Fall Weather
Well, not here, but it sure feels like fall - cold, windy, and wet. But, it’s a perfect Scottish summer day for exploring. We had a nice self-serve breakfast, which was a nice change. While I am all down for a Scottish hot breakfast, it was nice to be able to just have what what we wanted to eat.
Once we had finished, we left to start our days adventure with a very important first stop - Laundry. While some places have access to laundry facilities, we’ve had a run of several that haven’t. Since we didn’t want to carry three weeks worth of clothes, we planned on doing laundry during our trip. Luckily, there was a nice laundrette here in Kirkwall. We dropped off bags of clothes as soon as they opened, and would pick up cleaned and folded clothes in the afternoon. Easiest laundry day ever!
After our laundry stop, we walked down to a craft fair we spotted while driving in, and there were some really cool artisans there. Carrie picked up a few beauties, and we walked back to the car to leave town before the docked cruise ship flooded Kirkwall with passengers.
First on the agenda was the Broch of Gurness. The Broch is a very old tower home, probably the center of a small community. It was probably built somewhere between 500-200 BC. Over the years much of the stonework has been repurposed across the area, but when it was built it was probably around 30 feet tall. It was extremely windy, and we were careful as we traversed the cliff line. We really enjoyed watching seabirds dive into the water, fishing.
Back in the car, we left for the Earl’s Palace in Bursay. This is the ruined palace of a not-so-nice “nobleman” who really loved money. I mean, REALLY - so much he engaged in theft, bribery, torture and murder to achieve his ends. His descendents didn’t do much better and they all had blood on their hands. As such people find out, these violent delights have violent ends. And, you’re welcome for the timely WestWorld reference.
When Oliver Cromwell was blustering over the country, he inhabited the castle, and made copious notes about the status of the palace, and its contents. His description of the kitchens were that they were “filled with muck and mud”.
Nearby, there was a lighthouse on an Island that is walkable to during low tide. We didn’t take the hike, but got some good photos.
Next, we headed to Yesnaby Cliffs. By the time we got to the top, the winds were so strong, it was hard to open the car doors. Carrie was the brave one who headed out for pictures. She came right back in, as the winds were strongly pushing her toward the cliffs, and she had no desire to test the power of her coat as a sail.
We chose to reshuffle our agenda, as our next destination was crawling with tourbuses. It was getting close to our reservation for Skara Brae, so we went there early. They ended up letting us go on in, so that worked out well.
Skara Brae is one of the best preserved Neolithic settlements in the world. For thousands of years, it lay covered under the dirt and coastal plants that cover the area. During a particularly bad storm in the 19th century, the nearby Laird discovered the settlement in the ground. It was excavated and preserved, and is truly amazing. The next part of the tour was the Laird’s home nearby, where we got a great look at 19th century posh life.
We grabbed a wee snack in the cafe and headed back out on the road. By this time, we were able to get a more unobstructed view of the Ring of Brodgar, a large set of standing stones. We just took pictures from the road, but got some nice shots.
Immediately next, was the Watchstone, one of Orkney’s most impressive standing stones. It is not clear when it was erected, or its exact meaning, but it is TALL. Visible nearby, is the Standing Stones of Stromness. We popped by for a quick photo shoot.
The weather was turning, and there were going to be some traffic interruptions do to the Gala that is happening, so we went back into town for our clean laundry, then a stop off at LIDL for some food to cook for a laidback evening.
While in town, we kept seeing trucks, filmed with men or women covered in muck,, screaming, hooting and hollering. This apparently is a Scottish pre-wedding tradition called the blackening. They even tied a couple of guys to the cross next to the Cathedral. If you couldn’t hear them coming, you could definitely smell them coming - rank! We watched an amazing and then made our way to the grocery store.
It was very nice, watching the fog roll in, hear the rain, and relax. Carrie worked on photos, then we ate dinner. Afterward, she and Pat finally got to paint, and both of their works was awesome. I got to enjoy some stretched-out relaxation in our beautiful room, and we called it a day.
Note: after repeated attempts to upload today’s photos, I have decided to upload it as is, and try to upload the rest of the photos when we have internet speeds faster than those of 1995.
