Day 2: Mull, Iona, Staffa

What a beautiful day! Had a lovely breakfast at our little inn, met Tom the driver by 9 and we were off to trundle along to catch the ferry to the neighboring island of Iona, and then for some who wanted to, a ferry over to the island of Staffa to see Fingal’s Cave. We made a few stops along the drive for lavatories, photo opportunities and grabbing snacks and coffees, and after the quick ferry ride we reached Iona by about 11am.

Iona is considered the birthplace of Christianity in Britain, so there is a lot of history there, a big Abby and old nunnery, and also the grave of the former king of Scotland, MacBeth MacFinley (who Tom told us was, indeed, a real king of Scotland from 1040-1057 and not just a character in Shakespeare’s play) but we only had a little while to check things out because the boat to Staffa left at 1:45. So we lunched at a darling cafe in the Argyle Hotel, which seemed to be run by the local witches coven, all the gals in dark black, silver jewelry, tattoos and witchy clothing, it was great, if not a tad of a juxtaposition against the quaint sweetness of the place. They had their own organic garden where they grow herbs and veggies, so I had a delicious homegrown mint and lemon balm tea that was such a treat!

We wandered around a bit looking for the grave of MacBeth in the ancient graveyard, only to stumble in on an active burial and a large, grieving family. I have mixed feelings about touristy things in graveyards, so I don’t treat it like an attraction nor do I take photos of gravesites, and I definitely walk into any such place with respect and silence. This time, however, I had a strong desire to leave this poor family in peace, but we had already started along the trail inside, and it was quite busy with people everywhere (partly why I was so uncomfortable), so I quietly made my way into the very rustic indoor church, or sanctuary might be a better term for it. They had a whole thingy of prayer candles lit, and invited anyone to light a candle for anyone. So I did, and whispered what felt like hasty prayers for the person and the grieving family, and walked out the opposite door. I walked slowly along reading the names of deceased loved ones, whose tombstones were all facing the sea, I noticed, and I contemplated the eternity of that sky and clouds and never ceasing waves, and the bright Sun falling on it all. John wandered around quietly looking for the MacBeth tomb, but never found it. 

We popped into a few shops, then it was finally time to meet Staffa and the wonder of Fingal’s Cave! I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, and it was the perfect day to visit. It started out rainy today but cleared up in time for our tour, and we were so grateful! They’ve had to cancel many of these tours due to rough weather conditions, so we were lucky! It took about 45 minutes to reach the island, and the journey was just as stunning as the destination. Such glorious mountains and water and sky and sea birds everywhere. Finally at Staffa, you see up close the results of a volcano that left these really unique hive-looking columns of lava stone, and they are dated to around the time of the dinosaurs, about 56million years ago. It apparently has these incredible acoustics, but because the waves were so choppy, we couldn’t get into it, just sailed around the island. I was hoping to sing in there, but we will have to come back to explore these islands, just so much to see and we’ve barely scratched the surface. 

Our boat guides were great giving so much cool information about the caves and island history and geology, and we were there a long time to not just get loads of photos, but just be there and really relax into that place. They said earlier that morning they had seen a whole pod of dolphins, but we didn’t get to see them so they must’ve moved on. The captain was sharing some very interesting insight about island life, and how they only have one primary school, so all the kids have to go to secondary school in the larger town of Oban, so they live there Monday-Friday and then come home on the weekends. He says that most kids are really ready to leave the island to get to know new people, new friends, see new places and have new experiences. He said that when they had their first born, right away his wife was like, “We can’t send him away to secondary school!” But then as it came time, their son was so excited and ready to leave the island, and knowing that he was excited and that he was well cared for, she told him, “Wow, this is brilliant! We get to be the good guys on the weekend!” because the kids were excited to be home and spend time with family. Interesting observations about such small community and isolated living. 

And we saw seals that we got photos of and more red deer on the way back!

Here are some photos of our lovely day!

Rabbie’s Tour to Isle of Mull & Iona

 We began our day early, getting all packed up and checked out of our gloriously comfortable hotel in Glasgow to head out for our next tour with Rabbie’s to the Isles of Mull and Iona. It was an absolute zoo (including a lion mascot for some reason) at the bus station, but we finally found our van and driver, Tom, who was conspicuous in his purple tartan kilt. It was a long haul to get to Mull, but we made a few stops along to way to see sights, stretch our legs, use the restrooms, and refuel. We stopped first at a little town called Luss for a lovely walk on the beach of Loch Lomond. Tom has been playing Scottish music between his history tidbits so he played a beautiful rendition of a sad song about events at Loch Lomond.

Our next stop was at a glorious mountainous area called Glencoe, where we have been before, but it is truly a wonder to see (and a sacred place for me) and there Tom stopped at two places we hadn’t previously visited so it gave us really good views of different mountains that were a bit less crowded with tourists. One mountain we had not met before, which is considered a guardian or watcher to the range, was called Glen Etive, and it was really dark stone and beautiful. It was here that I asked permission to make beautiful photos of its image, offered it my greeting, gratitude and left some of my hair as an offering. 

A lot of sad history lives in the land there, the site being the place of a massacre of clan against clan in a terrible betrayal. There is a range of three mountains there called The Three Sisters, whose Gaelic names are Ghearr Anoch, Anoch Dubh, and Beinn Fhada, and they are special to me. I approached them with reverence and respect, and sang a song of offering to them. I wish I had time to do this in each place we have gone, but it is what it is in a mixed group tour, so most of my praise to these lands has been silent. But the lands need our healing songs, and I do want to plan a dedicated pilgrimage here next time. A lot of the places I would like to see aren’t as easily accessible, so we may need a bit more planning time to make them happen. 

We stopped at the Glencoe visitors centre for lunch and restrooms, but had only 45 minutes so we could make our way to the first ferry on time to stay on track for getting to Mull. We were able to walk a little bit after lunch for more views of the mountains and see inside a little replica of a straw and peat house that was likely what people lived in back in the day in this valley. It was really quite warm inside it! Hustling back to the bus, and Tom doing his best to get to the ferry, we missed it by mere seconds, but the crossing is only a five minute journey to the other side so with offloading and reloading we waited about 20 minutes to catch the next one. The journey to the next ferry was about 30-45 minutes drive away and we made that one right on time to queue up. It was a very chilly, wet journey so even though we almost always opt to stand outside on a ferry, it was just so cold and wet we went into the lounge. Back into the van, we were finally on Mull and made our way to the village of Tobermory, where we stay for two nights.

Not too much time to explore, we settled into our room, and our tour mate who is staying here with us came to ask if he could join us for dinner. So we walked down to the town and had the most delightful dinner at the MishDish Cafe with him, whose name is also John, who was born in Scotland but lives in Brisbane, Australia. The guys both ordered the salmon and mashed potatoes, and I had the Cullen Skink fish soup, all of which were delicious. We shared some chips and haggis balls, also super good!

We decided to have a wee dream of whisky at the adjoining bar afterwards, then shared a cab up the incredibly steep hills to our bed and breakfast. I didn’t sleep well, but eventually fell asleep for maybe 5 hours, so at least got some rest. The bed is too small for the two us who are so used to a king sized bed. An absolutely lovely breakfast from our host, Susan, at the Fuaran B&B, and now we are ready for our adventure today! 

Glen Etive

The Three Sisters

Glasgow, Day 3! Outlander Tour with Rabbie’s

The forecast predicted rain all day today, so we booked another tour with Rabbie’s (the company we will be touring with tomorrow). We took the Outlander tour, which brings you to places where they’ve filmed parts of the show Outlander, which we really like. We had a nice small group and a nice, knowledgeable driver/tour guide, Grant. We headed out about 9 am from the bus station and our first stop was Doune Castle, which was the site used for Castle Leoch in Outlander, Winterfell in the Game of Thrones and also featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was big and had loads of tiny, winding stairs and was located in a very beautiful area where apparently there is a kite (the birds) viewing area. The weather was perfect, cool, windy and not rainy. Nice cloud cover made our pictures a lot nicer. 

Next we drove to the town of Falkland to see a special scene (when Jaime's ghost is watching Claire from down in the street), and have lunch. We had a nice lunch and warmed up a bit in a sweet cafe. John had a stuffed potato jacket, carrot and parsnip soup and salad, and I had a chicken and pesto mayo sandwich, carrot and parsnip soup and salad. The soup was fantastic and I’d like to try making it at home. 

Next stop was Midhope Castle, which was LallyBroch castle in Outlander, and I think Grant said had been featured in other movies and shows as well. It’s completely boarded up and you can’t go in, but it was cool to get photos at all the iconic places on the property.

Our final stop was Blackness Castle that is used as Fort William in Outlander and where the awful flogging scene was filmed. This one, like a lot of other castles here, was built on top of a volcano, and this is very obvious in the floors in this castle where all the lumpy lava was found in the floors and walkways in just about every room and out in the courtyard/keep area. You and to extremely careful everywhere in and around this castle because of so many cobblestone, lava and teensy winding stairs. But it was a really cool place to be, SO windy in this place as it’s right on the sea. It had glorious views of the mountain range across the Firth of Fourth waterway. 

We resisted buying stuff because it was just a lot of gift stores, but I did find a couple of awesome books of folk tales and mythical creatures of Scotland that I’d like to buy once we are home. The lore here is so interesting! The Grant navigated through rush hour traffic to get us back safely to Glasgow. 

We went to a couple of local pubs afterwards looking for more music sessions, but could only stay a few. Minutes for a quick dram at The Scotia and could t even get in the door the Potstill, they were absolutely packed!

Now, time for bed since we’ve got an early start with our Rabbie’s tour to Mull and Iona!