Isle Of Lewis Vacations & Sundays

The typical vacation of spending hours on end sunbathing on the beach is quickly becoming far less popular than it once was. As more and more folks become conscious of the risks of overexposure to the sun more folks either take extra precautions like using high factor sunscreen while others choose to spend their vacation exploring other cultures and interesting ways of life. While the UK might not strike you as being a drastically different culture thereto of us of America the differences are often startling, none more so than the Hebridean culture of the Isle of Lewis and other islands of the Outer Hebrides.

One of the very first things that strike you about the Isle of Lewis is that the strict adherence to the principles of the "Wee Frees" which ends up in most places being closed on Sundays (the Sabbath). Confusingly the term "Wee Frees" is used in reference to the members of two rather different churches (more obvious if you understand the theology), the Free Church of Scotland and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Both churches follow the creed of Sabbatarianism.

Although there has been much anglicization of the islands over the previous couple of decades the Hebrides Council (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar) has played a serious role in the promotion of the native, Gaelic language and preservation of the Hebridean way of life. While the observance of the Sabbath may not be as strong as it once was it is important that visitors to the Isle of Lewis, Isle of Harris, North Uist, and some of the other, smaller, northern islands of the Outer Hebrides/Western Isles, understand this aspect of the island's culture. [The Sabbath observance is a smaller amount of a problem within the southern islands as they're predominantly Roman Catholic].

Many folks find the observance of the Sabbath something of a restriction as most places, including children's playgrounds. are closed. No public bus services, and only very limited flights and ferry services, means movement to and from, and throughout, the islands are severely restricted. However, it's generally accepted that the bulk of islanders are in support of this policy. As a visitor, you actually got to take care to not offend which you respect the views of the local folk.

Personally, I even have always liked the Sundays within the Outer Hebrides, even once I lived on a small island, whose ferry service didn't run on Sunday, I loved the uniqueness of the day. Admittedly the observance is most strict on the Isle of Harris and North Uist but there are some areas on the Isle of Lewis that maintain strict observance. As the years pass the town of Stornoway loses much of its Sunday character with more and more places now opening but visitors still got to remember.

One of the most important things to remember is that you may need to stock up on supplies, it can be extremely annoying if you run out of essentials such as milk or bread. A word of recommendation, get to the shops early Saturday if you would like shopping as most shops are extremely low on a stock by the top of the day as fresh supplies come in on Monday, even the large supermarkets on the Isle of Lewis can run out of many items of food.