Day Thirteen - Oban, Mull, and Iona

I am sitting on a bench overlooking sunset on Oban harbor, after
having an absolutely lovely day. It started at the ungodly hour of six
am, since the tour picked up at 6:45. I took a photo to prove that I
was awake then, but the sun was already well risen...it's starting to
get light at four am, and the sun doesn't set until 9:30pm...which
means it's not really pitch dark until around ten. That reminds me of
Dublin, which makes me happy.

We left Oban via ferry, bound for Mull, which is about 45 mins away by
boat. We didn't stop to see anything on Mull, but we drove across it
to get to another ferry bound for Iona. Mull was desolately beautiful,
with very few people, a lot of sheep, and the same miles of mortarless
stone fences that took my breath away on the Aran Islands a couple of
years ago.

But we weren't there for Mull...it was just a means to an end. And the
end was Iona, a haunting, windswept island whose <200 inhabitants
preserve the remnants of a Christian settlement going back hundreds of
years.

As mentioned yesterday, there was an option to go to Staffa and look
at some birds and rocks, but you can't see everything, and so I
prioritized Iona instead. I'm glad I did. While the settlement of St.
Columba has vanished, helped along by repeated Viking raids, there are
the ruins of an abbey and a nunnery that fell victim to Henry VIII's
dissolution of the monasteries (do you see a relationship between my
interests and Henry's targets?). Iona was the cradle of Celtic
Christianity, and was also a great center of learning and art, as
evidenced by the Book of Kells, believed to have been produced in Iona
and currently on display in Trinity College Dublin. They also produced
some fabulous carved stone crosses, eight or twelve feet high, all of
which were gorgeous even though they are n ruins. And all around is
the sea, the sound of birds and sheep, and a completely peaceful
feeling that few places can create.

It helped that today was perfectly gorgeous...over seventy, no clouds,
and essentially the kind of day that isn't supposed to exist in
Scotland. It was really too hot for my soup and tea lunch, but the
soup was amazing, so I made the right choice. After the abbey and
lunch, I walked down a small country lane, sat by a rocky beach, and
contemplated my life. No conclusions, so I'll try again another day.

I was sad to leave Iona...I had seen its only real tourist attraction
in two hours, but it was so peaceful and gorgeous that I could have
stayed a week. Instead, we caught the ferry to Mull, drove across it,
and caught the ferry to Oban. I strolled back to my hotel, refreshed,
and met up with two Australian women from my tour for a hike up to
this abandoned castle overlooking Oban harbor. We had no idea what it
was (still don't) and no idea how to get to it (when we discovered the
steep, switchbacked path strewn with roots and rocks, my companions
probably wished they weren't wearing heels), but we made it to the
top. We were rewarded with gorgeous views and the malicious pleasure
of temporarily interrupting two 'canoodling' teenagers.

After that, and with no desire to have a proper sit-down meal, I
parted ways with my Southern Hemisphere friends and found a fish and
chips place in the main part of town. I took it back the ten minutes
or so to the nice embankment outside my hotel, overlooking the harbor,
where I discovered that they had produced possibly the best fish and
chips I had ever had. It definitely surpassed my first time (with Aunt
Becky, in New Zealand, at a place where they deep fried the whole damn
fish, head and bones included). It also beat my favorite place in
Dublin, and despite the lack of hush puppies and extra crispies, best
out Long John Silver's as well. Amazing stuff...and eating it while
looking out over the harbor just made it that much better.

I've finished watching the sunset since I started this, and I'm about
to lose feeling in my hands from holding the crackberry while typing
with my thumbs, so I think it's time for bed. Until I get proper
internet, you don't get any more pictures...but I'll post a ton of
them when I get the chance. Perhaps tomorrow's hotel will have
internet...we drive through the highlands tomorrow and spend two
nights on the Isle of Skye, so we shall see. Until then, goodnight!