Oban

Monday night and Tuesday night we stayed in Oban.  I wasn't sure what to expect from the town of Oban.  One of the taxi drivers in Edinburgh asked what places we were visiting in Scotland.  When we told him, his response was, "Edinburgh great, Inverness great, Oban...big block of concrete."  So our expectations were low.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  It's not quite as cute and picturesque as Edinburgh or Stirling, but I still thought it was a pretty port town.

We stayed at a neat bed and breakfast just outside of the main town, but still close enough to walk.
And walk we did.  There was lots of drizzle and rain, and I don't think it was the most pleasant walk, but we pressed on.
After taking a few detours, we found our way to a yummy Italian restaurant right on the bay.  It was dark and rainy so there wasn't much of a view, but it was warm and dry.  We were pretty wet by the time we got there. Thank goodness for our raincoats! Plus, they had simple buttered noodles that we could order for the kids.  Score!   On the walk back, Anna talked the WHOLE time, either singing a song about noodles, or talking about the Tesco store we were going to.  I was glad she was happy, since it was dark and rainy, and I wasn't feeling toocheery.

The next day was a little more pleasant, cloudy, but not as rainy.  We had a funny conversation with a guy who worked at a restaurant where we ate dinner. When I mentioned the rainy weather the day before, he told us that wasn't bad. The weather is considered bad if the rain is going sideways.  If it's just coming straight down, it's an okay day.  I guess it's all relative!

Also while we were talking, I asked him about an unfamiliar soft drink, IRN-BRU.  He said that I HAD to try it, that it was like nothing else.  And he said it's the most popular drink in Scotland, well, after whiskey of course!  It smelled like bubble gum and tasted very sweet.  Not sure I liked it...



Here's some pictures from our yummy breakfast.
 
Daniel and Justin wanted to try a poached egg (that's the white blob in the picture above with the toast and hard boiled egg).  I'll just say they weren't too thrilled with it, but at least they did take one small bite.