The UK, Part Three. Glorious Oban! Then to Edinburgh the Eternal.

Did I really do this? Could it have been a dream?

The Muthu Alexandra Hotel, Oban, Scotland

It’s been a while but I’m back to thinking about our two-week trip to England and Scotland. (For those who might have missed it from the beginning, here is Part One and Part Two.) My son Jeff and I got back on September 20, which seems so long ago now but I’ve picked through my journal and marveled at my photos again, and I wish I could go back already. The seven-hour flight wasn’t fun at all—and even worse on the way back when all of the excitement was over, but everything else feels so memorable I have to pinch myself to believe it actually happened. To me!

From Penrith in England’s Lake District we took the train to Glasgow but didn’t see much there. We walked from a smaller station to Queens Station, which was a bit of a hike for me, but the weather was nice and we got to see a bit of the city we might otherwise have missed.

Glasgow. On our way between train stations.

We people-watched at Glasgow’s Queens Station as we waited about an hour for our train and I felt like I was watching a stage performance. It was as if all of the most interesting people had decided to gather there just for our entertainment.

Then to Oban, the seafood capital of Scotland, the unofficial capital of the Western Scottish Highlands, and the gateway to the islands of the Hebrides. Which doesn’t begin to do justice to this little jewel of a town.

When we made reservations to stay a night in Oban rather than Fort William, further inland, we did it because I realized our entire trip would be inland. And you know me—at some point I need to be near water. Oban had what they called a “family suite” available at a spectacular place at the water’s edge called Muthu Alexandra Hotel, and it wasn’t terribly expensive.

It looked good online.

And it wasn’t terrible, to be sure, but…

1. Pretty fancy! 2. Wow, that lobby! 3. Wait...what? Out back? 4. Our room. 5. The view from our room.

Still, we were in beautiful Oban with the waterfront boardwalk across the street from the fancy part and just down the hill from the best fish and chips I may have ever eaten. And I live in a Great Lakes state.

Oban boardwalk with our hotel in the background. Oban harbor. Me on the boardwalk. Our view from the restaurant.

I want to say here, because I’d heard horror stories otherwise, that every train we took throughout England and Scotland was on time and quite pleasant. (I do love the clickity-clacks, so…)

Train station, York, England

Almost every bit of travel went smoothly, except in Oban on our way to Edinburgh, when Jeff’s phone decided to act up and he couldn’t bring up our reservations on a packed train, so we had to wait four hours for the next train out. Which, considering we were stranded in Oban, wasn’t all that bad. We had lunch at a big enough harborside restaurant where we could hang around for a couple of hours without being asked to leave. Then, when the rain stopped, we wandered the waterfront where I took pictures and bought souvenirs in a little shop where everything was made by local women. I found this necklace for myself.

We finally got to Edinburgh and everything I’d ever heard about that amazing city wasn’t nearly enough. It took my breath away. I mean…literally. We planned it so we would have easy access to everything we wanted to see and again everything worked out perfectly.

Edinburgh train station, Edinburgh street, Hotel just past striped awning, Mona at Royal Mile

Our hotel was just steps from the Royal Mile, where it was just a short walk to the double decker Hop-on-Hop-Off Bus stop.

I can’t say enough about the on-and-offs. We bought our tickets online and had the entire day to explore anything that looked interesting along their well-planned route through Old Edinburgh. We stayed onboard for the 70-minute tour and then got back on when we’d decided what we wanted to see.

The Scottish National Art Gallery was on my list right from the start, even before we left Michigan. I’m from Detroit, where we have the Detroit Institute of Arts, an unsung world-class art museum, so even as a young child I’ve been exposed to gorgeous artworks. But here in Edinburgh I knew I’d find Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Gaugin, Degas, Monet, Vermeer, Velazquez, El Greco…

And I did.

So next time we’ll explore it, along with the tiny off-the-beaten-path Writer’s Museum, the magnificent Giles Cathedral, and so much more.

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