| My campaign of visits to beautiful islands continues. Avi and I are now in the midst of a week’s visit to the Isle of Man, which is in the middle of the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. The island is a Crown Dependency, meaning that its sovereign is King Charles, but it has its own parliament, and laws enacted in Westminster do not apply here. The island is not too large (just over 200 square miles) and the population is just eighty-five thousand. But it is beautiful and diverse, and has a long and fascinating history. The Manx language, which is related to Irish and Scots Gaelic, has just about died out, but there are serious efforts to revive it, including a Manx-speaking elementary school. In a week we’re barely going to scratch the surface here. But we have already hiked along the seashore, through hills and forests and along rivers, ridden a steam train, and visited a ruined abbey and a castle. Many people come here for their holidays year after year, and though tourism is booming here, it is well managed and unobtrusive. Come and see for yourself! |
| Created on 26 July 2026, updated on 26 July 2026 by Samuel Ethan Fox |