Isles of Mull and Iona

There's more to Staffa than the basalt columns. Puffins nest here. Unfortunately, they're camera-shy.
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May 12, Monday.

This is my travel day to the Isle of Mull.  No package tour for me this week; I'm on my own.  I take the train from Haymarket in Edinburgh to Queen St in Glasgow and transfer to the train to Oban.  The latter train takes about 4 hours.  There is food service on the train but it's not much.  Fortunately, I was told about this and bought food at Queen St Station.  Once in Oban, I take a ferry to Craignure which takes less than an hour.  One thing I've learned about this trip is that everything hinges on the ferry schedule.  Even the train from Glasgow to Oban works with the Oban ferry schedule.  This means I have no waiting time in Oban.

Staffa Island is geology wonder

On Iona waiting for the ferry back to Fionnphort, Mull. No, the ferry is not one of these boats.
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May 13, Tuesday.

Since there is no bus or other public transportion, I hire a bike so I can go to Moy Castle at Loch Buie.  I want to go there because I'm of the clan  McLaine of Lochbuie.  I ride & ride and ride.  I almost get there.  The problem is that there are a few hills.   I get to the Lochbuie crossroads and almost to Loch Buie.  I decide to turnaround and come back to town.  If I do make it all the way to Moy Castle, I'd have to camp out for a while to recouperate.  Once back in Craignure, I visit Torasay Castle & Gardens.  I don't tour the castle but I tour the gardens.  I took the Mull Railway (steam train) from Craignure to Mull but took the forest walk back into town.

Nunnery on Iona.
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May 14, Wednesday.

I visit Duart Castle which is the home of the Clan McLean.  It's located on the Sound of Mull and great views of Craignure, my hotel, and the mainIand  I saw the dungeons and battlements.   When the clan chief is in town, he stays in the castle.  From one of the windows, you can see the Lady Rock.  The story is that one of the McLean chiefs married a Campbell but wanted to get rid of her.  So, he left her on this rock island hoping she would drown at high tide.  He would then notify her family of her "accidental" death.  However, a passing boat rescued her and returned her to the Campbells.  When the McLean chief notified the Campbells of her death, they played along.  Chief of McLeans returned to the Campbells with a body.  When he walked into the room to meet the Campbells, his wife was there alive to his surprise.  He somehow survived that ordeal.

St Oran's Chapel on Iona. They say the kings of Scotland are buried in the chapel's graveyard.
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In the 1600's an English ship, the HMS Swann, shipwrecked on the rocks by Duart Castle. This was a time when Cromwell was trying to conquer Scotland.

I made it back into town to catch the bus to Fionnphort.  Once in Fionnphort, I took the ferry to Iona.  The village of Iona is probably larger than Fionnphort.  I visited Iona Abbey and St Orans Chapel/Graveyard.    The nunnery is still in ruins but i visited it, too.  Do you know why there's a circle around the St John's Cross?  Because when it was first built, the horizontal part of the cross was too long and it broke so they built circle around it.  The design was liked by everyone and it became known as the Celtic cross.  Iona Abbey is not the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland.  When St Columba landed in Scotland in the 6th century, Christianity was in Scotland.  St Columba, though, is credited for expanding the church.

Iona Abbey
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Tonight I hit the pub in Fionnphort - the only one in the small village. Wouldn't you know it, it's the night of the UEFA (European football) finals where the Rangers lose to Zenit (St Petersburg) in Manchester.  Unfortunately, there was a riot in the streets after the game in Manchester.  British law moves quickly though.  Witnin 3 days, 11 people, including two underage, are tried and convicted.

May 15, Thursday,

Another gorgeous day for a boat trip.  Based on a recommendation from Gillian  at Staffa House B&B, I take the Staffa Tour to Staffa Island.  I see seals.  The owner/captain comes around to each person and gives them a personal tour of the islands we're passing and the sea animals.  Yesterday, he tells us, he saw a shark.  It's only takes about an hour to get to Staffa Island.  The island is amazing!  It was formed  by volcanoes 60 million years ago.  The molten lava formed the columns/pillars that makes up the island.    In Ireland, they call this formation the Giants Causeway.  Most of the columns are 6-sided and around the same size, however, because the lava cooled at slightly different rates, columns vary in size.  I walked on these stone pillars to get to Fingal's Cave.  It was here that Felix Mendelsohn was inspired to write his Hebridean Symphony and Fingal's Cave music.  I did hear the waves striking the sides inside the cave.  Why is it called Fingal's Cave?  Well,there was a Gaelic giant named Fingal who quarrelled with the Irish giant.  The Irish giant built a causeway between Ireland and Scotland so he could fight Fingal.  The causeway was destroyed except for the two ends - one in Staffa and the other is the Giant's Causeway in Ireland.  I also walked to the other end of the island to see the puffins.  They are cute birds but wouldn't sit still for a picture.  They come to Staff to nest.

View of Iona Abbey and the village from the ferry.
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After returning to Fionnphort, I walked along the coast and the old quarry.  I noticed that the ferry does not travel in a straight line to Iona.  Apparently, there's a sandbar in the middle of the waters.  I also saw a medical rescue.  When going to Staffa, we heard that a crew member of a ship nearby was sick.  He must have been taken to Iona where a helicopter picked him up.

May 16, Friday.

Travel day back to Edinburgh. I left Fionnphort on the 9:15 am bus and arrived by train in Haymarket, Edinburgh by 5:30pm.