Oban

Oban is a big town on a little cove (so it seemed) on the coast. Its principal purpose, so far as I could tell, is 1) to serve as a holding area for thousands of tourists (ourselves included), 2) be the site of the Oban distillery (which we skipped; Oban is a good Islay, but no distillery tour nor Scotch could top Kirkwall and Highland Park), and 3) be the jumping off point for tours of the Isle of Mull and Iona. There were scores of RVs circling the narrow streets, looking for parking, particularly over-night parking, including us.

We lucked-out, totally, with this almost-level spot...

Over looking the harbor

Just a few hundred yards from the ferry-port from which
this vessel would take us, next day, to the Isle of Mull

We spent the afternoon and evening walking about the
town, purchasing our cruise tickets, shopping and examining
restaurants (finally opting for a shellfish extravaganza I put
together on the wharf)

We have been having a running discussion about
the proper use of the word scotch, I insisting it refers only
to a certain beverage and is a noun, Vicki, that it refers to
anything Scottish and is (also) an adjective; above is her
Exhibit A; it is also Exhibit A in my subsidiary argument that
not all Scots are well-educated and that some have succumbed
to popular if ignorant usage; the discussion continues

Note the "Afternoon Fish Tea"

Next morning, we are aboard the ferry, bound for Mull,
watching the loading of turbusses

Sailing out of Oban's harbor

And on to the Isle of Mull

On The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks Of Loch Lomond; And Beyond

Pleased with our visit to Glasgow, some old, a lot of new, a lot of walking around, we drove on in the general direction of our next destination, Oban. We over-nighted on the Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond.

Thus

And thus

Next morning, elements of the fleet were massing...

It was to be a Combined Operation, land and sea (OK, I have
been reading at a biography of Lord Louie Mountbatten)

We drove on

Enjoying the sights

Pausing to refresh

Now reaching the coast

And proceeding on, through a succession of villages and
towns, in the direction of Oban

Willow Tea Rooms

Catherine Cranston was apparently queen of the Victorian tea rooms in Glasgow. She engaged Mackintosh to design four different establishments, but only one, the Willow, survives. It has been returned to its Victorian/Mackintosh look, and includes both the very popular and crowded tea rooms as well as a Mackintosh museum/gift shoppe on the ground floor. The room you want to see, and possibly dine in, is the Room De Luxe on the (British) first floor. We had lunch there after our tour of the School of Art.

The Willow Tea Rooms

On the breakfast menu, Vicki pointed out the traditional
Scottish porridge, served with a shot of Drambuie!

For half a nano-second, I considered the traditional haggis, neeps, and tatties
(or is it haggis neeps and tatties?), but remembered my previous injunction
that HN&T is a dish to enjoy before ever reading the list of ingredients;
I opted instead for the above St. Andrews Platter, smoked Scottish salmon,
trout, and shrimp; Vicki had the burger

Panning around the Room De Luxe, photos by Vicki

Ditto

Ditto again

The 1st floor tea room

Glasgow School of Art

The next stop on our Mackintosh tour was the Glasgow School of Art. Mackintosh designed it at the turn of the century. What is truly remarkable is that he was only 28 at the same, a very junior employee at the firm, and had only recently "graduated" from GSA, having been a night student there for several years. Someone at GSA very definitely had an eye for genius and a willingness to take big risks. Unfortunately, the school has a no interior photos policy (privacy of students and faculty) and so what little I have is outside. The best room on the inside, we thought, was the library, a small photo of which I grabbed off the GSA site. Mackintosh was a bit of a control freak--great architects are like this, I surmise--it was not enough to design the entire building; he had to do all its contents too, furniture, even the signage. For the Willow Tea Rooms (next stop), he even did the silverware, towels, tables and chairs, all now quite famous.

Burrell Collection, 2013, Glasgow

We were impressed by the Burrell Collection in 2009. It was the first of several large one-person collections we have visited in Europe, and we were sure to return in 2013.

Entrance to the Burrell...purpose-built, just to house and
display the Collection; but, as we'll see shortly, the building
has some problems...

One of the emblems of the place, the nearly
life-size Ming Dynasty figure of Luohan

Look familiar, Rebecca? Denby's just down the road a bit,
Darbyshire, near Chatsworth

Rembrandt self-portrait #1,729

15th century Burgundian tapestry, a rabbit hunt; "you
wousy wabbit"

13th century German, Abraham, Isaac, etc.

Never miss a Cranach

One of the things we like about the Burrell and other such
"small" museums is the great variety of objects...here,
the "Warwick Vase," long held at Warwick Castle, originally
2nd century Roman, found at Tivoli, Hadrian's Villa; seats 8

The thing that most impressed us this visit
was this 20 foot long silk/silver embroidered
petticoat, 400 years old, a miracle of
preservation; a gift of Charles I to one of his
courtiers; thought to have been originally a
gift of James I to his wife, Anne of Denmark

Detail

Another

Thus

We also did the Impressionism exhibit

The sad thing about the Burrell now is that
there is widespread rain leakage from the roof
and potential damage to the collection

Word is the museum will be closed for two years for repairs

Sweet Pea

Sweet P is our grand-daughter, Penelope, so it was sort of special to walk into the garden adjoining The House for an Art Lover and see the Scottish National Sweet Pea Trials underway...they are gorgeous, delicate little flowers, like our Sweet P...