Islay

Islay reminded me of craggy island.  It has a population of 3000 and is quite small.  We only had 6 hours on the island but this happened to be just enough.  Because girlfriends weren't involved I left the planning to the last minute.  What I found out 2 days before the visit to Islay was 1 of the 2 ports on the island was out of action, everything virtually closes between October and April, distilleries only usually do tours during the week and there was nowhere on the island to stay.

Luckily we turned up at the Laphroaig Distillery and a friendly man named Dave greeted us, he was expecting us?  The distillery does special visits at the weekend for those who plan ahead, and those that planned ahead hadn't turned up!!! Brilliant.  He told us stories about how the workforce used to be pissed most of the time and to prevent the workers from stealing the whisky the distillery used to hand it out for free at meal breaks.  Times have changed.

When you drive around the island most people wave at each other.  At first I found it quite nice but it soon became annoying.  Sometimes I forgot and only realised too late, that made me feel ignorant.  Other times I instigated the waves and didn't get a wave back!  I got the feeling that if you lived there, even though the seclusion from the main land would be enjoyable everyone of the 3000 inhabitants would know everything about you.

"Long Straight Roads of Islay"

"Port Ellen in the Morning"

"Port Ellen in the Evening"