Iona Abbey

Holiday Backblip - Day 6

A quiet, calm sea today so perfect for the short ferry crossing from Fionnphort to Iona. The Abbey is well signposted and we followed everyone else as they made their way up the road. They carried on, but we stopped to admire the remains of the Iona Nunnery, made of the same pink granite as the Abbey and with lots of interesting information boards about the nuns who lived there many years ago.

We also paused to admire the beautiful organic gardens of a local hotel, where sweet peas were still in full bloom and the vegetable garden was a cook's delight. This made our minds turn to lunch, so we stopped at the Heritage Centre cafe where, to our huge disappointment, we had the worst bowls of watered-down soup we've ever tasted anywhere! Fortunately, this was the only black spot of the day and the Abbey awaited.

In its beautiful setting looking over to the mainland of Mull, Iona Abbey belies its often violent history - attacked on several occasion by Vikings and other raiders, including other monks jealous of its riches and relics of St Columba. Today it exudes peace and serenity and it is easy to see why it is such a special place that more than 95% of visitors to Mull come specifically to visit the Abbey and many go home without seeing anything else.

We enjoyed the beautiful interior of the Abbey and the way it manages to include both old and new artifacts and yet retain its harmony. The cloisters were a special delight, with much of it reconstructed in a similar vein to the original. The sculpted details on the pillars were much admired, as were the simple St Oran's Chapel and its interesting graveyard and St Columba's tiny chapel built in to the wall of the Abbey.

The new Iona Museum built by Historic Scotland in the original Abbot's House gives an excellent timeline to the history of the Abbey and a beautiful display of some of the original tall crosses and carved gravestones found in the area. So much to see and take in and a very beautiful place to visit.

Rather than rush back to the next ferry as many others were doing. we decided to walk to the north of the island and visit the beautiful white sandy beaches we'd heard were up there. In spite of a rather chilly wind, we enjoyed being the only people on a wide white beach, dotted with amazing striped pink granite rocks. We heard a squeal and discovered we were not alone, as some brave (or mad?) girl had decided to go for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean and had just discovered how cold it was! Her friends could only laugh at her from the shore, as we did:-)

We strolled back to the ferry via fields of Hebridean sheep and Highland cattle and admired some beautiful private gardens, one filled with dahlias and looking quite magnificent. A smooth crossing back to the mainland completed a wonderful day and one we'll remember for a long time.