To Calgary we went

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Apparently, it's half the price to hire a car on the weekend from Enterprise and we both had 4 days off in a row so we thought it was a swell idea to drive down to the Isle of Mull and hop over to Iona where Ashley has wanted to take Dan for months now. First we had to make a pit stop at Urquhart Castle. You may not believe it but we've been so close to Loch Ness for the last 6 months and hadn't been to the castle. Ashley figured this was the perfect opportunity. The scenery around the castle is stunning as it looks out onto Loch Ness. Urquhart Castle was blown up in the 17th century so the opposing clans couldn't use it anymore. The ruins remain and there's a visitor centre that exhibits the history of the castle. Dan was impressed with it because he initially thought it was just a small ruin at the side of the loch. But the ruin is really large and the tower has been refurbished so visitors can walk up it. After the castle we booked it down to Oban so we could see the town in daylight and find a hostel. Oban is a beautiful town right on the water. Looking for the hostel we accidentally ended up driving down along the water and finding the Dunolie castle ruin. That night we walked to Tesco; it was definitely a lot easier to walk than to drive. We also went for a drink at the Tartan Tavern which must be the smallest pub in town. And of course, it lived up to its name with all sorts of different tartans donning the walls.

The next morning we got on a 45 minute ferry to the Isle of Mull. Then it was to Iona we went. Iona is an island off the southwest coast of Mull. You can only get there by passenger ferry and cars are only allowed on the island with a permit. Sundays are a bad day to go to Iona, especially if it's winter. The abbey was open but the shop was closed and there are only 2 ferries there and 2 ferries back; either you ride there and back right away, or else you've got 2 hours between. We explored the abbey which St Columba founded in 563 and used to spread Christianity. It remains a popular pilgrimage site to this day. It’s a picturesque abbey set against the water and rolling green hills. We explored the cloisters, the chapel and the exhibition explaining the importance of the abbey, not only to the Iona community but also to its sister communities abroad. We walked further along the island away from town and toward the beach. Before we knew it, it was time to head back for the ferry. Best not to miss the ferry since all our belongings were in the car across the water and no hotels or B & B’s are open at this time of year. We drove back on the same road we came in on; let’s face it, we would’ve taken another road but there are only so many roads on the Isle of Mull. We had read about some stone arches to hike to near Carsaig so we turned onto the craziest road we’ve been on to date and possibly ever. Talk about narrow, winding and few if any passing places. And inevitably we ran into another car; luckily for us they were on the cliff side so even as we squeezed past each other there was no way we were going to drive off the cliff. Anyway, we got to Carsaig which had a house or 2 but it was on a secluded part of the island. And there were goats running wild which was freaked Ashley out. We began walking but we weren’t prepared enough and it started to rain so we turned back pretty fast. As we continued we saw the scenic route to Salen (signs said this, it's not that we got lost). This is where we saw some of the most magnificent scenery so far. We were in awe the ruggedness of the cliffs and the sea. We stopped by the side of the road because we saw a sign for a National Trust of Australia site. We thought it was weird that a National Trust of Australia site was in Scotland and we just had to check it out. It turns out it’s a mausoleum for a man born on the Isle of Mull who served in the army in Australia and ended up becoming governor in 1908. We stayed the night in Tobermory which is a neat little town (the biggest on the island) with different coloured buildings on the harbour.

Next up was Calgary Bay, the namesake of Calgary AB. Scotland's Calgary is way prettier than the Canadian city. There are only a few buildings to the town but we parked and took a forest art walk to the beach. What a cool concept to make the walk, albeit beautiful, more interesting. The water at the beach was calm enough to swim in because it's surrounded by cliffs on either side; too bad it was too cold for swimming. Maybe in the summer you could swim there without catching hypothermia. We drove back to Craignure where our ferry left from. By that time we had driven on every major road on the island. We wandered about trying to kill time before we had to leave. We found Duart Castle by accident, since there are no signs pointing tourists in that direction. Inevitably, it was closed because it was winter and there were sheep everywhere grazing on the castle's grass. We walked down to the water and walked around the castle admiring the view. We really wanted to do some sort of walk but we were also paranoid about missing our ferry. Especially since you have to check in for the ferry at least half an hour prior to its departure. Dan really wanted tea and scones (or any other kind of pastry) so we went to the inn/bar. They could give us tea but no pastry. So we walked across Craignure to the cafe, whose sign on the road said they were open but they were closed. And Craignure is the small kind of place that only has one inn and one cafe so we were out of luck. So, we waited in line for the ferry.

Back in Oban we were curious about the coliseum-y building on the hill so we figured out how to navigate the one way roads up the hill. It turns out it is McCaig's Tower which has a nice little garden inside. At that point it was getting dark and we had to be back in Inverness that night so it was time to head home.

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Photos

Urquhart Castle... and TREBUCHET!!!!!
Not only do we have a nifty castle, but also the nifty un-castler that threw big rocks.

Inside Urquhart
From the most standing tower.

Oban
On the way out of Oban on the ferry, we noticed this Coliseum-esk type building.

Dunolie Castle
We got this shot from our cruise out to Mull.

Iona's Abbey
St. Columba founded it ages ago and visited a dying pictish 'king' at Urquhart. Talk about tying the trip together; yowzers.

On the Ferry
YAYYYY.

Post Shed
That's the one on the Isle of Iona.

Ashley on the Island
Just hangin' out enjoying Mull.

Cowtown Bay
Such a beautiful beach. I can understand why Colonel James Macleod named the Albertan city after it; well, I can only guess that it's beauty is what he wanted Cowtown to aspire to.

Duart Castle
This is totally where Catherine Zeta-Jones trained to steal a mask with Sean Connery. Rad.

Highest point in Oban
Ashley enjoying the view above Oban.

Comments

[Mommy]

Calgary and Duart Castle
As it turns out - I stayed near Calgary in a great Inn years ago! I wonder if it's still there. . . . and did you see disembodied heads floating around Duart Castle? I sure did and it darn near scared the liver out of me . . . good thing I had a lot of years left anyway!