Yesterday we left our haven, The Straven Guest House, and set out for Oban Scotland. The train was packed but the people on it were friendly and the scenery out the windows was beautiful! We arrived in Oban by mid afternoon. It was a bit late to do much of anything. We walked around town for a bit. Booked a tour for the next day. Ate some dinner and called it a night. Our B&B has a bathtub in the room! A BATHTUB! I took a long soak in it with my book and it fed my soul!
Today we had booked an all day island hopping tour. I hate guided tours. HATE THEM! I don't like feeling like I am being herded around like a bunch of tourist cattle! But, today it was a necessity. Jeri really wanted to go to the island of Staffa to see the Scotland side of the Giants Causeway. She saw the Ireland side a few months ago. Staffa is an uninhabited island and the only way there is with a tour company. The tour ended up being really great though! We had a wonderful day!
We began with a ferry from Oban to the island of Mull. From there we took a tour bus across the length of the island while the bus driver pointed out all the sights. Visibility was low because of the bad weather so we couldn't see much. All three of us fell asleep at one point. One interesting thing to note about Mull is all the roads are one lane. I don't mean, one lane of traffic going one way, and another going the other. I mean one narrow road that only fits one car! (or bus in our case). There are many pull off points, so if you see a car coming at you, someone needs to pull over and let the other pass! It was a bit crazy!
Anyway, at the other end of Mull we boarded a small boat to take us to Staffa. This is were things got interesting. I have never been on the ocean in such a small boat! The swells felt like they would tip us over! Up and down we went! Jeri laughed while mom and I screamed! Jeri kept telling us she had been on worse boat rides in Alaska. Once at Staffa we had an hour to climb around the island exploring. Jeri ran off like a puppy off its leash! Mom and I looked at the precarious rocks and the heights and decided we would find a nice place to sit and enjoy the scenery and we did just that. I read. Mom sent texts to dad. Eventually we all climbed back on the boat. Jeri was the last one on (the captain threatened to leave her on the island and sent mom into a panic attack!)
We headed for the isle of Iona. The water crossing was even worse then before. Mom turned positively green! One gentleman was helped out on to the lower observation deck so he could hang over the side to hurl. Jeri, of course, was on the very top observation deck (alone because she is crazy) being slammed by waves in an attempt to get some good views and photos.
The isle of Iona was so beautiful. We had a couple hours to explore. We walked through the ruins of an old nunnery. We drank tea and hot chocolate while we basked in the loveliness around us. We loved it.
We took a boat back to Mull and got back on the tour bus. We rode the same route back to the other end of the island but this time the sun was out and we got to see its beauty. I have decided I need to come back here again some day and spend more time exploring.
Tomorrow we start our journey home. . . we are taking the train in the morning to Glasgow. We will spend the day there. Then we will take the sleeper train from there to London. We will get into London at about 7:30 AM. We will get to see our lovely friends Georgina (and hopefully Kay) for the last time that day. . . well, that is until they come to America to visit!
