Saturday, October 13, 2012

Oban Day 2







October 12, 2012

We had a quiet morning, resting and enjoying watching the rain from inside our very nice B&B.  Here is a picture of the B&B. It was built in 1865.  


Cold, rainy and windy.  We learned that is what makes Oban scotch whiskey so good. 

We caught a ride into the center of Oban from Sandy, the man that runs our B&B.  It was raining and windy, but we set off to find the quilt store.  Somehow it moved but we came upon the Oban Distillery which was founded in 1794.  We signed up for the tour.  It’s a similar process as making Irish whiskey, but each distillery has their own way of doing things.  Scotch Whiskey is only distilled once, whereas Irish whiskey is distilled up to 3 times. 

 

Oban scotch whiskey is aged 14 years in oak barrels from US Bourbon makers.  Evidently there is some law in the US that requires bourbon makers to only use a barrel once.  So the bourbon makers take the barrels apart and sell them to whiskey makers to use.  As a treat we were given a taste of Oban that was only 9 years aged.  It was 58% alcohol.  It nearly took my head off and grew hair on my chest all at the same time!  I quickly gave the rest of my taste to bc.  Then we were given a taste of the 14 year old Oban.  It is about 46% proof.  At least this taste didn’t hurt me!  But I gave the rest of my taste to bc.  We did enjoy our tour there.  Especially bc!

We needed to find a place that had wi-fi, so we stumbled into a pub/bar and had some lunch and used their wi-fi.  We ate mussels and baked brie, though not made with each other.  It was good and so was the wi-fi. 

I wanted to pass on this important information I saw in a store window while walking around town.  “The flu jab does not cause the flu.”  Just so you know.

Then we set out, in the rain and wind to find the quilt shop and the ferry. We finally found the quilt shop, but it was closed due to some electricity problem.  Oh well.  We walked all over Oban, looking for the ferry terminal so that we could buy a ticket for our ferry ride to the Isle of Skye tomorrow.  This is one of those times when you wonder why you travel.  Bc was clutching the lap top in one hand and holding the open umbrella in the other, which the wind was whipping inside and out.  I was clinging to his umbrella arm and I couldn’t see a thing.  You see bc had to tip the umbrella down in order to prevent the wind from turning it inside out.  So I kept walking and bending over so I could see out from under the umbrella.  I’m pretty sure people were standing in doorways, where it was dry, pointing and laughing.  I was laughing.  We finally gave up, because we were so cold and wet and I suspect bc was tired of losing the fight with the umbrella.  We walked into a hotel, traipsing through the very proper dining room looking like drown rats, and asked the girl at the desk to call us a cab.  We got into the cab, asked the lady to take us to the ferry terminal and I sat in the cab while bc bought the tickets, then had her take us back to our B&B.  Ah…. Home at last.  It was a perfect afternoon to light the pretend fireplace, dry out and relax. 

We are off to The Seafood Temple for dinner tonight.  It’s just down the hill and hopefully it won’t be raining because we will walk.  Oh!  Our very nice cab driver told us it used to be the public restrooms. 


We’re still as crazy as ever, and having fun.  That’s what it’s all about, huh?  Take care, bc and gc

PS.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures at the Oban distillery.  We went back through town on our way out and got a few pictures of the city of Oban

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