An Aniversary

 So, it's cold in England, very cold, we think winter may have arrived. The beautiful colours on the trees have gone, the branches from each tree are now frostbitten every  morning. It's still beautiful but in a different way. I still say the best part of the UK is four amazing seasons.
But recently as most of you would know we had our first wedding anniversary. We decided it was time to get out of England. So considering one of the Bs is Passport-less we went to the closest independent country that doesn't require a passport. The 'Isle of Man' a country in its own right and has been for thousands years.

The Island has been inhabited since before 6500BC. The picture here is of Tynwald Hill. Tynwald is the island's parliament, it is an ancient institution. It's believed to have been founded 979AD, and who are we to argue. It is thought to be the oldest continuous parliament in the world. A ceremonial meeting is held on 'Tynwald Day' the Islands national day in July each year at this hill. 

We imagine it would be an amazing sight.

Because we visited the island in November, clearly not high tourist season most of the sights were closed  or closing for the off season. A blessing in disguise we think, with so much to see, if they had been open we wouldn't have relaxed as much as we needed to. The Laxey Wheel, shown here is the largest working Watermill in the world. It was built in 1854 to pump water from the mine shafts and was named Lady Isabella. 
This is one of many Victorian Inventions on the Isle of Man.

To say it was cold would be a massive understatement, massive.
The wind did not stop blowing, we were rugged up with scarf's, hats, jackets the works. But it didn't stop us from getting out in the parks and gardens and enjoying the unique island environment.
One thing that was amazing was all the old Viking burial sites and the myths and legends tied in to all parts of the island.

There are many ruins on the island. Castles, Abbeys, schools the lot and many of them have museums attached to help us understand the complex history.
It really was a great trip. This is a picture of Peel Castle and beach. The castle itself is on a separate island, It was important as a canter for Christianity, this was to survive the arrival of the 'pagan' Norse Vikings at the end of the 8th century. Ironically by the 11th century it became the ruling seat of the Norse Kingdom of Man and the Isles.

Of course it wasn't all sight-seeing and history, we had some pretty big celebrating to do. We ate out at the islands fanciest restaurants, drank some yummy champagne and generally enjoyed ourselves to the up-most.

Mmmm..Champagne..

Before all that celebrating and holiday, we were lucky enough to get invited to an authentic British Bonfire night. The tradition of Bonfire Night started when Guy Fawkes and 12 conspirators  hatched a plan to blow up the Houses of parliament. They were caught, tortured and executed. On that same night November 5th, 1605 bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. This particular bonfire night was to help celebrate the birthdays of two of our fantastic friends.

We can call them 'Miss M' and 'Lady C'. It was a great day, starting with a Robin Hood party in the day. With real bows and arrows.
Both B's were in their element, one with the camera and the other with the kids games.
Can you guess which one?
We then filled our tummy's with a great collection of foods, mulled wine and exciting treats.
We are lucky kids to have such good mates.

So with all this excitement starting to get us in the festive spirit we're looking forward to a White Christmas, fingers crossed.

We've started decorating, we had a Christmas Market at the Pub, and carol singing..........

But that's a story for another time!

Until then... B1 and B2