a pilgrimage to Iona

A pilgrimage to Iona is not for everyone, perhaps not even for most visitors to Scotland, but for travelers with an appreciation for spirituality and an interest in the history of Christianity in Scotland, it's a highly recommended visit.

Iona is a vibrant, ecumenical community of progressive Christians worshiping and working together on this remote island in the Hebrides. The journey itself is a reminder of how remote the place is. The trip begins with a 45 minute ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull. At the ferry terminal, you catch a red bus to Iona for a 75 minute trip on a single lane road (with beautiful sights along the way and the informative banter of the bus driver who describes what you're seeing and the history of Mull). Finally, there is another 15 minute ferry ride to take you the final mile across the channel to the small island of Iona.

The Abbey has been restored, and it's the home and place of worship for the Iona Community. I've always felt the difference when visiting a church that is home to a vital worshiping community (rather than being just a tourist site), and this is certainly the case with the church at Iona. There's no organ — the music is provided with a keyboard — and a poster with the words of Micah 6:8 reminds the Community of their mission, to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Iona is the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland, having been the home of St. Columbo who is buried on the island (and who is pictured in the stained glass window above). Visitors can also tour the ruins of the ancient nunnery and visit several craft shops.

copyright  (c)  2015 by David Ourisman LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

view from my window | sunset in Oban

Thursday was another traveling day as we left Torridon and drove south. Our first destination was Glencoe where we had a great lunch at the Clachaig Inn, then stopped at the visitors center to tour the informative museum. But our ultimate destination was Oban, a fishing village on the coast and also a hub for ferry service to elsewhere.

We're staying at a B&B which is owned by friends, Glenburnie House. I'm ensconced in Room 4 which occupies the prime location in the house. Big bright room, high ceilings, step-in shower! — and bay windows with the view above, the nicest room I've had so far on this trip. The picture was taken from my window last night at sunset. We had dinner last night at Eeusk, a restaurant right on the water with absolutely fresh seafood — a bowl of mussels for an appetizer and Dover sole for a main course.

Today we take two ferries and a bus to visit Iona, the ancient Scottish abbey on a small island off the coast. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

copyright  (c)  2015 by David Ourisman LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

... and I'll be in Scotland afore ye

O ye'll take the high road, and I'll take the low road,

And I'll be in Scotland afore ye

Just fifteen days until my next trip, so it's time to start getting excited! I'm headed to Scotland, still part of the United Kingdom, and I'm looking forward to the beautiful, rugged scenery and the opportunities for landscape photography. Photography has been my avocation since childhood, and travel photography is my primary reason to see the world's beauty and capture it on film on my digital camera. I'll be sharing my best shots on Travel Horizons and on Facebook, so ask to friend me if you'd like to see what I see.

My trip to Scotland is also an opportunity to inspect hotels and gain familiarity with the destination so that I can help clients plan their trips. Here are some of the anticipated highlights:

Flying on an Airbus 380. Never before flown on one of these double-decker behemoths, and I'll be on Air France's version, flying business class from SFO-CDG (and connecting on a smaller plane to EDI). I've heard the 380 is eerily quiet — and that AF's 380 business class seat product is flat but not completely horizontal — but I was able to use DL miles for a complete roundtrip in business.

Our itinerary in Scotland starts in Edinburgh where we'll be staying at The Caledonian, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel. From there, we'll take the longer coastal drive to St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf. Due to a tournament going on during our stay, we are not able to stay at the Old Course Hotel. We then we take the high road into the Scottish Highlands, spending two nights near Inverness and another two nights in Wester Ross.

Going south, we head to Oban in the Argyle and Bute region of Scotland. Why Oban? It's the home of Susannah — leisure travel sales manager for Four Seasons London. Her husband owns a B&B on the coast (and they've offered to do our laundry). Our penultimate stop will be the Gleneagles Resort which, I'm told, is the nicest resort in the U.K. Looking forward to being pampered at Gleneagles before our final two nights in Glasgow.

One final day in London where we'll spend the night at The Goring (home to the Middletons the night before the Royal Wedding) and have site inspections of the Rosewood London and newly reopened Lanesborough.

Flying back on Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow to San Francisco, it will be my first experience of Upper Class. If anyone has any tips on how to ensure your limo driver can access Virgin's Upper Class Wing (or anything else I've discussed), please let drop me a note.

copyright (c) 2015 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.