Scotland – A Day in Iona

Becky and I had breakfast included in our hotel. Nothing fancy, just a small room with about 4 tables and some light breakfast foods out. There was a young woman who would welcome you and get you a hot drink or other things. Each table had a couple at it. The young hostess encouraged everyone to converse, and she would ask people questions. I finally asked about her. She said she was from a small area of the UK that most had most likely never heard of, turned out it is where Mark grew up. She could not believe it. She then spent about 6 years in Australia and then ended up in Ohio for a period of time. This got the other people talking and one gentleman mentioned how he lived and worked in Houston, Texas for a time. As he was sharing this another guest stuck her head in and said that she was from Houston. She then corrected herself mentioning that she and her husband had just moved to a little town in North Carolina. Becky and I asked where, and she said it was Highlands, NC. We could not believe it as that is where we met and started dating. This woman could not believe we even knew where it was let alone that we had met there. It was all very nice.

After this chance meeting we headed off for the day. We met up with Perry and Fiona at the Abbey for the 9am morning service. Afterwards we all walked around the inside of the Abbey and the grounds for a bit. Then we all four-split off for a day on our own on the isle. The Abbey was very nice inside, though the current building is not really that old. Like so many other places in the UK, especially abbeys and monasteries, the buildings laid in ruins for so many hundreds of years. Eventually, at some point, a person or group would become interested in re-establishing them. This was true for the Iona Abbey. It was in 1938 that Reverend George MacLeod became that person. Most of the religious buildings on Iona have been reconstructed in this 20th century. They of course tried to use designs and buildings techniques unique to a time in the past.

Becky and Fiona mostly had a day each to their own exploring the town of Iona and resting and eating. Becky enjoyed time exploring and just sitting and watching the beautiful bay area. The day was bright and sunny and warm, but with a nice breeze blowing. Perry headed off to the south of the island and then went to the western side and did some bird watching and time alone.

I walked to the north side of the isle and was just amazed at how far I could see as the skies were so clear. At the very north end of Iona, I found a cliff with many different years of trash thrown over it. There was all sorts of machinery parts and old bottles and other stuff. I am sure there was a time people thought the ocean current would was things away. The ocean has not.

I walked down to the shoreline to see the water. There was an artist setting up to paint for the morning. I also so a sailboat docked in the bay and decided to walk over in that direction. There was always something else that caught my eye that I wanted to check out. I thought I would just go a bit and then turn around and head back to town. I just kept going and before I knew it, I was climbing up some steep hills, standing on high peaks over the ocean, trudging through think bogie areas, trying to find paths to stay on, feeling a bit lost, working to not get hurt, and eventually seeing people again. There were many sheep along the way, but of course they would not be able to help me much. The views along this path on this day were amazing. So many times, I just had to stop and look. The sky was so clear, and you could see so far into the distance. Little islands, with very large hills on them. I so very much enjoyed the hike that I had chosen though at times I wondered if I had made the correct choice.

I made it to the “golf course”. I put that in quotes because in reality it was nothing, but a sheep grazing field that they put some tee boxes and some sticks in holes to represent “greens”. In actuality there was no difference between the tee box, fairway, putting greens, and the sheep field, all had sheep poop everywhere. It was very funny, but people where golfing on it. I had gone along most of the west side of the isle and then made my way out to the Columba Bay. I then worked my way back to town and it was 3:30 and I had hiked 12 miles by this time. It was a bit scary at times, but I really enjoyed the challenge and just the sheer beauty of it all. Somehow, I missed Becky walking back into town as she was sitting down on the shoreline. We met up at the pub and shared our day.

We then met up with Perry and Fiona for dinner and shared out experiences. Fiona, Becky and I went to the 9pm Iona Abbey service. Perry decided to walk to the north end of the isle. We then said our good nights and headed to bed. What a great way to end our world wind tour of Scotland.