We tried really hard to get out early today as we had a long drive to Oban for our day’s outing. I was up earlier than I wanted to be (stupid morning sunshine! 😉 so it was off for a quick 4 miles while the sun was out. Then scrambled eggs and beans on toast for brekkie before picking up Gran and heading out to the Highlands.
Oban is on the west coast about 60 miles north of here. The weather forecast had said clouds in the morning and clearing in the afternoon but it wasn’t clear that was going to be the case since I got to run in sunshine early in the morning but there was rain on and off on the drive north. That said, weather forecasts in the UK tend to be far more localized that you would think! When we got to Oban, it was cloudy and windy – really windy along the harbor – and the teens where wininng about being cold and contemplating buying fleeces….
We wandered about a bit and got the lay of the land, hit 5 or 6 charity shops (again, no luck ) before having bar lunch in a pub off the harbor a bit. Then more wandering around before heading to the first of the day’s attraction: the Oban distillery! Right in the middle of the city, it seemed a bit pricey for a distillery tour – we also had to pay the adult rate for Duncan if he wanted a dram – but it was well worth it. Of the half a dozen distilleries we’ve toured, this one was the most informative. It’s a small distillery (7 full time workers) that only does one whiskey: Oban 14 year old single malt. They don’t do blends or contribute to blends and they don’t do other ages except for a few special editions – and you know who would be interested in those! We even got a taste from a batch that had been barreled in 2000 (in a souvenir glass that we got to keep) so it was only 11 years old and we could compare it to the regular 14 year old that we tasted at the end of the tour. The tour guide did a great job of pointing out where the different flavor characteristics in the whiskey come from during the distilling process and explaining the role of the casks and why they choose the kind of casks that they do. All around a big thumbs up. Duncan drank his dram which is more than I could manage…. And Frank got a bottle of the Distiller’s special edition which is double matured – the second time in sherry casks. They only make 24,000 bottles a year compared to the 1 million they bottle of their regular whiskey. (Start lining up for next year’s whiskey school!)
When we emerged from the distillery, the promised clearing was occurring and we had some beautiful sunshine. So we took a short drive up a steep hill to McCaig’s tower which is a kind of a folly on the hill overlooking the harbor. (A plaque on the outside said it was built in 1903 by John Stewart McCaig, an art critic, philosopher, and banker…?) It looks like the outside of the Colosseum in Rome and has an amazing view of the harbor and the town. The roads on the way up to the top were amazing on their own! I’d love to meet the folks whose job it was to paint the road markings on these streets! Unlike the narrow streets in Spain that were clearly one way, these are all meant to support two way traffic even though they are no wider! I’m glad I wasn’t driving!
A few miles out of town not far off the road home we hit highlight number two: Dunstaffnage Castle. It’s one of the oldest castles in Scotland – well the ruins of one – build in 1220. It was the seat of power during the early struggles between Scotland and Norway for control of the islands. It has a fascinating history as it was the seat of the Clan MacDougall before being captured by the crown (Robert the Bruce) and turned over to the Campbells – Flora MacDonald was held prisoner there after she was arrested for trying to help Bonnie Prince Charlie. The castle had enough bits left to get a really good feel for what the structure and life there must have been like (you could even see the remains of the latrine!) It was a great end to the day.
The drive home was more pleasant with the sun out and we stopped for dinner at one of our favorite places: The Lade Inn in Kilmahog outside Calendar – if you’ve had a beer at my house in a glass with a Highland cow on it, this is where they come from. They brew their own real ale and have the best haggis around (according to Frank). They also had gluten free options clearly marked on the menu (yeah!) and I had a lovely steak with peppercorn sauce. Gillian had steak pie (again!) and Duncan had a gourmet version of bangers and mash with a lovely gravy made from one of their own ales. Frank and his mom had the haggis (again!) and we all went home much heavier than we entered.
And much wetter – by the time we had finished dinner, the skies had opened up again and the last 20 miles home were quiet and soggy.
Three things we noticed today:
- You need really good blinds if you want to sleep past 6 a.m. in a place where the sun comes up at 4:45 a.m. We do not have really good blinds.
- The rule of thumb that a 60 mile journey takes 60 minutes or so doesn’t apply here. It took more than 2 hours to go the 62 miles between Stirling and Oban. Twisty roads and small villages mean that much slower speeds are needed – and this was on the main route!
- Oban is an international tourist destination – we heard more people speaking a language other than English for the first time since we left Spain. I’m not sure why the French and Italians want to come to the highlands of Scotland for a holiday but there you go.
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