Day 6 - July 17, 2022 - Oban

 Today was a kind of leisurely day.  For the most part we were free to explore Oban and pursue our own activities until 4:00 PM.  Actually, we are always free to deviate from planed activities or meals and do what we wish.  After all, it is our trip so we can do what we want.

We had an excellent breakfast at the hotel at 8:00.  I had yogurt and fruit, a sweet roll, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and toast.  Of course there was coffee and plenty of it.  The Scots do know how to brew a good cup of coffee as well as a cutp of tea.  At most restaurants, you are brought a French press of coffee to the table.

After breakfast we decided to go exploring on our own rather than a walk with Malcom, our tour leader.  Upon arriving in Oban we immediately decided we had to visit McCaig's Tower, also known as McCaig's Folly.

The structure is a prominent tower on Battery Hill overlooking the town of Oban in Argyll, Scotland.

It was about a half mile climb up to the tower, not too bad but there were some pretty steep steps.

The following details about the tower were taken from Wikipedia.

It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive, from Muckairn, with a circumference of about 200 metres (660 ft) with two-tiers of 94 lancet arches (44 on the bottom and 50 on top). It is a Grade B Listed historic monument.

The structure was commissioned, at a cost of £5,000 sterling (£500,000 at 2006 prices using GDP deflator), by the wealthy, philanthropic banker (North of Scotland Bank), John Stuart McCaig.

John Stuart McCaig was his own architect. The tower was erected between 1897 and his death, aged 78 from cardiac arrest, on 29 June 1902 at John Square House in Oban.

McCaig's intention was to provide a lasting monument to his family, and provide work for the local stonemasons during the winter months. McCaig was an admirer of Roman and Greek architecture, and had planned for an elaborate structure, based on the Colosseum in Rome. His plans allowed for a museum and art gallery with a central tower to be incorporated. Inside the central tower he planned to commission statues of himself, his siblings and their parents. His death brought an end to construction with only the outer walls completed.  Although his will included £1,000 per year for maintenance, the will was disputed by his heirs; their appeal to the court was successful.

I guess his heirs were less interested in philanthropy and statues than they were of their inheritance.

At any rate, it is an interesting monument and the views are fantastic.

Descending from the tower, we passed the War and Peace Museum of Oban.  This turned into an interesting half-hour diversion.  There were a large number of artifacts from the various wars the people of Oban had fought in as well as a general history of the town.

The radio and code key are for my ham radio buddies.

The gang, reading a plaque of some nature.

We walked the mile or so to Dunollie Castle.  The castle is in ruins, but we had been told that there was no admission to walk the ground, just for the museum.  When we reached the castle we learned that there was an admission.  We were afforded the "concession" rate because we were seniors which was 7 Pounds.  We passed.  If you have seen one castle ruins, well, you know the rest.  And we have seen many castle ruins.  There has been a fortification of some nature at this location from at least the 700's.  The current castle dates from the 15th Century.  Anyway it was a nice walk on a beautiful day.

We found these interesting water birds, the black guillemot.  There are about 15 pair in the Oban area.  An interesting feature of the bird is their ability to dive as deep as 150 feet in the ocean.

Hutcheson Monument is an obelisk made out of granite which acts as a memorial to David Hutcheson.  The monument recognizes Hutcheson’s innovative work around steam communication in the West Highlands & Islands of Scotland.  It is located on the Isle of Kerrera just off the coast across the bay from Oban.

After our 5 mile plus walk, we were ready for lunch.  Kay and I picked up an order of sea scallops, sautéed in butter and garlic along with a bakers dozen of shrimp.  Total cost was about $15 and were perhaps the best scallops I have ever eaten, but Oban is the seafood capital of Scotland.

We enjoyed our meal sitting on a ledge dockside.

After lunch we walked another half mile round trip for a chocolate ice cream from the Oban Chocolate Company.  Everything is made on site and it was worth the walk.  

We then ambled back to the hotel for a little rest before boarding the van for a short ride to an interesting old Kirk site.

We were met by Liam, the local man responsible for the site’s revival, who gave us a tour.  After purchasing the house next door for their retirement, Liam and his wife Myra discovered the overgrown graveyard was actually the final resting place of the chief of the Clan McDougal, who once ruled the area. Liam and Myra were saddened to see how the graveyard had fallen into such disrepair, so they established a team of volunteers known as the Friends of Kilbride to clean up and restore the historical site. They have since devoted much of their retirement to the project and are passionate stewards of the 

graveyard and its inhabitants. Liam told stories and even sang several old Scottish songs.

Rather than go into detail, if interested you may read this bit of history.

Although the Kilbride is only about 20 minutes from Oban, it is "out in the country".  After leaving Liam, we drove a short distance to an even more remote location to find "The Barn".  An old barn converted into a restaurant.  Here we had the best meal of the trip so far.  Kay and I shared our meals which consisted of wild Scottish venison stew, fish pie with vegetables,  homemade mushroom soup (delicious), all washed down with a pint of local mild bitter.  This was followed by sticky toffy with ice cream.  Oh my, I am stuffed as I write this.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a wedding party still celebrating from the wedding.  As we exited the restaurant, they again greeted us in the typical friendly Scot way.  I noticed someone's dog who had been decorated for the wedding.

I took his photo and asked the owner if he enjoyed the wedding.  She said he was tired and wanted to go home.  Another of our group decided he would take a photo also and the dog snapped at him.  Without missing a beat, the owner said that he was really a Doberman pincher.

This by the way is the second wedding we have stumbled upon in as many days...  Malcom said people are trying to catch up from covid.

Time for bed, until tomorrow.  We travel to the Isle of Mull and the isle of Iona.  A full day of boat rides.