First day on Islay

So much to tell you! At the moment, Michael and I are relaxing, eating sandwiches in the sitting room at our B&B ‘Samhchair’ (Gaelic for tranquility) on Islay, still feeling the sway of our morning ferry ride here. We arrived at Port Ellen, Islay around noon and were greeted at the dock by our B&B hostess Maggie. Our hired car was there ready for us to drive as well. Michael is doing very well operating on the car’s right side, driving on the left-hand side of the road, roads that are winding and narrow and many that allow only one car to pass at a time. You quickly learn to politely pull over for others who are equally polite and friendly, waving as you pass each other. After unpacking and tea with our hosts, Michael and I drove off to have lunch at the Ardbeg Café at the Ardbeg Distillery then on to the Kildalton Church ruins and cross which is the largest in tact Celtic cross in Scotland. The roofless stone church is surrounded by its equally old cemetery. Inside we found wall sculptures of ancient Celtic soldiers. On our way to this site, we also came upon what could only be described as an ‘enchanted forest’ where the undergrowth was a lush carpet of bluebells and ferns. Stunning beauty! Everywhere you look there are finely crafted ornate stonewalls topped with moss, lichen or ivy. These structures frame the woodlands, frame and divide lush fields and hillsides where sheep and lambs are grazing. We stopped at Lagavulin Distillery to take pictures and met a couple from Colorado out on the pier there. We walked along the beach out to a high rocky hill to photograph the remains of Dunyvaig Castle which once was home to The Lord of the Isles, of the name MacDonald. Driving through Glasgow yesterday and along our 4 hour bus trip to Tarbert, I was struck by all the flowering shrubs already in bloom, things we won’t see until June in NE; rhododendrons, azaleas, golden chain trees, potentilla, bridal wreath, mt. andromeda, clematis as lush as August at home and there are forests of larch trees! Everywhere, you see flowers, buttercups, daisies and others, purple clover and lobelia growing out of rocks and stone walls; sea thrift blooms profusely out of rocks down by the water. By the way, it stays light here until about 9:45 PM. As I write, we are closing in on 9:30 and we are now enjoying a wee nightcap with our hosts and fellow guests. I’m typing on a table by the window overlooking the beach where waves gently lap the shore; craggy green hills rise in the background. We’re looking forward to the morning’s worship at the Round Church in Bowmore tomorrow; a sunny day is expected. So it’s off to bed we go now.

Oidhch mhath (goodnight)
Jacqueline

11:30PM Mike here ...

I stayed up visiting with the other guests. When I posted the blog written by J, and added pictures they show in the exact opposite order loaded. The top pic is the castle, second is the cross, last is the sign at the ferry terminal. I'll post more pics in future, but need to resize them due to them taking so long to upload.