England/Scotland 2024 Pilgrimage – Day 3

September 3, 2024

Ahhhh… what a difference sleep makes! Especially when followed by a Hampton Inn version of a good English Breakfast.

Yesterday, we passed a sign for a cathedral so I looked it up and found that Liverpool has “the largest cathedral in Great Britain” and one of the largest in the world. The Liverpool Cathedral offers Morning Prayer in Lady Chapel at 8:30 so we had the blessing of attending. The “chapel” is awe-inspiringly beautiful, the priests were friendly and welcoming, and it was a wonderful way to begin the day.

Additional note: The priests told us about Bamburgh, “the best kept secret” just south of Lindesfarne. This became one of the highlights of our trip!

After Morning Prayer, the security guard locked up behind us. Since the cathedral didn’t open to visitors for another, we said goodbye to Liverpool and began our long journey to Oban. 50 miles past Glasgow, we got onto a narrow “2-lane” road through the Scotish Highlands. The countryside was beautiful with its lakes nestled between the hills, the grassy farmlands, then a section of tall trees, and back to low foliage again. Eventually, the climb took us into the clouds and rain.

About half an hour before we arrived in Oban, we passed what looked to be a very old church so we stopped to look. Construction on Saint Conan’s Kirk, in the Village of Lochawe, began in 1881 and took three decades to complete. It is unique in that the architect included examples of almost every style of church architecture. There is also a Celtic cross on the hill above the church.

I was surprised that Oban just appeared on this road. It is a small town where you can walk to everything. Finding a place to park your car is the biggest challenge. That, and finding a place to stay. But we finally found a Guest House. Our room is on the 3rd floor in an old row house. It has a lot of character.

Once that was settled, we walked around town to make a plan for tomorrow, eat dinner, and shop at Tesco for the few necessities we need. On our way, we passed St. John’s Cathedral, (Church of Scotland) and had to go in. I loved how you walk into an area that looks like a cafe. The church is open for coffee on Thursday mornings.

Steve, the proprietor of the guest house suggested we eat at The Oban Inn, a very old pub. Well, old for Americans. It was established in 1790. The food and experience was so fun! I ate curry chicken and Gregg had flaky fish and (just OK) chips.

While sitting in the upstairs pub/restaurant area, two men from Switzerland asked if they could sit with us. It is a small place and seating is short so we shared our 4-person table with them for a bit. They are part of a sailing club and will be meeting a sailboat here tomorrow. Their crew of six will sail it to Dublin where another crew will take over. How cool is that?!

Then we got to talking with a young man from Glasgow at the next table and the two ladies who had asked to join him. They are from North Carolina and just returned from an awesome five days on Iona! They are very excited for us and their excitement ramped up our excitement.

Our plan for tomorrow (Wednesday) is to get up early, check out, move the car closer to the ferry dock, and be ready to board the first ferry by 7am. Time for bed!!!! zzzz