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July 31, 2015

Scotland Day 1: Oban

Given how sweltering it has been these past few days, I can’t help but look back on our Scotland pictures and sigh for the 45- to 65- degree, gray, sometimes-rainy weather we enjoyed for most of the trip. Who knew I’d miss having to wear a hat and jacket all the time? Sometimes two jackets, even! And scarves and fur-lined boots!

Yeah, I REALLY miss those days.

Anyway. Day one of the actual archaeological tour, when we were all together for the first time, was actually mostly just traveling in a bus – and then spending a little leisure time in Oban, a town on the West coast of Scotland, before we had our first evening lecture with Prof. Gordon Noble, the trip archaeologist. Who was the BEST. But more on him later.

So, thinking “bus travel day” means I’d have less pictures to go through? HA! THINK AGAIN! Dad had the brilliant idea of taking over the very back of the bus, so he could quickly scoot from one window to the other if an awesome sight made itself known on the opposite side. So, we still got roughly 500 photos from this first day. Lucky us!

No, really, lucky us. Since this was the Scottish Highlands, with their hills and lochs and misty skies, there were MANY gorgeous vistas…especially if you like things that are green. (Full disclosure: I like things that are green.)

Partway through the long drive, we passed through a little town called Inveraray. I saw the sign for “castle,” freaked out as one does with CASTLES, and Dad got to the right window just in time to snap this:

Boom.

Boom.

Of equal importance, Inveraray also had TEA AND COFFEE.

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I think our tour leader sensed our desperation for sustenance, because we got to have an actual break in the town, which was (of course) very picturesque.

Later, there was another CASTLE. (Yes, they will continue to be in all caps. I am very excited about castles. And soon to become excited about MANY NEW THINGS, so brace yourself for a lot of this.)

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Rhododendrons, which are of course our State Flower here in Washington, also bloom wild in Scotland. Which almost feels like theft?

Traitor.

Traitor.

Then there was Oban.

Oban is the stepping-off point for the Isle of Mull, and from there, Iona (the main reason our tour started here; more on that tomorrow). But the town is quite charming and delightful in its own right. I had been to Oban twice before this, and although my memories were vague, I had remembered how just darn pretty it was.

Yup, still darn pretty.

We were left to our own devices – and to grab our own meals – for a while before our evening lecture. We wandered around until we found a charming little pub, with a few veg options (mostly Mac & Cheese. Don’t judge us). Also interesting old-world decor:

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And THIS.

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Fudge cake. You see, between each slice of warm, moist chocolate cake is real, rich, hot fudge. Mom and I split ours with pouring cream on top (the BEST thing), and Erik and dad split one with ice cream. It was divine.

After our meal, we got ambitious and decided we wanted to explore the interesting thing on top of the hill.

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Which meant a lot of stairs, as it turned out. Probably a good thing, considering the fudge cake. At the top was basically what I would call a folly, which had been built by an altruistic Victorian gent who wanted to give jobs to people in the town. So this interesting-but-impractical construction became a sort of a garden, which turned out to be rather lovely.

After that enjoyable time, we made our way back to the inn where the whole tour group was staying, and found our way to the room set aside for Dr. Gordon Noble’s lecture (with powerpoint!). This was also where all of the tour members introduced ourselves, and it became quickly apparent that not only were Erik and I definitively the youngest ones of the group, but also the second-youngest members were Mom and Dad. With a fair-sized gap between them and the next ones up.

I mean, I had been expecting this to some degree. The Archaeology Magazine, which is where we found this tour, obviously has a…certain…demographic, one that is the target of ads for hearing aids, step-in tubs, and coin collecting. It makes sense that retirees are the ones with the money and time for travel programs like this. But I guess I wasn’t expecting quite so many people with canes. More on that later in this blog, I imagine.

Then Gordon! (I mean, Professor Noble. But he went by Gordon too.)

I "borrowed" this pic from Day 2, since we didn't take any of Gordon on Day 1.

I “borrowed” this pic from Day 2, since we didn’t take any of Gordon on Day 1.

None of us took any pictures from the lecture, alas. Although I do have my notes from the lecture, which I COULD attach or include if anyone was actually interested (post interest in the comments, perhaps?). Mostly it was an overview about the different periods we would be seeing – mostly Neolithic, Iron Age, & Early Medieval (especially with the Picts – Prof. Noble’s particular specialty) with a good handful of Viking, later Medieval/Renaissance, and miscellaneous other sites.

I WAS SO STOKED.

Also Gordon was amazing. I mean, I have to admit he was cute – think Paul Bettany if he looked like a more average guy, and James McAvoy’s voice.* More importantly, Gordon was also friendly, funny – with a bizarre sense of humor, we would come to learn – and incredibly knowledgeable and patient. He fielded questions like a pro. Well, he IS a pro.

I am sure there will be plenty more about Gordon in the days to come, because whatever annoyances we faced with our aging touring buddies were definitely balanced out by having him around to be AWESOME all over the place.

Next time: Iona!

*These are the things that make Alex happy.

One Comment on “Scotland Day 1: Oban

Patty Klipple
August 2, 2015 at 12:20 PM

Thankx Alex, I enjoyed the tour. PDK

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