Castle Conquerors!

One of the best ways I've found of connecting to other students here is by being in the International Society. You meet loads of people from all over the world, and then get to go to fun event and learn more about them and where they are from! This weekend, the International Society sponsored a trip to the port city of Oban and the Isle of Mull. Being unable to resist traveling anywhere, I naturally went along!


Buses. Buses while you are only 13 are fine, because you can actually fit in those seats. Now try doing the same thing, in the same size seats with 71 students who are all 20-something years old. Basically, nobody fits, and you all get nice an cozy to those sitting on either side of you!


I was the lucky soul sitting in the middle on the three person side, to my right a really cool Canadian named Ian, and to my left the German Martin who can walk for ages and not get tired. This is one thing I love about these trips, despite whatever travel conditions you might find yourself on, you get to know people so much better, and now, I have several new friends just from this one weekend!


The day didn't start out very promising because of this thing they call 'Fog' here. Only this fog is unlike anything I've seen in the US- It is a massive white out that descends upon you, only lifting to find another city or valley to target! In fact, just a few days ago was the most bizarre weather I've ever seen. I walked outside to see frost on the ground, but so thick it literally looked like a coating of snow! And then there was the fact that I was literally walking inside a cloud- but not just any cloud, a frozen cloud.


Water droplets literally hung in the air around me, cold and seeming to crystalize before my eyes.
According to the Glaswegians, THIS is fog. I don't think I'll ever view it the same back home...


However, despite the dreary start to the day, halfway to Oban the sun broke through, revealing the landscape around us. And it was incredible. The sunlight was falling sharply, casting deep shadows of ravines and streams cutting through the mountains. Tiny brooks slashed deep into the mountainside, gushing water before disappearing behind the next hill. Blue sky peacefully soared overhead, a contrast to the yellows and oranges of the mountains. To the left, green forest rippled across the valley, with fog still swirling mysteriously between groves, obscuring some areas before moving on to others.


My pathetic attempt to take a picture out the window did nothing to communicate the majesty of this setting- I couldn't tear my eyes away.

And then, back to the fog. Loch Lomond and Loch Awe were both solid masses of white and gray, where water became fog was impossible to tell. Along the way, we stopped at the town of Inverary, quaint and very foggy.

Inverary! 

War Memorial on the water front- you literally can't see the loch at atll

Down the road to Inverary Castle!

View into the Gardens of Inverary Castle (we couldn't actually go in, it was closed)

Inverary Castle in the mist... it made every seem magical

More Misty Castle views

People still live here, and I think they must have kids, judging by the trampoline I saw...

After this short stop, we finally arrived in Oban to check into the hostel, drop off our bags and set out to explore!! And so, two Dutch girls, a German, and an American (this would be me) explored the coast of Oban. We discovered the Dunollie Castle, a ruin atop the hill, and were amazed to discover that we could just go inside it. Leading to us exploring the ruins for quite some time, despite it being rather small.

The light came back, and the contrasting fog and light made the entire town look like a fairy tale, as though magic could happen at any moment. 

Oban's magic

Oban at Low Tide

A random, cool spiderweb

It has my name!!! 

This is Dunollie Castle, which we climbed up to

My Dutch friends, Charlotte & Anoek inside the castle

Swans of Oban

 I'm probably writing too much in this post. But a lot happened on this trip, and I really want to give you the feeling of being in Scotland! And this means... pubs! There was exactly one pub where everyone goes at night in Oban, and we just happened to find it. So it was fun night of hanging out with friends and locals and attempting to understand our bus driver's Glaswegian accent!

The next day meant the Isle of Mull, and we took the ferry to get over:

Duart Castle from the Ferry

Our Ferry in the background and the Isle of Mull

Unfortunately, everything is closed in January. EVERYTHING. Except for one pub. So we explored by walking!  It took nearly an hour and a half, but eventually we got to Duart Castle through walking on train tracks, and passing Tordsay Castle unintentionally along the way! 

The scenery was incredible. It made me finally realize that I am in Scotland. There were soaring castles, rolling green fields, distant mountains that touched the clouds, groves of trees and old farms with sheep and highland cattle. Looking out across it all, eating my lunch sitting atop a cannon next to a castle and looking out across the loch- this was Scotland- untouched nature with the occasional brazen castle, made by man in an attempt to tame this wild country. And it is beautiful.

Me walking down the tracks!

Tordsay Castle- still inhabited, can you imagine bring your friends home if you lived here?

Sheep!!

The first highland cattle I've seen- and a calf!

Duart Castle from below

Anoek & I in front of Duart

Needless to say, I'm quite enjoying myself. I'm exhausting from literally walking for hours, but so glad I got to see the Isle of Mull. We declared ourselves Castle Conquerors for finally making it to the Castle, and then finding away down the cliff to see the front! 

 


On to the next adventure