Ceolas I: Saturday Jun 30th to Wednesday Jul 4th 2012

I went up by train to Glasgow, expecting to catch a connection to Oban. However, due to copious quantities of precipitation, there'd been a landslide on the line and we had to take a bus.
We took a left at Tyndrum, down the A85 and I was in tears at the beauty of Glen Lochy. There was no point in a pic - the bus windows were spotted with rain, but the memory lives on :-)
After the Glen we passed Kilchurn Castle & LochAwe, went along the Brander pass, & through Taynuilt where we hit Loch Etive. A left at Connel (where I'd watched whirlpools with Rob, Bob, Rosie & Jonny >10yrs before) & along to Oban with a glimpse of Dunstaffnage. Once I'd found the hostel & checked in, I made enquiries IRO food & decided to go over to Kerrara & eat seafood. No surprise there then ;-)  It was a pretty wet day, all told, & as I was on the 1st ship out the next day, I went more or less straight to bed ~ via a couple of pubs & a few glasses of malt.
I did take a pic of my room (complete with old friend, stunt bum bag), but it disappeared somewhere :-(
Next morning I was off across the Firth of Lorne, up the Sound of Mull, & across the Sea of the Hebrides to Lochboisdale. Here are two views as we sailed out of Oban, one of a castle on Mull, & a cute little lighthouse.

The crossing was pretty rainy, but there were loads of Ceolas peeps all playing away all over the ship. It was great. One bloke was even playing his pipes, but had an attachment on it so only he could hear.
I met a few folks for a chat, including one lady who was there for the dancing like me ~ Annie.
We were met by Ceolas officials with minibuses, & piped off by a guy in a kilt. What a welcome :-)

Quite a few of us were staying at the hostel at Daliburgh. This was only about a 3 min walk to Daliburgh school where the Ceolas would be held all week.
Having unpacked I followed my ears & found peeps already jamming.
A Scot, another Scot, a Romanian woman & a Frenchman who'd brought 2 harps, a fiddle & a flute!

Next morning I started my Step-dance classes, a Gaelic class, & a Reels & Quadrilles (R&Q)class. Our teacher was Frank, & there was always live music ~ fiddle, accordion, or both. There are photos in the next blog from later in the week.
On the Monday evening there were house ceilidhs, & I went to the one at the Priest's house where the scones were awesome :-q   Peeps brought instruments & voices, & there were little music sessions in at least 2 rooms. Someone managed to knock my arm when I was holding a glass of red. It went all over my white jeans. Fortunately, it all came out in the wash. Meanwhile a kind person took me back to the hostel to change :-)
Not realising there'd be classes all day, before I'd left I'd booked a ride on the only stables I could find. So, come Tuesday afternoon, I caught the bus to Benbecula & went along this nice beach.
And back the same way :-/ Pretty boring (I did the same on a Welsh beach in Nov13 which maybe indicates school proprietors think all most riders are interested in, is bombing along a beach??) The horse was a piebald called Donald, who was heavy & had a disunited canter - see Polo blog. Not a great ride all told :-/
Of course I got the usual 'horse's ears' shot, & also made Donald hang back a bit to take the evidence of our 'there & back again' ride
During one of the walking bits I spotted a nice looking shell, so pulled up to get it. Then I found another.
I think the girl was horrified I should dismount on a windy beach, but there was no problem even if the mounting block wasn't available.
Why do they make you use one these days? It's not like I can't get on most things without one!
After the ride it was a while until the next bus back south, so I spent most of it in one of the two shops near the riding school ~ to keep out of the rain!
Once back in Daliburgh, it was time to get fed, so I joined the archaeologists in the kitchen.
Next day I was behind ~ having missed the pm Step (which is a mixture of tap & Irish & something unique) on Tuesday. We did a 'crossover waltz in R&Q. 
Once classes were over I bought some out-of-date Club Orange at the Spar & ate 4 on the way home - oops!
Tea over, it was time to get ready for the (dancing) ceilidh on Eriskay.
We got taken there by bus & some of the teachers at the Ceolas were in the band. There were quite a few Hendersons - apparently they're pretty famous & I'd seen CDs of theirs in the Benbecula shop.
OK. No idea why I can't get that last para to go after the shell photos, but after cutting & pasting to no avail for nearly half an hour, I'm giving up and signing out.
Ceolas Part II in a bit
OAO