young man and I were just interested to see the Isle of Man and watch a bit of motorcycle racing.

We headed off on Tuesday morning, taking the scenic route to Heysham to catch the ferry. We stopped off in Settle and had a brief walk up the high street and back.

The ferry ride was 3.5 hours from Heysham to Douglas so it was early evening by the time we arrived. We stayed at the Claremont Hotel on the seafront which was lovely. We’d only booked it we didn’t decide we were going until a couple of weeks ago and consequently pretty well everywhere else was booked up. But we were lucky and it was a great place to stay: right on the promenade and the shops were on the street just behind. Not that I did any shopping – the closest I came was walking past all the stores when they were shut.

Cardi - Next Tall, Top - H&M, Beads - gifted, Sunglasses - Claire's

Wednesday was a race day (they race alternate days in GP week as they use some of the main roads around the island as the racetrack and that involves the roads being closed) so we headed up to Noble Park where the Grandstand was to be by the start/finish line and pit lanes. We were surprised to find that it was free to go up and sit on the Grandstand so spent quite a bit of time watching the racing from there. It was lovely and sunny and the forecast rain didn’t materialise, other than a few spots, but there was a bitingly cold wind and a cup of tea after the first race was very welcome. The second race ended mid-afternoon so we went for a drive up the coast for a drink and a nibble, then headed back to the hotel to go out for tea.

Top - New Look Tall (eBay), Jeans - River Island, Shoes - LK Bennett (c/o Sarenza), Cuff - M&S (free on 3 for 2), Beads - gifted

Thursday all the roads were open so we took a tour of the island, incorporating a drive around the TT/GP race course. We visited all the small towns around the island, including Port St Mary, Port Erin and Ramsey. It was still cold in the wind so I was glad I’d taken my scarf and worn boots.

Jacket - Topshop Tall (eBay), Scarf - gifted, Sunglasses - Claire's

Friday there was more racing but the forecast was for rain, so we headed up to a pub called Creg Ny Baa which is on a corner of the race course and watched from there. Sure enough the cloud came down and it started to rain so we were glad to be able to go inside for tea and a bowl of soup. We were catching the ferry back that evening so once the racing was done we headed back down to Douglas.

As the ferry didn’t dock until 11.30pm it was gone 2am by the time we got home. Consequently yesterday was spent quietly, catching up with the washing and doing a Tesco shop, and today has been fairly quiet too – a brief trip to the mall and then a short cycle ride to sit in the sunshine outside a pub.