I liked the pictures in the blog entry I took of the ‘twa cars ‘n a ditch’ so much that I decided to post some more pics. This time it’s from our trip to Scotland in 2005. The graphic at the top of this blog is Marsco part of the Red Cuillins on the Isle of Skye. Is it not striking? Now for the pics:

staffaliscious
Melissa and I on Staffa at the mouth of Fingal’s Cave. Staffa off the west coast Mull and about six nautical miles north of Iona. It was part of a package tour, really more a series of separate trips and tickets. First we boarded a Calmac ferry from Oban to Mull then we hopped a bus that travelled a single track road through some of the most luscious and beautiful landscape we’d seen up to that point in our trip. Next we hopped on a small 30 foot boat which took us through some very choppy water to Staffa wherein I got very motion sick. After about an hour we got back on the boat which took us to Iona. Shortly before we docked I finally threw up, and as chance would have it, on the side and very spot of the boat where everyone had to step to get off. We the walked up to the ruins and the abbey to see what the place where St. Columba set up his monastary and where the Book of Kells was written. Then we got on another smaller Calmac ferry to Mull, back on the bus across the island, then the big ferry back to Oban.

Note- In 2006 we went to Ireland and saw both the Book of Kells in Trinity’s library and went up to Northern Ireland to see Giant’s Causeway which is the same type of volcanic columns as Staffa.

calmackie
This is a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Mallaig arriving at Armadale on Skye. It’s such a neat shot.
knoxious
This is the car park where John Knox is buried. The red arrow points to the spot. The building in the background is the old Scottish parliament building, which alas we didn’t get to go into because it was undergoing renovation. To the left and behind, outside the picture is Edinburgh Cathedral. If you go inside you can see a statue of the founder of the Scottish Protestant Reformation. We also saw his statue in Geneva, Switzerland in 2004 along with some other luminaries of the Protestant Reformation, including Calvin and two other stern looking gentlemen I’d never heard of. They look more like Time Lords from Dr. Who.

Some of my previous posts include PDF slideshows. I plan to post more pictures of previous trips.