Letter from Iona #10 - Retail therapy
Hello all,
Sorry for the late delivery of this update... however we're willing to bet that none of you are up right now, so technically it could still be Wednesday!
We decided to take things down a notch from the previous week's mountain climb. This week we were off to Oban, the nearest big city to Iona! Oban is on the 'mainland' of the British Isles. Here's a summary of how we got there...
5:45: Up and at em...hey look.....it's POURING rain outside....oh well! We have to look good for the big city!
7:00: On the ferry to Fionnphort
7:10: On the bus to Craignure (watch out sheep!)
9:00: On the big ferry (woohoo!) to Oban
9:45: Wow, that was fast... feet dry in Oban!
We had several tasks to accomplish in Oban...Dan's first priority was to visit the barber, while Katie couldn't wait to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! There is a small movie theatre in Oban which has just started playing Charlie and The Fantastic Four.
Sadly the clippers we had access to in Iona have apparently disappeared so Katie will have to temporarily cease her haircutting duties... for now. Gavin, the sports fanatic barber (who had a Calgary Flames jersey and Steve Nash's signed jersey on his wall!) was more then happy to treat Dan's noggin to a brush cut. Good thing too as his hair was pretty scary. Then off to Tesco, the Zellers of Scotland! Several items were to be bought and we found that the prices were far more reasonable then in our little SPAR shop on Iona. For example, we bought 2 large containers of peanut butter which were cheaper then one tiny jar in Iona! Katie bought a new bath towel and shirt for an excellent price and Dan has decided not to grow a beard/mustache as there were some Gillette Mach 3 Turbo refills available. Movie time! Off we went in search of the cinemas... but on the way we passed a music store. In we went and Dan headed straight over to the violins while Katie browsed at sheet music. When we had arrived in Oban, Dan had said that if we could find a music store, he'd love to pick up a fiddle again. So, when we walked through the doors and saw the violins, we asked permission to play one and the store owner rosined up a bow for Dan to use, went into the back room and returned with a 'loaner'. Dan tuned her up and played a little tune while Katie listened and enjoyed. It made Dan's day!
We resumed our search for the cinema, and upon now finding it discovered that it was closed until 1:15. What to do for 30 minutes? There was an 'amusement' centre next door so after partaking in a racing game (which Dan won) we searched for more things to kill time. There had been an ice cream store on our way so we backtracked and treated ourselves to a few scoops. After wiping the chocolate mint (Katie) and chocolate and PEACH (Dan) from our chins the time had come to head to the movies! Our tickets were bought and we were allowed to explore the historical display (out of the continuing rain) at the theatre. On display was some signed drawings from the head Disney illustrator from many years ago (Don Williams?), the stocks which were used in Oban until mid-1800s and some amazing photos of all places, Iona, Staffa and Oban. One plaque really interested us as it expressed some of the thoughts we routinely have...
The movie started at 2 and we were in time critical mode. After 15 minutes of ads and trailers, that seemed to go on forever, the movie finally began. However, we had enough to munch on during the ads. As usual, Dan was a bit hungry (and so was Katie), so she sent him on a search for some munchies just before the ads started. As he left her parting words were 'Just don't buy one of those really big popcorn' (that another family had purchased). His reply was 'No one needs that much popcorn!'. So you can imagine her surprise when he shamefully returned with ... a really big popcorn container. It was aptly shaped in a cone, sort of like a dunce cap from the old days. A hard £5 lesson to learn for Dan's instinctive request for a 'large popcorn'. The what turned out to be very bland popcorn was gone by the start of the movie though!
We had been very excited to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as we had heard it was excellent and Dan is a big fan of Tim Burton's movies.....Batman, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands.....etc. Must be his twisted humour! So, we settled in and watched most of it. Unfortunately, because we had to catch the 4pm ferry back to Craignure and sure as heck didn't want to miss it, we had to leave the movie by 3:30 to get to the ferry on time. We were sad because we had to miss so much of it, but we'll see the end someday. Perhaps in Glasgow on the IMAX????(It's currently being shown there:)
So, we hopped onto the ferry (again in the pouring rain) and enjoyed some food on the ride back to Craignure. From there, we got back to Iona safe and sound on the last ferry, had a nice nap, dinner, and then off to bed so that we could get up early this morning and write this update for you all:)
That's the misadventures this week....nothing too exciting (like missing the boat/bus/boat, or falling off a mountain), but we can't always lead such exciting lives or we'd be exhausted just from telling the stories!
Probably next week, we'll go back into money saving mode and stay on Iona. Perhaps we'll go on a hunt for the elusive loch on the island, which provides the island with all of its freshwater.
For now, though, that's it.
Sorry for the late delivery of this update... however we're willing to bet that none of you are up right now, so technically it could still be Wednesday!
We decided to take things down a notch from the previous week's mountain climb. This week we were off to Oban, the nearest big city to Iona! Oban is on the 'mainland' of the British Isles. Here's a summary of how we got there...
5:45: Up and at em...hey look.....it's POURING rain outside....oh well! We have to look good for the big city!
7:00: On the ferry to Fionnphort
7:10: On the bus to Craignure (watch out sheep!)
9:00: On the big ferry (woohoo!) to Oban
9:45: Wow, that was fast... feet dry in Oban!
We had several tasks to accomplish in Oban...Dan's first priority was to visit the barber, while Katie couldn't wait to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! There is a small movie theatre in Oban which has just started playing Charlie and The Fantastic Four.
Sadly the clippers we had access to in Iona have apparently disappeared so Katie will have to temporarily cease her haircutting duties... for now. Gavin, the sports fanatic barber (who had a Calgary Flames jersey and Steve Nash's signed jersey on his wall!) was more then happy to treat Dan's noggin to a brush cut. Good thing too as his hair was pretty scary. Then off to Tesco, the Zellers of Scotland! Several items were to be bought and we found that the prices were far more reasonable then in our little SPAR shop on Iona. For example, we bought 2 large containers of peanut butter which were cheaper then one tiny jar in Iona! Katie bought a new bath towel and shirt for an excellent price and Dan has decided not to grow a beard/mustache as there were some Gillette Mach 3 Turbo refills available. Movie time! Off we went in search of the cinemas... but on the way we passed a music store. In we went and Dan headed straight over to the violins while Katie browsed at sheet music. When we had arrived in Oban, Dan had said that if we could find a music store, he'd love to pick up a fiddle again. So, when we walked through the doors and saw the violins, we asked permission to play one and the store owner rosined up a bow for Dan to use, went into the back room and returned with a 'loaner'. Dan tuned her up and played a little tune while Katie listened and enjoyed. It made Dan's day!
We resumed our search for the cinema, and upon now finding it discovered that it was closed until 1:15. What to do for 30 minutes? There was an 'amusement' centre next door so after partaking in a racing game (which Dan won) we searched for more things to kill time. There had been an ice cream store on our way so we backtracked and treated ourselves to a few scoops. After wiping the chocolate mint (Katie) and chocolate and PEACH (Dan) from our chins the time had come to head to the movies! Our tickets were bought and we were allowed to explore the historical display (out of the continuing rain) at the theatre. On display was some signed drawings from the head Disney illustrator from many years ago (Don Williams?), the stocks which were used in Oban until mid-1800s and some amazing photos of all places, Iona, Staffa and Oban. One plaque really interested us as it expressed some of the thoughts we routinely have...
The movie started at 2 and we were in time critical mode. After 15 minutes of ads and trailers, that seemed to go on forever, the movie finally began. However, we had enough to munch on during the ads. As usual, Dan was a bit hungry (and so was Katie), so she sent him on a search for some munchies just before the ads started. As he left her parting words were 'Just don't buy one of those really big popcorn' (that another family had purchased). His reply was 'No one needs that much popcorn!'. So you can imagine her surprise when he shamefully returned with ... a really big popcorn container. It was aptly shaped in a cone, sort of like a dunce cap from the old days. A hard £5 lesson to learn for Dan's instinctive request for a 'large popcorn'. The what turned out to be very bland popcorn was gone by the start of the movie though!
We had been very excited to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as we had heard it was excellent and Dan is a big fan of Tim Burton's movies.....Batman, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands.....etc. Must be his twisted humour! So, we settled in and watched most of it. Unfortunately, because we had to catch the 4pm ferry back to Craignure and sure as heck didn't want to miss it, we had to leave the movie by 3:30 to get to the ferry on time. We were sad because we had to miss so much of it, but we'll see the end someday. Perhaps in Glasgow on the IMAX????(It's currently being shown there:)
So, we hopped onto the ferry (again in the pouring rain) and enjoyed some food on the ride back to Craignure. From there, we got back to Iona safe and sound on the last ferry, had a nice nap, dinner, and then off to bed so that we could get up early this morning and write this update for you all:)
That's the misadventures this week....nothing too exciting (like missing the boat/bus/boat, or falling off a mountain), but we can't always lead such exciting lives or we'd be exhausted just from telling the stories!
Probably next week, we'll go back into money saving mode and stay on Iona. Perhaps we'll go on a hunt for the elusive loch on the island, which provides the island with all of its freshwater.
For now, though, that's it.
posted by Daniel Pergau | 4:01 a.m.
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