After seeing Edinburgh for a little bit, we decided to see my old college friend who now lives in Oban.  This is a small port town north of Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland, and not far from all the famed Scottish isles.  It’s a beautiful place!

Oban's Coastline

Okay, it’s more beautiful when it’s sunny, but it’s still a really pleasant little town.  We stayed in her extra room in the flat (an amazing luxury after weeks of dorm rooms) and got to hang out with her a little bit for lunch.  As she had to go back to work, we decided to explore the sights within walking distance of Oban on our own.

It turns out that there are tons of things to see there.  Our first stop was St. Columba’s cathedral, right in town, which is an interesting little church.  Compared to some of the cathedrals we’d already seen in Barcelona and Edinburgh, it was extremely simple, but its architecture had a really pleasing feel to it once you were inside.  We reckon that the wood roof allowed for a more open internal space since the weight of the roof was so much less than a stone roof would have been.

Oban's Cathedral

Our second stop was the Dunollie castle ruin, the seat of the Scottish clan MacDougalls.  It’s a free entrance park and you can go right in the keep!  Or as I chose, you can storm the keep!

Dunollie Castle

Storming the Castle

Unfortunately I left my flag in Washington so apparently the MacDougalls get to keep their keep for the time being.  I was so CLOSE!

Anyway, the ruin was really interesting despite being covered in vines and falling down.  For instance, the walls are nearly 8 feet thick!  This was designed to withstand some serious sieging.

Inside the Keep

After we finished there, we walked back to the town to see our final sight in Oban.  It turns out a wealthy banker-philosopher-author wanted to build something in the year 1900, and he chose to build a “tower” up on the hill above Oban.  It’s more like a Coliseum with a garden in it.  Weird, but beautifully situated and interesting nonetheless:

McCaig's Tower

Turns out that this tower has an interesting back-story, worth checking out.  Afterwards, we met back up with my friend and we treated ourselves to ice cream!

Ice Cream for Married People

Ice Cream for Cold People

Beautiful Oban Sunset

Then the sun set and we went out to have a drink in the bar.  Turns out exams were happening and it was packed with undergrads!  We met a few people from Oban and then went back to the flat around midnight.  Did I mention that there was still daylight then?  We’re far north!

The next day we took a great hike up in the hills near Oban at a place called Ben Lora.  This hill has a great view of the lochs and scenery around the Oban area, as well as a convenient location close to town and a delicious tearoom with dessert after we returned!  Did I mention we got cheese, sausage, fruit, bread, and tomatoes for a sweet picnic up near the top?

Gnarly Tree and Gnarly Justin

The Picnic!

Made it!

Afterwards we went out to a kind Oban PhD student’s birthday party with a homemade Colombian soup called Ajiaco!  It was made with secret spices and three kinds of potatoes and was completely delicious.

Unfortunately the next day we had to take the bus home so we didn’t do too much, besides having delicious Scottish fish-n-chips and walking along the shoreline.  We had a great time in Oban!