Oban

This is our second day on the Scotland tour and this morning we were told that two are off the tour because the husband tested positive. Crossing my fingers that I make it to the end of the tour. Becky and I sat at back of bus away from everyone and are wearing our masks more.
We had a busy day on the bus as we headed up to the Highlands. We stopped at Stirling Castle. Rick Steves book compares it to Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, and the Alamo, all rolled into one. The castle sits high on a volcanic ridge by the River Forth which divides the Lowlands from the Highlands which made it the prime location. “He who holds Stirling, holds Scotland” and it was the home of many kings and queens including Mary Queen of Scots and Stuart monarchs. I thoroughly enjoyed touring the king and queen quarters where there were guides in costumes. Oh, it’s also featured in “Braveheart” but we learned that the film got pretty much everything wrong historically.

We drove along the “bonnie, bonnie banks” of the Loch (lake) Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Loch Lomond is Great Britain’s biggest lake by surface area. There are 60 private islands in the loch. Cool fact to its fame is the folk song: “Ye’ll take the high road, and I’ll take the low road, and I’ll be in Scotland afore ye..For me and my tru love will never meet again, on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond”. I won’t explain it here, but it’s a very sad story behind the song.

After lunch in the cute village of Fyne, we continued our way to the scenic coastal town of Oban which is the “Gateway to the Isles.” Rebecca and I took a nice walk along the coast by our hotel and stopped at Bar Rio for a quick dinner of pizza! I love this hotel because of a beautiful glassed-in veranda where we both relaxed and had a beautiful view of the bay called Firth of Lorn in front of us.Read more