Day 8 - A Pilgrimage to Iona
My thirteenth day in Scotland, the eighth on the tour, was a Sunday, the Sabbath. Somehow, it seemed appropriate that this day would be a trip, nay a pilgrimage, to the Isle of Iona, the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. For it was here that St. Columba landed in 563 A.D. and first brought the Word of Christ to the pagan Scots.
I awoke early that morning to the whistle of what sounded to be gale force winds blowing ashore at Loch Melfort. Alex had warned the day before that the forecast for Sunday called for high winds and driving rain and this might not only put a damper on the day's activities, but might, in fact, render the ferry inoperable for by ferry is the only way to get to Iona. However, as we boarded the coach, once again the weather softened and the clouds drifted away and the day proved to be most glorious.
We first had to backtrack to Oban to board the first of two ferries that would take us to the Isle of Mull, or Muile in the Gaelic, and then Iona. This crossing would require that we take our coach as we had a trip of 35 miles to cross Mull before catching a second ferry, this one for people only. As if the blue sky wasn't enough to raise our spirits, as the ferry docked, a rainbow appeared off it's bow. We passengers had to disembark from the coach and walk aboard the ferry while Barry was tasked with loading the coach.
Soon we were off and took leave of the lovely port of Oban. As we sailed to Mull, we passed Duart Castle that stands on the easternmost corner of Mull, guarding one Leaving Oban A Rainbow off the Bow of our Ferry of the most important marine crossroads in western Scotland. Though we sailed through a squall en passage, the clouds were sparse as we made port in Craignure on Mull. Here we once again boarded the luxury coach for the 35 mile trip along Glen More across Mull to the ferry port of Fionnphort on the very tip of the Ross of Mull. Much of the distance is surrounded by scenic mountains, the highest of these being Ben More, at 3100+ feet, which qualifies it as a Munro or Scottish mountain over 3000 feet in height. After traversing the island, we boarded our second ferry and sailed the short distance to Baile Mor on Iona.
It being past the lunch hour, almost everyone made for the eateries as we went ashore. Noticing that almost everyone was heading for the nearest pub, I espied the Argyle Hotel and, after letting Amy know that I would go ahead and reserve a table, I made a bee line that direction. Amy, Erin and I were joined by Merv and Pam and Sharon and Tammy and were rewarded with excellent fare. I chose a bowl of Cullin Skink accompanied by a Croque Monsieur (a fancy name for a fancy toasted ham and cheese sandwich topped by a bechamel sauce). Erin had the Croque Madame which is the “feminine” version of the sandwich, exchanging vegetables for the ham. We all left the good Argyle very satisfied in our selection.
Leaving the Argylle, we made our way towards the main attraction, the Iona Abbey. The Abbey began as a monastery founded by St. Columba shortly after landing on Iona. The nearby Abbey graveyard served as a burial place for the Scottish kings up until the death of MacBeth in 1057. It is also thought that “The Book of Kells”, which contains the Four Gospels and is a masterwork of western calligraphy and considered to be Ireland's finest national treasure, was actually written on Iona before being transported to Ireland.
I made my way back towards the ferry terminal. As I gazed out on the bay, I noted that the water had taken on an azure blue hue. This was not a color that I had noted in any of the lochs or bays throughout Scotland and I was quite amazed.
Our visit to this spiritual isle finally came to an end and we reboarded the ferry for the short trip back across the strait to Fionnphort. We backtracked the 35 miles to Craignure where Barry, ever the wily coachman, was able to squeeze the coach onto the 5pm ferry back to Oban. This saved us over two hours of waiting for the 7:30pm ferry on which we had been booked. On the return trip, I was able to capture a much clearer picture of Duart Castle as the weather was much more agreeable. As we returned for the night to Loch Melfort Hotel, I reflected on the fact that, all in all, the entire day turned out to be very agreeable!
Day 9 - The Journey's End