JC and Islay Day Thirteen

Day Thirteen (Tuesday)

Always a little sad to leave a new friend.  That is the way I think of Islay as a new friend.  She opened her doors to Katy and me and showed us all that she had to offer.  From the incredibly friendly people – didn’t matter where you were, the people of Islay are outstanding.  To the extraordinary landscape and history.  If you have the opportunity to come to Islay, take the time to explore and see what God has done with this island.  Take your time; it’s easy to get around, so don’t rush it.  Around every hill, every curve, every stop for a question is another treat.  Yes, Islay is known for its great scotch, so please experience that as well.  But understand there is much more.  Maybe it was the season, but I was not ready for all of the vivid rainbows.  Even as we were about to board our plane this morning, Islay gave us one last rainbow, sort of its way of saying goodbye.

The good news is that we will be in London around noon. Okay, early afternoon.  We did have to take one more COVID test so that we could fly home on Friday.  They make that easy by having testing sites at the airport.  So we got testest before jumping on the Heathrow Express to London’s Paddington Station.  From there, it was a short taxi drive to our hotel.  I forget how much I enjoy London.  We even got a quick glimpse of Princesses Anne as her motorcade drove past.  On our last trip to London in the summer of 2019, Big Ben was covered in scaffolding.  I thought I heard that the work on Big Ben was almost complete, but everything but the face is still covered up.  Still awe-inspiring and the scene of one of my favorite photos that I ever took.  

On this trip, Katy and I have hiked some of the best landscapes on the Jurassic Coast and Islay.  But today, we are doing an urban hike for dinner and making a few stops for a pint or two.  One of Katy’s all-time favorite restaurants is Dishoom, and because it’s Katy’s favorite, it is one of mine.  We had an hour wait, but worth every second.  

The thing that brought a smile to my face was how lively London was;  traffic, people going places, friends greeting each other, queues for the Theater.  If you didn’t know about the pandemic, you would have never known from how London was getting about.