| Isle of Mull, Scotland, continued | |
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| A narrow gauge train takes folks from the ferry docks to Torosay Castle. It's a quarter mile walk from the train station to the castle. | Bob at the front door of Torosay Castle.The family lives in the upper floors. All of the main floor rooms are open to the public. |
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| Torosay has beautiful formal and informal gardens. Even the woods are landscaped. | Torosay is a manor house, not really a castle. This castle-style architecture is called "Scottish Baronial." This is a vew from the far gardens. |
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The lower terrace in front of the manor. The tea room is on the upper terrace to the left.
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Outside seating for the tearoom overlooks the upper terrace. Torosay has a website, and it lists the tearoom Christmas season offerings of mince pie, mince scones, and Scottish shortbreads. Yum. |
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| Mull is a ruggedly beautiful island. The sea is never far away. | The small Isle of Iona has a huge history. It is the cradle of western Christianity, and the burial place of British kings for generations. Many kings were also crowned on Iona. |
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| This single walkway connects the famous abbey and a few stores and galleries on Iona. | There has been a used book store in this building on Iona for many years. I first went to it in 1992. It is one of my favorite places in the world. The door is so low that I have to duck to get inside. |
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WALES
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| This is the home of Russell and Eileen Hughes in the village of Holy Head (pronounced Holly Head) on Holy (pronounced Holly) Island in Wales. They used to do bed and breakfast, and we stayed here in 1992. We have been friends ever since. | Eileen must have said something funny. She and Bob are having a bacon sandwich breakfast in her sunny kitchen.. |
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| I love to walk around Holy Island. This sign points to a public path across farm lands. Be sure to close the gate so the sheep don't get out. | Holy Mountain can be seen for miles at sea. I have walked the paths through gorse and heather on the mountain . |
