But first: here's a recap of our trip to the Isle of Mull.
We drove from Glasgow to Oban in a rental car, then took the ferry across to the town of Craignure. Mull is in red on this map.
From there, we drove up to Tobermory. Super scenic, but on a 'one track' road that had passing places every so often. It wasn't too bad driving, but some of the locals tried their best to run us off the road. We got to Tobermory, and settled into our bed and breakfast, the Ivybank. The pictures below show the view of the Ivybank's garden, which overlooks the harbor of Tobermory. Needless to say, it was more breathtaking in person. After settling in, we went to Glengorm Castle, which has been converted to a b&b. Along the way, we saw these incredibly hairy Highland Cows, some of which were practicing for next year's mating season. Here's pics of this leg:The next day were the Mull Highland Games, the annual competition that we just happened to be in town for. It was a pleasant surprise, and probably the most traditionally Scottish thing we'll be doing (outside of drinking whisky?) The games began with the Clan McLean elders marching through the streets of Tobermory, with a full band behind them. It was awesome, and as you can see, all the townspeople follow the procession up to the field where the games were to be played:
The games themselves had dancing, races, and a series of events starring the 'heavies'--the big guys shot putting, throwing the hammer, and tossing cabers. Here's dancing:
This is the world record holder Bruce Aitken tossing the light hammer. This guy was one of the most impressive people I've ever seen. He tossed the hammer probably 15 feet longer then anyone else. It was awesome.
Caber tossing: a traditional Scottish event wherein big people throw a telephone pole.
After the Highland Games, we took a long drive around the southern part of the island. While most of the days we've been here have been fairly gloomy (as you might have been able to tell from the pics), this day was incredible. Some people we met later at the pub said it was probably the only time in recent memory that it had been this nice for the games. The following pictures are some of the best we've gotten. Again, though, it doesn't really do justice to just how scenic this place is. Driving through the southern part of Mull was like driving through a calender.
That was Duart castle, home of the McLeans.
There are a lot of sheep in Scotland.
Sorry for the sideways video here:
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3 comments:
Cool trip you seem to be taking bro.
Your paleness must really blend in up there :)
oh yeah, we feel very much at home. blending right in, until we open our mouths and reveal our yankee heritage...it's funny, because you can sometimes see shock register on people's faces as they try to figure out what exactly we said...they expect a scottish, or perhaps an english one. of course, there have been a few times where we've talked to someone and i've had a deer in headlights look (you might be familiar with that one from BA). for example: we were at the mishnish, a pub on mull, and a really drunk guy grabbed me on the way to the bar and said "what's crackin?" and i was like "uhhhhhhh" and he realized i was an american and said "that's scottish for 'what's happening?'" oh, right.
you'd like it here, but it doesn't really meet your criteria of positive exchange rate. 2 dollars = 1 pound. but stuff is cheaper in general, so that works (we got a boatload of food for 30 pounds yesterday).
Gee we miss Mull! Looks like you had a great time. how did you like driving into Oban and taking the ferry to Mull?
That's a great photo of the Highland Cows "hugging."
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