There & Back Again

We couldn't go to Scotland and leave out pictures of sheep and cows! They really are everywhere. And the sheep really look like sheep. I know that sounds weird, but all the sheep I've seen at petting zoos look like goats. But these Scottish sheep were white and fluffy. Anna liked calling then grass-eating puffles, because they looked so puffy and were, well, eating grass.

 
 
 
 We came across this friendly dog on the island of Iona.

Wednesday we got to delve into some of my ancient family history!  Since I'm a MacDougal (yes, Kelly MacDougal Wade), I was so excited about visiting the land of my ancestors.  I'm proud to be a MacDougal, but I'm not sure I should be.  They were in opposition to that great Scottish hero, Robert the Bruce.  Apparently he killed one of the MacDougal's nephews by marriage, and well, they didn't like that.  The McDougall motto is "Conquer or Die!"  I think you need to say it with a deep rough voice with your hand held in a fist!  
Anyway, while we were in Oban, I saw several hints to my heritage:
 Okay, hardware stores and gift shops weren't exactly what I was thinking!  But Dunollie house and castle are in Oban, so we made plans to visit there.  The morning before we went though, we found out that they weren't officially open to the public until next week.  Bummer, but we decided to at least go take some pictures of the house and castle ruins.  What a treasure we found!  When we got to the house, there were a few people working there, and we asked if we could look around.  We introduced ourselves, and yes, I introduced myself with my full name, and we met Elaine, the curator.  She was so hospitable and generous.  She basically gave us our own private tour of the house, and she told us all kinds of interesting tidbits of history about the MacDougals (or McDougalls, there's all sorts of spellings!).

If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can better read words.

                                   

Our host, Elaine, in front of the 1745 house at Dunollie

the 1745 house

The kids got to be the first ones to try out a scavenger hunt at the house.

After spending time with Elaine, we thanked her and left to walk over to see the Dunollie castle ruins.  Like all the castles we've seen so far, it was so neat just to imagine what kinds of battles and experiences had happened there centuries before!  And we were the only people there.  Well, okay, not the only people.  When we climbed up into part of the castle ruins to the second level, there were three guys hanging out having a cigarette break. I guess an 800 year old castle seems the right place to do that??

Anyway, here's few pictures of the castle.

Kevin here.  One of side trips that we were most looking forward to during our time in Scotland was to the island Of Iona.

According to legend, the monk Columba landed on Iona in 563, bringing Christianity with him from Ireland, and forming a monastery.  It's also possible that the Book of Kells was at least partially written here.  Iona has long been thought to be a remote, mysterious, and spiritual place.  Because of that, many of the greatest Kings of Scotland, upon their deaths, had their bodies transported out to Iona for burial.

Today, Iona Abbey -- built in 1203! -- stands in roughly the same place as the Columba's monastery.  It's a beautiful place and we couldn't wait to see it.  But getting there requires some work.

Our day began by taking a ferry from the port town of Oban on the western coast of Scotland to the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides.  To give us more freedom, we decided to take our rental car.  Car ferry!  A first for us!

Our CalMac ferry arrives to pick us (and our car) up.

Getting us and our car on board was much easier than expected.  And so we were ready to go!

On the ferry.  Adventure awaits on distant Scottish Islands!

While the kids kept themselves entertained with iPod Touch games and taking pictures with cameras....

Deeply engaged in... uh... Scottish folklore, I'm sure.

... Kelly and I were taking in the scenery during the 45-minute ferry trip.  The highlight was the ancient Castle Duart, built in the 1600's, and the ancestral home of the Maclean clan.  It was rather spooky site, frankly.  It cuts an imposing figure in the deep mist of western Scotland.

Ancient Duart Castle, ominously guarding the Isle of Mull.

When you arrive, you find yourself on the eastern side of the Isle of Mull.  But Iona is on the western side.  So... time for me to drive again on the left side of the road!  I was expecting a leisurely drive (not a whole lot of people venture into the western Scottish Islands in March -- for good reason).  Instead... I get 1 1/2 hours on a one-lane road.  It was quite an adventure.  But I'll leave that for another blog post.

After the long drive, we arrived at the far western end of the Isle of Mull at a small -- very small -- seaside village called Fionnphort (pronounced finn-a-fort), population 70.  Fionnphort is so small that apparently its primary source of income is charging people to use the toilet.

Really?  A turnstile?

From Fionnphort, you have to take another ferry -- a short one, about 10 minutes, for foot passengers only -- to the small Island of Iona.

Kevin and the kids disembark from the foot ferry at Iona.

The Abbey is a short 10 minute walk from where the ferry lands on Iona.  On the way, we stop at the ruins of an old Augustinian Nunnery built in the 13th century.  The kids got to run around a bit after being cooped up in the car and on the ferry.  Anna in particular seemed to enjoy exploring the ruins.

Anna amid the stone walls of the nunnery.

Anna finds the bones of a nun a flower.

A few minutes past the nunnery, you finally come to Iona Abbey.  It was a gorgeous day on Iona which allowed for some wonderful images.  It was crisp, cold, and windy.  But the sky was blue and white, a sharp contrast to the dark grey mist that shrouded us on our journey to the place.  I don't think you could have asked for a more perfect day on Iona in March.  Click on the images below to enlarge:

The Abbey, approaching by the foot from the road.

The Abbey with the Isle of Mull in the distance.

Out in front of the Abbey we were treated by some of my favorite christian imagery: ancient celtic crosses.  The first one is a replica of St. John's cross.  The original (from the 8th century!) is in the Abbey's museum and consists of several large fragments.  The story goes that the original creators of St. John's cross were too ambitious and built the horizontal pieces of the cross too large.  So the left and right side of the cross fell off.  To repair the cross, they added the circular pieces as support.  The rest is history as the design began to be copied throughout the region.

A replica of St. John's Cross.

Not too far away is St. Martin's cross.  This is the original from the 9th century!  We were stunned to see how well preserved it is!  It's a beautiful piece and moving to see.

The original St. Martin's cross from the 9th century.

Frankly, the kids were acting pretty goofy at this point.  So, Kelly and I took turns exploring the Abbey -- which still houses an active congregation -- individually on our own.  We took the kids in a bit later.  On our excursion into the Abbey, we first encountered a beautiful courtyard, composed of elaborate stone arches.  Also in the Abbey are dozens of ancient grave markers.

The courtyard of the Abbey.

Moving into the Abbey itself, we encountered more beautiful stone and one of the most beautiful wooden ceilings we've ever seen.

Inside the Abbey.  An active congregation worships here.

We are also amazed by this hand-carved stone pulpit.  A stunningly intricate piece, covered in early christian iconography.

The pulpit in Iona Abbey.

Amazing place.  On the path from the Abbey back towards the ferry, you encounter a fascinating addendum to it all -- a cemetery  Below is a picture of Reilig Odhrain.  This is the "graveyard of kings."  The abbey cemetery contains the graves of many early Scottish kings -- and a few Norwegian and Irish kings as well -- including the real Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaich).  It's a fascinating place to wander for a bit, although almost all of the ancient gravesite inscriptions are worn away and no longer identifiable.

Reilig Odhrain, the graveyard of kings.

It was a great day and a great trip.  I would like to say that we had a deeply spiritual experience at Iona.  While it was, in fact, an amazing place to go, I must say that having 3 kids with you does not lend itself to intense spiritual reflection, prolonged or otherwise. :-)  Nevertheless, it was a moving experience, no matter how brief.  Iona is high on our list of places to return to someday.

Daniel & Justin as we await our ferry back to Oban.

Monday night and Tuesday night we stayed in Oban.  I wasn't sure what to expect from the town of Oban.  One of the taxi drivers in Edinburgh asked what places we were visiting in Scotland.  When we told him, his response was, "Edinburgh great, Inverness great, Oban...big block of concrete."  So our expectations were low.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  It's not quite as cute and picturesque as Edinburgh or Stirling, but I still thought it was a pretty port town.

We stayed at a neat bed and breakfast just outside of the main town, but still close enough to walk.
And walk we did.  There was lots of drizzle and rain, and I don't think it was the most pleasant walk, but we pressed on.
After taking a few detours, we found our way to a yummy Italian restaurant right on the bay.  It was dark and rainy so there wasn't much of a view, but it was warm and dry.  We were pretty wet by the time we got there. Thank goodness for our raincoats! Plus, they had simple buttered noodles that we could order for the kids.  Score!   On the walk back, Anna talked the WHOLE time, either singing a song about noodles, or talking about the Tesco store we were going to.  I was glad she was happy, since it was dark and rainy, and I wasn't feeling toocheery.

The next day was a little more pleasant, cloudy, but not as rainy.  We had a funny conversation with a guy who worked at a restaurant where we ate dinner. When I mentioned the rainy weather the day before, he told us that wasn't bad. The weather is considered bad if the rain is going sideways.  If it's just coming straight down, it's an okay day.  I guess it's all relative!

Also while we were talking, I asked him about an unfamiliar soft drink, IRN-BRU.  He said that I HAD to try it, that it was like nothing else.  And he said it's the most popular drink in Scotland, well, after whiskey of course!  It smelled like bubble gum and tasted very sweet.  Not sure I liked it...



Here's some pictures from our yummy breakfast.
 
Daniel and Justin wanted to try a poached egg (that's the white blob in the picture above with the toast and hard boiled egg).  I'll just say they weren't too thrilled with it, but at least they did take one small bite.