To get to Tobermory, as Colin Forth proclaims in The Railway Man, one must go to Oban. Oban is a small sea town and the gateway to the Scottish Isles. The journey has the added bonus of a glorious train ride passing Loch Lomond and Loch Awe. Our conference schedule necessitated an overnight in Oban, but necessity began to look like luck. The seafood in Oban is mindblowing. And the town isn't bad either.
At the top of the hill above town, there is a monument, built in the 19th century by a local to his family to generate employment. He died before it was finished, so it remains an empty shell that frames the view.
It's a nice run up. Up close, it offers lovely views down into the town, and out, into the sea.
If I hadn't wanted to go islanding, I certainly would've changed my mind running north from Oban. The views were unbelievable.
From Oban, it was on to Tobermory, a tiny sea town on the Isle of Mull, where we engaged more fully in our movie nostalgia, in revisiting scenes from I Know Where I'm Going. The smoked fish was fantastic, the B&B was charming....
And the town was a delight. If you go, please get deep fried scallops from the food truck on the pier. Send them all to Abu Dhabi.
Trails run north and south from town, out to a lighthouse on the one side...
...where you'll find a small, and lovely bench and monument to a man who loved the view.
In the opposite direction, trails stretch to Aros Park.
We will have to come back. The island is full of wild-life year round, with otter and whale sightings, sharks, and (while we were there, but no, we didn't see any) puffins.
It is also full of castles. Below, a Victorian one ("not a proper castle," one man told me definitively, explaining "they weren't waging any battles from it, now were they?").
Battle purposes aside, I'd rather have this tiny cottage....
It's a nice run up. Up close, it offers lovely views down into the town, and out, into the sea.
Just beyond Oban, there is Fingal's Rock, a huge upright boulder which (legend has it) Fingal used to chain up his dog....and a castle, and a beach, full of washed-up jellyfish.
If I hadn't wanted to go islanding, I certainly would've changed my mind running north from Oban. The views were unbelievable.
From Oban, it was on to Tobermory, a tiny sea town on the Isle of Mull, where we engaged more fully in our movie nostalgia, in revisiting scenes from I Know Where I'm Going. The smoked fish was fantastic, the B&B was charming....
And the town was a delight. If you go, please get deep fried scallops from the food truck on the pier. Send them all to Abu Dhabi.
Trails run north and south from town, out to a lighthouse on the one side...
...where you'll find a small, and lovely bench and monument to a man who loved the view.
In the opposite direction, trails stretch to Aros Park.
We will have to come back. The island is full of wild-life year round, with otter and whale sightings, sharks, and (while we were there, but no, we didn't see any) puffins.
It is also full of castles. Below, a Victorian one ("not a proper castle," one man told me definitively, explaining "they weren't waging any battles from it, now were they?").
I agreed, much preferring this nearby establishment for battle purposes. It's the seat of the Maclean clan, and has bits and pieces knocking about from the 13th century, and a majestic, wind-swept lawn looking out over the water.
Battle purposes aside, I'd rather have this tiny cottage....
...with its field of happy sheep.
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