Oban – July 31st 2017
Oban? Where, what, why??
Oban is a little town in the highlands that we found. As we were searching for an airbnb in the highlands, nothing was really coming up. We looked into hotels, all full. Hostels, 1 left!!!! The hostel was in a small town called, Oban. We decided to take it. That’s how we roll. Not much research, impulsive bookings and going with the flow….works out for the most part, I think. Haha.
We made our way from Edinburgh in our rental car to Oban. Our drive through the highlands was lovely. The scenery was beautiful. The roads were winding and narrow and every so often we passed a charming little town. We pulled over to take pictures of old bridges and the countryside. We even stopped by an old boarding school called Strathallen that Mark’s grandpa attended.
After our drive we pulled up to Oban and the hostel. We were going to be staying on the water front and in an old building converted and updated. Our hostel room was more like an apartment, it was huge with 2 levels, our own kitchen and living room and 2 big bedrooms with enough bunk beds to host an entire (insert whatever sport here) team.
The weather was not the best but we wanted to explore so we walked the boardwalk. Oban turned out to be to be the most adorable little vacation town ever! We took in the sites and the harbor was just up from the hostel. Many fishing boats had come in and to our surprise we found a little secret. Take notes if you are planning an Oban stay: Down by the ferry terminal, past the gift shops is a tiny place that we would have walked right on by if it weren’t for the crowds. They were serving fresh seafood, almost anything and everything. Prices were amazing. We decided to get some mussels to try. It was standing room only at first. The only available space were a couple outside tables where people were crowded around sharing massive seafood platters. Communal discard plates were scattered on the tables and we sat shoulder to shoulder with others. The kids loved the mussels, that was amazing. It brought a tear to my eye when they all tried a new food and 3/3 liked it. Parents, caregivers or quite frankly anyone that has tried to feed multiple children at one time, you hear me here!!!
After our snack of mussels we made our way down the streets to a fish and chips place for dinner. See, we inadvertently booked ourselves into the The Seafood Capital of Scotland. With a few plates of delicious fish and chips and some chowder we had full bellies and were happy to end our Oban day hanging on the stairs in our hostel, because that’s where the strong wifi signal was, lol.
More Photos..
