Oban and the West Coast Of Scotland

We spent two nights in Oban, on the West Coast of Scotland. Oban feels like a small fishing village -- which is, essentially, what it is. But it does seem to be one of the bigger cities in the region. The picture below is the view out of the window of the Glenburnie House, which was our B&B -- great place to stay, by the way! Since we were pretty far north, it stayed light until 11 pm at least and it started getting light around 4 am. In fact, it didn't ever really get that dark.

View out the window of our B&B, Glenburnie House - looking West / Southwest

Oban is home to the Oban Distillery -- a place that three of the four men on our trip (Dad, Austin, and Bryce) visited one afternoon. Austin and I sampled some single malt scotches, starting with the Oban brand and then moving into the smokier, single malts. As a novice Scotch drinker, I have to say, it was tough to take the more smoky, peaty, single malt varieties. Granted, it was about 11am when we tried them! But I was only able to drink about 1/2 of a shot glass full of the Oban and small sips of the other. Austin didn't like any of them at all.

View of Oban from the Ferrie looking East

Four Jackson Men with our B&B, in the background

Yet another International Swim . . . 

During our first morning in Oban, I went to the local community swimming pool to see if I could swim some laps. I had heard that the Atlantis Swimming Centre was a great facility. Well, it is a great facility. And though  this was not a 50 meter pool, like the one we tried in Edinburgh, it is a nice, 25 meter pool with a nice locker room and amenities, including a sauna. Here is a picture of the pool:

Being able to swim during this trip has been a lifesaver for me since my hip has been pretty bad. Thank goodness for the hiking poles!

The Iona Abbey
Our second day in Oban was the day that Susan headed out to the Isle of Iona while the Men decided to take a day off of buses and ferries and just relax in Oban. Here are some photos from Susan's trip to Iona Abbey.

Dinner in Oban
During our second night in Oban, we found a great dinner spot -- Coast Restaurant on George Street. Being so spoiled on good food as we are, it isn't often that we've been impressed here in Scotland. However, this place was fantastic!

After two nights in Oban, it was time to head back to Edinburgh.