The Story Behind The Photo - No. 01

Here at Iona Cali, we photograph many of the fantastic places we visit and each trip documents the places we go, and the things we see. These are all stored under individual trip dates which can be found in the “Our Trips” tab located at the top of our website. However, while many of the photos are self-evident or perhaps rather obvious, there are quite a few for which some background information may be of interest. Therefore, we propose to update our blog posts on occasion with a photo and some details about it. We hope that you find this interesting….

For our first venture into this idea we have selected a photo at random and here are the basic details, and please note that the ‘Location’ is given using the What3Words app:

Taken on: 20th January 2025.

Location: ///cemented.geese.table

Description: The window in the Lounge Bar of Aulay’s Pub, Oban

The story behind the photo: We were in Oban for a couple of days and decided to have a walk around town to see some more of the sites as we had become acquainted with the town along the harbourfront during a previous visit. As it was late on a Monday afternoon and the rain had stated to lash down, we decided to pop into Aulay’s Bar which is located at the start of Aird’s Crescent at the bottom of the town’s George Street. The Bar also occupies the former site of the towns oldest droving inn, Tigh Clach A' Gheodha or the House of the Creek Stone.

We chose the left-hand door which took us into the ‘lounge’ bar where we were greeted by a welcoming barmaid, and we chose the seat by the window. During our stay, I had a nagging feeling that I knew the lady behind the bar, but I just couldn’t place her, you know that annoying feeling?

Anyway, during our visit there was a good selection of 80s and 90s music being played and so we were happy to spend an hour or so in the cosy atmosphere and wait for the rain to abate. Then, as we prepared to leave we noticed that the window adjacent to our table was rather attractive, and so a photo was taken from inside the bar and this is the result.

P.S. The next day as we went down to our hotel’s reception to check out, we were greeted by Aulay’s Barmaid, who, as it turned out, also worked as one of the hotel receptionists! A small world!