Iona, Scotland

Our time in England and Scotland has been busy and fantastic. As we know this will be our last visit for a long time, we have taken every opportunity to enjoy moments with friends and family as well as see some sights.

A big thank you to all of you who have housed and fed us, it was so good to see you all. We are sorry we didn’t get to see lots of our other friends in the UK. Our time has gone so quick. Please keep in touch.

A special highlight from our time in the UK was an over night trip to Iona, a gift given to us by generous friends.

We were blessed with two of the most perfect weather days to enjoy our time there, and so we did!

It is not easy to get to Iona. About a 2.5 hour drive from Aberfeldy, we got to Oban, then took a ferry to Mull, then caught another smaller one across to Iona – but it was well worth the trip.

For those who don't know, Iona was the place where Christianity was brought to Scotland by an Irish missionary (Columba) in the 500s.

We only got there about 3 in the afternoon, so we spent the rest of the day checking over the abbey and other old sites on the island.

Especially wonderful was the night service we went to in the Abby. The whole place was lit up by candle, and they conducted the most beautiful communion service. I assumed it would be very 'high' church, and certainly the structure of the service was formal, but was pleasantly surprised at the ease and relaxed atmosphere. A group called the 'Iona Community' live and work on Iona and maintain the abbey and run the church life. I found it a very moving thing to sit with about 100 strangers from all parts of the world in the magnificent 14th century abbey, as we simply shared communion together. It was beautiful.

The following morning we woke to clear skies and an incredible sunrise, so we had an early breakfast and went and hired bikes down at the village and spent the rest of our time riding from one end of the island to the other. At lunch we had to catch the ferry back to Mull in time for our 3 o'clock ferry back to Oban....we had meetings the next day right up in the north of the country.

Anyway, it was a fabulous time and an amazing place to visit - truly the cherry on the cake of our time in the UK.

Love to you all,