Oban and Island of Mull, Scotland

In the autumn of 2004, we took a train from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and then up the northwest coast of Scotland to Oban, a small seaside town which serves as a port to the Hebrides Islands, especially the island of Mull. We stayed for a few days in Oban, travelling by ferry (the Caledonian MacBrayne) to Craignure, on Mull, and thence we walked around to the castles of Duart and Torosay. Duart Castle is the home of the MacLean Scots clan, who managed to maintain an aggressive independence from the English on their island stronghold. Further up the island we visited Tobermory, known for its many-coloured houses (a popular British television series called Ballamory is filmed here, where the inhabitants of each house dress in the colour of their house, etc.) and its distillery which makes Tobermory single malt. Off the west side of the island lies the island of Iona, one of the first centres of Celtic Christianity, where an abbey was built by St Columba in 563 AD.