We had such a wonderful day seeing the sights on the Isle of Man as we drove from one end of country to the other that we almost didn’t want to leave the next morning. And thanks to Manx Ferries, we almost didn’t get to.
Mike purchased our ferry tickets from Douglas, Isle of Man, to Heysham, England, before we left the U.S., and the plan was to take the train through England to Glasgow, Scotland, which was the next stop on our U.K. adventure. We were foot passengers, meaning we didn’t have a vehicle to transport on the ferry, and we only had carry-on luggage, so we thought arriving 45 minutes prior to departure would give us plenty of time. We were wrong.
Although the ferry was still docked just feet from where we were standing, we were told that it was too late to board, and there was also no way to get a refund for our $78 USD in prepaid tickets. And a fine day to you, too, sir.
So close, yet so far away …
So we did what any seasoned travelers would do. We went shopping in the gift shop. It was actually a lovely experience, thanks to the delightful man who ran the Isle of Man visitors’ center, and we got some fun Manx triskelion Christmas ornaments as souvenirs.
After regrouping, we booked ourselves on the next flight from Isle of Man to Manchester, England, and booked a train from there to Glasgow. We were only a few hours (and $190 USD) behind schedule, so not too shabby for a Plan B.
And after we arrived in Glasgow, all our troubles were forgotten, because we were staying at the best Airbnb we’ve ever experienced anywhere in the world.
[…] her earlier post, Angela mentioned that we found in Glasgow the epitome of the Airbnb experience, and she is correct […]
I first encountered the triskelion in Sicily! I didn’t know it had been adopted anywhere else. (And, yes, we have the Christmas ornament version from Sicily as well.)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sicilian_Flag.svg#/media/File:Sicilian_Flag.svg
[…] Well done, Isle of Man. Very well done … until we tried to catch the ferry to leave the island. […]
[…] photos, videos, and travel tips from our recent visit to Northern Ireland, Ireland, Isle of Man, England, and Scotland later this week, including more from the Dark Hedges. You can also follow us on […]
[…] eastern coast, then traveled to the Isle of Man and drove the length and breadth of the place. We hopped over to England and caught a train to Glasgow where we danced with locals until all hours. We flew into Belfast and […]