Scotland Day 3/Oban Day 1

Since Barry and Simon both had to work on Tuesday and Wednesday (but had off Thursday and Friday) K, Cameron, Melissa and I decided take a trip up to Oban for an overnight stay Tuesday and Wednesday.  We caught the early train in Glasgow to Oban.  Oban is another Harbor Town NW of Glasgow and a three hour train ride (but faster by car) from the city.  And we were lucky again to have sun, blue skies and warm weather for another harbor town trip.

Scottish boys heading school 

Cam catching some shut eye on the train

The view of the Scottish countryside from the train was absolutely breathtaking.  I re-discovered a new love for the color green.  

These sweet men hadn't been to Oban for 40 years.  They were uber friendly and the one looking out the window looked like that the ENTIRE trip.  So cute.

Melissa imitating the sweet old man.  Jerk. 

Like I mentioned before I was not really involved in the planning process for the trip.  I only wanted to see green and cliffs.  I am not quite sure who discovered Oban but, like Howth, it did not disappoint.  Such a beautiful town with a gorgeous view from any direction you looked.  If I ever make it over to Scotland again I would definitely like to spend more time in Oban.  I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area.   

We rented bikes to get around the island for the two days we were there.  Our first stop was to find our B&B we stayed in.  I am not really sure what happened because I just followed but we took a bit of a detour up a rather large hill (remember we are on bikes) trying to find it.  We stopped to ask directions and were told to turn around go back down the hill and it would be right in town to our left.  Go figure. At least we burned a few calories in the process. 

View from where we asked directions. 

We finally found the B&B and got settled before heading out for a hike.  You can tell we were pretty exhausted.

View from our B&B room

We biked about 2 miles to catch a ferry (that leaves every half hour) for a mile ferry boat ride to the Isle of Kerrera.

Views from the ferry boat. 

Isle of Kerrera is an island easily seen from the Oban Bay.  It's a very large island with great hiking and different castles to visit.  Unfortunately, we completely underestimated the time it would take to see any of the castles we hoped to see.  Even though we did not get to see any castles the scenery was still amazing. My favorite part were the sheep you would see at every corner you turned.  Like in your path.  And you could hear them Baa-ing.  Made me giggle.  I was quite surprised how close they allowed you to get to them.  

oh hey! 

With the ferry boat leaving every half hour and the last one leaving at 5 or 6 (I don't remember which) we had to race back to catch for fear we get stuck on the island without a place to stay.  Luckily, we made it in time but needless to say we were all pretty exhausted and quite grumpy from lack of food.  So we headed back to the B&B to put our stuff down and walked into town for a dinner with a side of the Euro Cup and drinks.  

Restaurant view

Even though I am not huge soccer (or football) fan I still wanted to catch a Euro Cup game at a pub and see the fans.  In my mind I thought it would be a lot like being at a bar on Sunday afternoon during the American Football season.  I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a little bit more crazy!  Anyway, we stuck to our end of the bar and just observed the fans while we enjoyed our drinks. 

I thought this guy had a cute butt.  Shh don't tell the husband;)

One of the unruly locals came over to talk with us Americans and bought us a few drinks.  And didn't leave us alone for the rest of the evening.  Sit me in front of a person with a Scottish accent (or any accent for that matter minus Pittsburghese) I will be entertained for hours.  

I'm cracking up! 

Looks like a serious conversation. 

He was amazed by our straight, white teeth.  I guess it's kinda hard to hide that you are an American in Scotland if you have straight teeth.  He knew we were American right away (before we even opened our mouths).  

Thanks to our Oban friend for the free drinks, great laughs and even better memories!