July 11, 2005 Iona.

Hi, decided since it is so quiet here to send some

notes about the place I am staying. St. Columba Hotel

was once the manse (minister's home) for the Church of Scotland. There is a small church here, which holds services at noon on Sunday. I am going to try and get into the building, just to see it. Outside it is a simple stone building.

St. Columba Hotel has long served as a hotel for

guests. It has been remodeled over the years and

today has about 25 guest rooms. It is in a prime

site, my room is ocean view and looks out to a

gorgeous view of the ocean and the Island of Mull in

the background. It is an eastward facing window so

the sun shines brightly in the morning. I am told

that the last 3-4 days have been overcast and cloudy,

downright dismal for folks here, so they are happy for

the sun and clear skies.

The dining room looks out at the ocean on one side and

toward the St. Columba Gardens on the other. They

grow all their own produce for use in the hotel

kitchen. The gardens are beautiful with flowers,

vegetables and some fruit trees. With such nice

gardens the meals are sumptuous.

On the Breakfast and Dinner Plan they cook breakfast

for me according to about a half dozen choices, plus

there is some fruit, cereals, coffee or tea. Dinners

are all homemade, using organically grown produce. My

choices are from three categories of appetizer/salad,

main entree and dessert. My dessert last night was

homemade plum crumble with cream! It was so large I

couldn't finish it, and for me to leave dessert is

saying a lot.

I am not too worried about gaining too much weight as

there is much walking to do. The only cars on the

island are for the inhabitants. No visitors may drive

here. There is one car for the Iona Taxi. A person

can rent a bicycle, but otherwise one walks. The

roads are single lane roads, with a few pull offs, so

if a car is coming you can pull off the road.

Although on an island that is 3.5 miles by 1 mile

there isn't too much area for a car to drive, since

the bulk of it is undeveloped and reserved for farm

land. The sheep and cattle have a greater rein than

the humans do, and if you encounter an animal along

the way, they have the right of way!

Cherrio!

Dan Corll