Almost immediately after I’d hit the ‘confirm’ button and well before I’d booked my flight to Harlaxton, my oldest brother Kyle was planning his trip to come see me. Like all others who came to visit, I assume I was merely used an excuse for them to come to Europe. I don’t find that offensive at all, and I in fact applaud my visitors for being so smart.

Kyle is way cooler than me, which is why he decided he wanted to go to an obscure place that I’d never heard of called Isle of Man. Isle of Man is, as the name suggests, an island. It hangs out between Northern Ireland and northern England, and it can be reached by ferry or by plane. While we would have rather traveled by ferry, time didn’t work in our favor, so we booked a flight there.

Before Kyle made it to England, my good friend Hannah had voiced her unhappiness about having nowhere to travel for the weekend. Since we practically grew up together and I enjoy her quite a bit, I told her she could come with Kyle and me to Isle of Man. She said yes and booked her flight, which meant our weekend was going to be much more exciting than originally planned.

Kyle got to London on a Thursday, and I met him at his hotel in Kingston upon Thames when I got out of class. I got there around dinnertime, and we found a place to eat called The Antelope. It was a dimly lit, super cool and casual bar that was so popular that everyone was standing waiting for a table to clear out. Kyle got a drink and we scoped out a table, then we waited a few minutes until someone got up. He ordered a hot dog and I got a cheeseburger, and we got an order of chili cheese fries to share (I had an insatiable Cookout craving at the time, but liquid cheese is nonexistent in England and this place was no different). We both agreed we loved everything about the place, and I can’t wait to go back! We walked back to the hotel and, in typical Kyle and Mariya fashion, turned on the Horror channel and watched a poorly-made scary movie.

We went into London on Friday and I was excited to be Kyle’s tour guide! I showed him all the big things like Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, and a very disappointing Big Ben before eating lunch at the Southbank Centre Food Market. I got pad Thai for the first time, and Kyle got a giant Polish sausage. I spent a long while eating the billions of noodles I was served, so we ended up being a bit late meeting Hannah at King’s Cross.

As it turns out, Hannah had hopped on an earlier train, so she’d been early. Combine that with zero cell service, and Hannah was pretty freaked out. She was convinced we’d left without her, so she’d turned on her international data and called her mom. I found her frantically talking to Brenda on the phone in the middle of the courtyard outside of King’s Cross, and after she excitedly exclaimed, “I found them!” to her mom, we made our way to Primark so she could buy a coat. We found the perfect coat (“The best thing I’ve ever seen in my life except for my dog!”) and then we showed Kyle Piccadilly Circus. We ended up at a place called O Bar, which was really nice aside from a grown man who was way too drunk and caused a scene. We ate dinner at a place called Wahaca, and I promise you I haven’t stopped thinking about those street tacos since.

This is the point when everyone suddenly realized I was the enemy. I’d wanted us to make the most out of the 36 hours we had to spend on Isle of Man, so we booked a flight for 8 AM. Unfortunately, that meant we had to get up at 4 AM and catch the first train to Gatwick to catch our flight. I’m not sure how, but we somehow did it while everyone, myself included, silently hated on me.

When we got to Isle of Man, we waited longer than we needed to for the proper bus to take us to our hotel. We checked in around noon and Kyle immediately went to sleep. Hannah and I went to look for the Wi-Fi password so she could work on her British Studies paper. That was where we met the front desk guy.

Usually the front desk guy at a hotel is pretty nice, and he just gives you what you need and sends you on your way. This front desk guy was not one of those front desk guys. He was, instead, one of those front desk guys. When he came to the desk, he told us his backstory and offered to accompany us to any bars so we wouldn’t get lost along the way. We thanked him for his kindness and went upstairs. Not long after we got there, the hotel phone started to ring. It was next to my bed, so I answered it. Who was it? You already know. The front desk guy. This young man called our room and proceeded to ask me for my Snapchat so we could hang out later. I am still frowning about this. I was so uncomfy, but I gave him my Snapchat out of pure shock at his boldness.

After a quick nap, Hannah and I went on the hunt for food. Kyle kept sleeping, so we went to a place called Alessandro’s (Kyle isn’t into Italian food—just an FYI for any ladies in his life). Hannah pushed me into eating an entire 12” pizza, despite my protests and eating pains.

When we got back to the hotel, Kyle had woken up. We went for a walk around our little part of the island in Douglas and worked up an appetite. We began our hunt for dinner at a place called Jak’s Bar & Steakhouse. The menu was super promising, but the restaurant only took reservations and the bar downstairs didn’t serve a bit of food. Our next option was The Barbary Coast Grill & Bar. This restaurant, again, only took reservations. We were about to eat dinner at a Pizza Hut, but the bartender told us he could serve us food at the bar if that was okay with us. We got some knockoff Nando’s and left that man the biggest tip for giving us something other than Pizza Hut to eat.

I haven’t mentioned this yet, but this island was super cold. That’s not my attempt to describe how cool the place was in a trendy way—no, there were actual winds from Siberia chilling the island and blowing us away. We walked back to the hotel, full of food but also full of dread because of the wind. We ended our night falling asleep watching the original movie It Part One. Just how I like it.

The next morning, we were determined to make more of our day. We took a bus to Peel, where there is an old castle and an assortment of hills to climb. We had brunch at Harbour Lights Café & Restaurant before hiking up one of the hills.

I mentioned the wind from the night before, but nothing compares to what we felt on the way up this hill. It was so windy I could barely breathe, and it was actually about to knock us over many times. We made it to the top and managed to find a small pocket where the wind didn’t hit us, but there were definitely times I almost got blown into the ocean. We fought the wind back down and walked around Peel Castle, where we saw not one, not two, but THREE seals! It was a blast. Our last stop was an ice cream shop, and then we made our way back to the airport.

The journey back to London was an interesting one. Douglas Airport doesn’t have many food options, so Hannah and I had pasta salad from Costa and Kyle didn’t eat. We landed in London but couldn’t get back to the hotel easily because the Gatwick Express happened to be under construction that day. It took us a bus ride, multiple trains, and an Oyster card fine, but we finally made it back.

We had to get up at 4 AM again to make it back to Harlaxton before British Studies, but that didn’t stop Hannah from jumping on me at midnight just to give me a wet willy. Honestly, what would we do without her?

What I’m listening to: Everything from Jesse McCartney’s new song “Better With You” to Hamilton to Dear Evan Hansen to Paramore to Molly McAleer’s Plz Advise podcast.

What I’m watching: Honestly still crying about that Grey’s Anatomy season finale. I feel pretty cheated, actually. I just saw The Greatest Showman for the first time (thanks Aleah!) and I was blown away. I also watched Can’t Buy Me Love for the first time last week, and then for the second time Saturday night.

What I’m reading: We still don’t know Whatever Happened to Margo. I started reading Girl Meets Change by Kristen Strong for the second time.

Cool apps to try: Achievement. It keeps track of your steps with Apple Health and you can slowly rack up points until you have 10,000 and get $10! When I say slowly, I mean slooowly, but you’re going to be walking a lot anyway. You may as well get paid.

Join me next Monday for another edition of Untold Stories of Harlaxton!