Seven Whisky Distilleries and one Round Church

Our liquid economy, no, not whisky, greatly improves today. The local Bank of Scotland kindly exchanges the Cyprus pound notes we'd unfortunately received in Norway (A pound is a pound?). We can now afford the half-hour bus trip to Islay's largest town, Bowmore.

In the middle of town there is a spectacular circular church from 1768. It crowns the top of a hill and overlooks the town and the bay. They say it's round so that the devil won't find a corner to hide in.

Main Street is lined with white-painted shops trimmed in bright colors. We can recommend the Tea Room of the Harbour Inn. Great scones and a great view of the little fishing harbor.

We took a tour of the Bowmore Distillery, Islays oldest, from 1779. It's right in the middle of town, also painted white, with black trim. We bought a souvenir from the factory store, uh, for the ship's medical chest.

In the evening we went to a local cultural event at the Laphfraig Distillery. Irish pipes, flutes, song, guitars and a slide show of Islay and Jura... and a drop of the local produce. There was a little lottery, too. We didn't win, but had a great time!