One step in front

Saturday 28th July

A big day today - knowing that a cruise ship was in town with 900+ people possibly out seeing the same stuff as us, we made an early start. The weather was very iffy - mist, fog, drizzle, wind - what is supposedly typical Scottish weather. We had a list of sites to visit and our aim was to stay ahead of, and pass, the coaches filled with Viking cruise passengers.

Standing stones of Stenness - there used to be a ring of probably 12 stones,
with a hearth in the centre of the ring. Now only 6 still remain standing.

Standing stones of Stenness - trying to shelter from the wind.

Ring of Brodgar

The hordes have arrived - time to go. 

Lots of heather to photograph today.

A bit cold for Odette - warming her toes again.

Skara Brae - a neolithic village about 3100 bc.
Unearthed after a major storm washed away a lot of sand covering the village.

The inside of one of the homes.

Skaill House - the home of the family who found Skara Brae.

The dining room. Exhibited in a glass case here was a dinner set
believed to have come from Captain Cooks ship.

A cannon at Skaill House.

Maeshowe - chambered cairn and burial chamber.
Believed to have been built about 2800bc.
Appears to have been built with the entrance to align with the winter sun. 

The Italian church built by Italian prisoners of war who were used
as labour to build the Churchill barriers
(designed to block the eastern entrance to Scapa Flow).

Just beautiful inside.
This church is made from 2 nissan huts laid end to end.
Was supposed to be used as a school
but the prisoners felt they needed a place of worship.

The metal hanging lanterns were made from bully beef tins.

We paid a visit to the town of Stromness for lunch and were not terribly impressed. People had told us how nice it was but it didn't rock my world. There were very few eating places for lunch and I was glad that I had changed our accommodation from Stromness to Kirkwall - the reason for doing this was actually the cost of the ferry to Stromness vs the one to St Margaret's Hope.