Kilts and Cockaleekie - a Yank wanders through Scotland
Jul 11th, 2008, 10:07 AM
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Thursday, 6/19:
This morning Scott was filling in for Dolly in breakfast duties, and our plan was to Dunnotter, Aberdeen and Aberlour, possibly followed by Cawdor Castle, Culloden, and Clava Cairns. I knew it was ambitious, but not by how much.
We got on the road, without GPS signal. Evidently there is a local RAF base, and they block out signal in town. It was fine once we were in the mountains, but by then we had taken the south road, which would take us much longer. The Car from Hell was giving K trouble, and wouldn’t shift gears easily – completely refused to shift often, and didn’t have enough oomph to get up hills, even in first gear. It put us all on edge, as it was also raining and the roads were tiny through the Cairngorms. We stopped and tried to find the Well of Lecht, but all we found were sheep cavorting again. I did catch a nice photo of a lamb leaping over a creek, but no Well. We figured it was a bit down the path, but it was raining too hard to be much interested in exploring. We decided that we’d had about enough of the Cairngorms at this point, between the rain and the Car from Hell, so we tried to find our quickest route out of the mountains and into the relative civilization of Aberdeen.
We also thought of visiting Balmoral, but the road and car conditions convinced us we were running out of time. We finally got out of the frustrating mountain roads and on to main A roads towards Aberdeen. We found Sheila’s office without too much trouble, so J and I got out and went upstairs to meet her, while K and C went to Dunnottar Castle. Lunch was at a Scottish Fusion place not far from Union Street – we had salmon, soup and burgers, with banoffee pie for dessert (yes, I know that is Irish, not Scottish, but it was very tasty! Celtic, all right? It was Celtic… sort of). Sheila was great to chat with about the environment, economics, politics, travel, etc.
After lunch we waited at The Filling Station for K and C to find us. I tried calling K’s cell phone to let her know where we were, but it went straight to answer machine, and she didn’t get the message until hours later, but C found us and we hopped in. We drove back to the B&B the north road, through Keith – much less dangerous and frightening than the road through the cairngorms, but then again, not nearly as many sheep butts facing the road, either. You have to take some bad with the good, I suppose.
We did find a nice little cemetery in Keith for some angel and Celtic cross photograph opportunities – I have a morbid fascination with graves and gravestones, especially beautifully carved Celtic crosses. We tried to stop at Ballindaloch Castle on the way home, but they had evidently just closed a few minutes before. Of course, their posted hours said they opened at 10am, and K and C had tried to go by yesterday at 11am and they were closed, so who knows.
We got home around 6, and decided that the Car from Hell shifting problem needed changing – C called Enterprise and they told her to come into Inverness the next morning and they could switch it for them. And glory be! My baggage had arrived! Jane had brought it upstairs for me, and had tried to call me to let me know, but that signal didn’t get through either. Oh, I was just so happy not to be wearing either of my two outfits for yet another day, I was ecstatic.
Back to the Craig Bar for pies for me and J – the rest of the group headed into town for another place. J had a Chicken of Aragon pie, I had the Mr. Porky. J decided it was time to try different whiskeys in earnest, so sampled 5 of the local nectars (interspersed with a half pint of Guinness each time to clear the palate, of course). He tried the MacAllan (which was his favorite, and he bought a bottle later to bring home), the Glenfarclas 105 (which was VERY strong and he tried last on purpose), the Highland Park (which he didn’t like, it was salty) and 2 others. K and C wandered in for pints after dinner, and we chatted with another guest who brought her Lurcher dog back in. Her name was Sabina, and she was a veterinarian on holiday from Germany. We had fascinating discussions about dogs, education, travel, etc. We staggered home after several pints each in the warm pub (they have a crackling fireplace, too!)
This morning Scott was filling in for Dolly in breakfast duties, and our plan was to Dunnotter, Aberdeen and Aberlour, possibly followed by Cawdor Castle, Culloden, and Clava Cairns. I knew it was ambitious, but not by how much.
We got on the road, without GPS signal. Evidently there is a local RAF base, and they block out signal in town. It was fine once we were in the mountains, but by then we had taken the south road, which would take us much longer. The Car from Hell was giving K trouble, and wouldn’t shift gears easily – completely refused to shift often, and didn’t have enough oomph to get up hills, even in first gear. It put us all on edge, as it was also raining and the roads were tiny through the Cairngorms. We stopped and tried to find the Well of Lecht, but all we found were sheep cavorting again. I did catch a nice photo of a lamb leaping over a creek, but no Well. We figured it was a bit down the path, but it was raining too hard to be much interested in exploring. We decided that we’d had about enough of the Cairngorms at this point, between the rain and the Car from Hell, so we tried to find our quickest route out of the mountains and into the relative civilization of Aberdeen.
We also thought of visiting Balmoral, but the road and car conditions convinced us we were running out of time. We finally got out of the frustrating mountain roads and on to main A roads towards Aberdeen. We found Sheila’s office without too much trouble, so J and I got out and went upstairs to meet her, while K and C went to Dunnottar Castle. Lunch was at a Scottish Fusion place not far from Union Street – we had salmon, soup and burgers, with banoffee pie for dessert (yes, I know that is Irish, not Scottish, but it was very tasty! Celtic, all right? It was Celtic… sort of). Sheila was great to chat with about the environment, economics, politics, travel, etc.
After lunch we waited at The Filling Station for K and C to find us. I tried calling K’s cell phone to let her know where we were, but it went straight to answer machine, and she didn’t get the message until hours later, but C found us and we hopped in. We drove back to the B&B the north road, through Keith – much less dangerous and frightening than the road through the cairngorms, but then again, not nearly as many sheep butts facing the road, either. You have to take some bad with the good, I suppose.
We did find a nice little cemetery in Keith for some angel and Celtic cross photograph opportunities – I have a morbid fascination with graves and gravestones, especially beautifully carved Celtic crosses. We tried to stop at Ballindaloch Castle on the way home, but they had evidently just closed a few minutes before. Of course, their posted hours said they opened at 10am, and K and C had tried to go by yesterday at 11am and they were closed, so who knows.
We got home around 6, and decided that the Car from Hell shifting problem needed changing – C called Enterprise and they told her to come into Inverness the next morning and they could switch it for them. And glory be! My baggage had arrived! Jane had brought it upstairs for me, and had tried to call me to let me know, but that signal didn’t get through either. Oh, I was just so happy not to be wearing either of my two outfits for yet another day, I was ecstatic.
Back to the Craig Bar for pies for me and J – the rest of the group headed into town for another place. J had a Chicken of Aragon pie, I had the Mr. Porky. J decided it was time to try different whiskeys in earnest, so sampled 5 of the local nectars (interspersed with a half pint of Guinness each time to clear the palate, of course). He tried the MacAllan (which was his favorite, and he bought a bottle later to bring home), the Glenfarclas 105 (which was VERY strong and he tried last on purpose), the Highland Park (which he didn’t like, it was salty) and 2 others. K and C wandered in for pints after dinner, and we chatted with another guest who brought her Lurcher dog back in. Her name was Sabina, and she was a veterinarian on holiday from Germany. We had fascinating discussions about dogs, education, travel, etc. We staggered home after several pints each in the warm pub (they have a crackling fireplace, too!)
Jul 11th, 2008, 10:19 AM
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I had always understood that banoffee pie was invented in England but that the inventor never patented it.
If you go to http://www.uttertrivia.com/banoffeepie.php
and scroll down to History, you can read about it.
If you go to http://www.uttertrivia.com/banoffeepie.php
and scroll down to History, you can read about it.
Jul 11th, 2008, 12:06 PM
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Ok, the English have Celtic background, too 
I thought it was Irish as that is the first place I saw it.
Friday, 6/20:
Dolly was back serving breakfast this morning, and we were sad to go. Jane had been so sweet and helpful, we vowed we’d be back some day. The two cars went their separate ways – K and C were intent on turning in the Car from Hell in for a more angelic model, while the rest of us climbed in the minivan and headed up towards Dunrobin Castle. If we missed each other there, we would meet in Wick around 4pm – we figured it probably wouldn’t take all day to make the trip, but it would be nice to ramble along.
Our first stop was Culloden (on GBHC), as we hadn’t had time to visit that the other day. The visitor’s centre was amazing, and had a lot of very interesting stories, artifacts, and examples. It did a really good job of explaining not only the battle itself, but the politics and background that led to the battle. I’ve read a lot of historical fiction around that era, and it all seemed to fit right in to the historical accounts there. I enjoyed the recreation film of the battle in 360 degrees, too – the contrast between the Royal troops and the Scottish troops was striking. The battlefield itself was a field with some flags and paths through it – the true gem is that visitor’s centre.
We drove on up through Inverness and to Dunrobin. This was described to us as a fairy tale castle, and I can see how it came by that name. It has turrets and towers, sweeping staircases and manicured gardens. It is definitely worth a tour (though it wasn’t on our GBHC), as the rooms were all beautifully preserved. One was full of period clothing, ball gowns, uniforms, etc. There is a rather scary stuffed deer at the entrance – he is staring at you as if he will stamp you into little puddles of pulp, should he ever break free of his taxidermic cage. We had lunch in the castle shop, which was adequate, and met up with K and C while there. I had a salmon baguette, but the baguette was too crisp to hold the slippery salmon when I bit into it. The strawberry tart did a lot to make up for that shortcoming, though!
We told K and C we would meet them in Thurso at 5pm (our ferry started boarding at 6:15), and then drove up the road. I wanted to see the Hill o’ Many Stanes, but when we got up the little road, I was rather disappointed. I was expecting something dramatic, but this should have been renamed the Hill o’ Many Toe Stubs, as each stone was no higher than my calf. Yes, there were many of them, in a huge fan pattern, and that was very interesting. But I kept looking for munchkins to jump out from behind the stones and start singing “we represent the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild!” We couldn’t stop giggling at them, so we then headed back to the car… as well as we could. The wind attempted to stop us from going in that direction, and was quite insistent, but we persisted.
The road up to Wick on the coast was very windy and had lots of steep grades up and down the seaside cliffs. However, that resulted in some spectacular scenery and beautiful coves. The cliffs would appear brown and grey and green – until the sun came out. Then there were golds and oranges and blues and purples to add to the previous colors, making a riot of color everywhere you looked. Unfortunately, I couldn’t look much – I was stuck behind two tankers who had to go very slowly up the steep grades. First gear is such a safe and happy place to be, don’t you think?
We got to Wick, which was much larger than I thought it would be, and got some gas. It seemed like a nice town, with lots of people walking about in the afternoon sun. We headed across land towards Thurso, as we had had enough of cliff roads for a little while, at least. In Thurso (which was also much bigger than I had expected on this far outflung corner of the country) we drove through town and found a pub at the end of the main road, the Weigh Inn. It was close to the ferry entrance, so we decided to stop for a bit of dinner. I called K and C to let them know, but had no idea if the call would go through or not. There was a wedding reception going on, and many men in full kilt regalia. We even saw the bride and groom arriving in a late model classic car of some sort. I had the taglieterre carbonara, but it was linguine instead, and very thick (sticky). It wasn’t great, but it was filling. I’d been on the lookout for the famed cock-a-leekie soup everywhere I went, but hadn’t found any yet. K and C did end up joining us, but weren’t interested in eating – they get seasick easily, and we were about to embark upon a 2 hour ferry ride. They did nibble on some quadruple chocolate shortbread cookies that they bought at the Walker’s Shortbread factory a couple days ago.
The ferry (Northlink) from Scrabster to Stromness was lovely. It had a full bar and lounge, so we took advantage and had a couple pints on the way. The weather was bad, so we took the inside passage rather than out around Hoy, and the wind and rain were a bit much for good photographs… so I played it safe, and stayed inside for the most part. We met Rube, who worked on an oil rig as an engineer. He was returning home, as he grew up on Orkney. He even described the notorious blackening ceremony that brides and grooms are subjected to on the island, as his sister went through it (even though she had moved to Wick). We talked about history and politics, and he said we were the most well-informed Americans he had met. We told him not to raise his hopes up, as we were atypical geeky types who read a lot compared to most, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded from his new opinion.
Once in Orkney, we circled around Stenness several times before we found our B&B. We had to call for directions, and still almost passed it again. The sign was well-camouflaged against the garden wall, and mostly hidden by ivy, as well as it being dim and dark from lowering clouds and rain. But find it we did – the Mill of Eyrland. Morag was our hostess, and she showed us up to our rooms. The upstairs (second floor) consisted of two rooms attached by one lounge and a bathroom for C, K, J and me. M and D had singles on the first floor, near a larger general lounge, while the breakfast room was on the ground floor. We asked about food options, as K and C hadn’t eaten yet – Morag sent us to Kirkwall for either Chinese or Indian, the only options that would be open at this time of night (8:30pm). It was a lovely little drive, and I went along to keep them company, and because I hadn’t eaten much of my ‘taglieterre carbonara’. We asked directions once we got into Kirkwall, and the lady we asked told us the Indian place was near the library, the ‘second largest building in Kirkwall’. The largest building was definitely the St. Magnus Cathedral in the center of town – a magnificent piece of architecture made out of red standstone. We found the Indian place, and we had Roshni lamb and chicken biryani. It was close to 11pm as we left, and the sun was still not near setting.
I thought it was Irish as that is the first place I saw it. Friday, 6/20:
Dolly was back serving breakfast this morning, and we were sad to go. Jane had been so sweet and helpful, we vowed we’d be back some day. The two cars went their separate ways – K and C were intent on turning in the Car from Hell in for a more angelic model, while the rest of us climbed in the minivan and headed up towards Dunrobin Castle. If we missed each other there, we would meet in Wick around 4pm – we figured it probably wouldn’t take all day to make the trip, but it would be nice to ramble along.
Our first stop was Culloden (on GBHC), as we hadn’t had time to visit that the other day. The visitor’s centre was amazing, and had a lot of very interesting stories, artifacts, and examples. It did a really good job of explaining not only the battle itself, but the politics and background that led to the battle. I’ve read a lot of historical fiction around that era, and it all seemed to fit right in to the historical accounts there. I enjoyed the recreation film of the battle in 360 degrees, too – the contrast between the Royal troops and the Scottish troops was striking. The battlefield itself was a field with some flags and paths through it – the true gem is that visitor’s centre.
We drove on up through Inverness and to Dunrobin. This was described to us as a fairy tale castle, and I can see how it came by that name. It has turrets and towers, sweeping staircases and manicured gardens. It is definitely worth a tour (though it wasn’t on our GBHC), as the rooms were all beautifully preserved. One was full of period clothing, ball gowns, uniforms, etc. There is a rather scary stuffed deer at the entrance – he is staring at you as if he will stamp you into little puddles of pulp, should he ever break free of his taxidermic cage. We had lunch in the castle shop, which was adequate, and met up with K and C while there. I had a salmon baguette, but the baguette was too crisp to hold the slippery salmon when I bit into it. The strawberry tart did a lot to make up for that shortcoming, though!
We told K and C we would meet them in Thurso at 5pm (our ferry started boarding at 6:15), and then drove up the road. I wanted to see the Hill o’ Many Stanes, but when we got up the little road, I was rather disappointed. I was expecting something dramatic, but this should have been renamed the Hill o’ Many Toe Stubs, as each stone was no higher than my calf. Yes, there were many of them, in a huge fan pattern, and that was very interesting. But I kept looking for munchkins to jump out from behind the stones and start singing “we represent the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild!” We couldn’t stop giggling at them, so we then headed back to the car… as well as we could. The wind attempted to stop us from going in that direction, and was quite insistent, but we persisted.
The road up to Wick on the coast was very windy and had lots of steep grades up and down the seaside cliffs. However, that resulted in some spectacular scenery and beautiful coves. The cliffs would appear brown and grey and green – until the sun came out. Then there were golds and oranges and blues and purples to add to the previous colors, making a riot of color everywhere you looked. Unfortunately, I couldn’t look much – I was stuck behind two tankers who had to go very slowly up the steep grades. First gear is such a safe and happy place to be, don’t you think?
We got to Wick, which was much larger than I thought it would be, and got some gas. It seemed like a nice town, with lots of people walking about in the afternoon sun. We headed across land towards Thurso, as we had had enough of cliff roads for a little while, at least. In Thurso (which was also much bigger than I had expected on this far outflung corner of the country) we drove through town and found a pub at the end of the main road, the Weigh Inn. It was close to the ferry entrance, so we decided to stop for a bit of dinner. I called K and C to let them know, but had no idea if the call would go through or not. There was a wedding reception going on, and many men in full kilt regalia. We even saw the bride and groom arriving in a late model classic car of some sort. I had the taglieterre carbonara, but it was linguine instead, and very thick (sticky). It wasn’t great, but it was filling. I’d been on the lookout for the famed cock-a-leekie soup everywhere I went, but hadn’t found any yet. K and C did end up joining us, but weren’t interested in eating – they get seasick easily, and we were about to embark upon a 2 hour ferry ride. They did nibble on some quadruple chocolate shortbread cookies that they bought at the Walker’s Shortbread factory a couple days ago.
The ferry (Northlink) from Scrabster to Stromness was lovely. It had a full bar and lounge, so we took advantage and had a couple pints on the way. The weather was bad, so we took the inside passage rather than out around Hoy, and the wind and rain were a bit much for good photographs… so I played it safe, and stayed inside for the most part. We met Rube, who worked on an oil rig as an engineer. He was returning home, as he grew up on Orkney. He even described the notorious blackening ceremony that brides and grooms are subjected to on the island, as his sister went through it (even though she had moved to Wick). We talked about history and politics, and he said we were the most well-informed Americans he had met. We told him not to raise his hopes up, as we were atypical geeky types who read a lot compared to most, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded from his new opinion.
Once in Orkney, we circled around Stenness several times before we found our B&B. We had to call for directions, and still almost passed it again. The sign was well-camouflaged against the garden wall, and mostly hidden by ivy, as well as it being dim and dark from lowering clouds and rain. But find it we did – the Mill of Eyrland. Morag was our hostess, and she showed us up to our rooms. The upstairs (second floor) consisted of two rooms attached by one lounge and a bathroom for C, K, J and me. M and D had singles on the first floor, near a larger general lounge, while the breakfast room was on the ground floor. We asked about food options, as K and C hadn’t eaten yet – Morag sent us to Kirkwall for either Chinese or Indian, the only options that would be open at this time of night (8:30pm). It was a lovely little drive, and I went along to keep them company, and because I hadn’t eaten much of my ‘taglieterre carbonara’. We asked directions once we got into Kirkwall, and the lady we asked told us the Indian place was near the library, the ‘second largest building in Kirkwall’. The largest building was definitely the St. Magnus Cathedral in the center of town – a magnificent piece of architecture made out of red standstone. We found the Indian place, and we had Roshni lamb and chicken biryani. It was close to 11pm as we left, and the sun was still not near setting.
Jul 11th, 2008, 12:38 PM
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So many people, I am sure, are enjoying your report, GreenDragon. While you keep typing, we will keep it ttt!
Okay, Kirkwall is now on my interest list. I want to see a town where the library is the second largest building
!
Okay, Kirkwall is now on my interest list. I want to see a town where the library is the second largest building
!
Jul 11th, 2008, 06:35 PM
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Well, GreenDragon, I have finally had the time to enjoy your trip report, and it is as wonderful as I expected it would be. Beautifully written.
I'm also a big fan of Jamie and Claire.
Looking forward to more . . .
I'm also a big fan of Jamie and Claire.
Looking forward to more . . .
Jul 12th, 2008, 09:55 AM
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Glad to hear from all the Jamie and Clair/Outlander fans I'm just now burning all my photos from the laptop to DVDs, so I can go through them and pick the best out.
Saturday, 6/21:
This morning we had a great breakfast. Morag puts out a selection of interesting jellies, such as lime and lemon, as well as black currant, marmalade and apricot. There was a couple from Oxford also eating breakfast with us, who specialized in prehistoric archeology. We figured they had been to Orkney many times, but no, this was their first visit. How could you not have visited earlier? The guy had just retired, and had lived all his life just a short distance away in Oxford.
We visited the Tomb of the Eagles and the Italian Chapel the first day. One of the rare moments of sunshine came while at the tomb. You have to drive all the way to the end of the islands for it, but it's worth the drive and the mile hike. Not just for the tomb, but for the incredible angular cliffs and seabirds around there. Everything was at an angle, which is actually how the discoverer found the tomb - the tomb stones were straight, and seemed out of place. You have to pull yourself into the tomb on a rope and a board with wheels, but it's light inside due to skylights. The walk back along the cliffs is highly recommended! There were plenty of seabirds and wildflowers dotting the landscape, like a painter just went crazy with the splatter brush. We saw yellow lichen, white flowers, black birds, and the blue ocean. On the way back, my Ecco walking shoes (which I finally got when my luggage arrived!) decided to start chafing, as I hadn’t worn them since the last vacation the previous year. I took them off and walked along the cliff in my socks, not caring that they were getting damp. Then I took the socks off and put the shoes back on, and it was a little better, but it still chaffed in different areas. Sigh – you just can’t win, can you?
I switched to K and C’s car, and let M and D drive free (J was spending the day back at the B&B, immersed in his laptop for the day). The Italian Chapel was delightful, and much more moving than I thought it would be. The artistry and story is incredible. It was built by Italian POWs out of a Quonset hut and scrap parts. They painted the inside as if it was lined in tiles, created ironwork for the inside, and truly made a magical religious wonderland inside. Sadly, it was only used as a chapel for a couple years, but I am very glad the folks of Orkney were smart and kind enough to have preserved this little gem.
On the way to Kirkwall, we saw signs for the Orkney Wine Shop, so we had to go find out, especially after K and C had so much fun at the liquid deli. It was on a little farmhouse down a dirt road, but with a magnificent view of the seaside and ocean. You were never far from an ocean view on Orkney, wherever you went, and that’s one of its enduring charms. The wine shop was run by a Dutch man who had emigrated to Orkney years before. He let us sample all his wines, which certainly did a lot towards improving our attitude for the day. However, I don’t care for dry wines, and most of his were dry – elderberry wine, whiskey wine, even his strawberry rhubarb wine. They tasted rather harsh to me, but K bought a bottle of elderberry wine.
We got to Kirkwall for lunch, and found the Arnold Hotel for some steak and Orkney beef burgers – quite delicious. We asked the waitress about music venues, as the St. Magnus music festival was going on, but she didn’t have much idea about what was going on where. She did tell us where we could find flyer information, though… and we heard the ubiquitous bagpipers practicing in the pub next door. I love bagpipe music, but don’t think that most players have the control necessary to play a set of full pipes indoors. It’s like a tuba – a powerful instrument, too powerful for close range unless you have a deft touch.
We wandered around Kirkwall a while in the afternoon, and visited the Sheila Fleet and Ortak jewelry stores. Sheila Fleet (http://www.sheilafleet.co.uk/) has some spectacular modern/traditional jewelry styles (though not cheap!). My favorite designs were the Cascade (design inspired by a waterfall) and the Breckon design, made for the spouses of the guys who prepared all year for an Up Helly Aa celebration, in thanks for their patience, and inspired by designs in St. Magnus Cathedral. I saw these carvings in the church itself when I visited later, and it made me feel as if I had been let in on a secret. We also saw a blackening truck go through - sort of a pre-wedding tradition on Orkney, which involves throwing a molasses/flour mixture on the bride and groom and parading them through the streets before making them wash off in the freezing ocean. And these were their friends!
We visited several other stores, such as Judith Glue – but we were warned that while this used to be a great local shop, it had a great deal of crap in it now. I bought some local music and some fudge (tablet). The fudge in Scotland had a much higher sugar content than I’m used to, rather than the creamy texture of most American fudge. Our search for music ventures was in vain – we didn’t see any we were interested in at convenient times or prices.
On the way back to the B&B to pick J up for dinner, we stopped at Coween Hill to climb up to one of the local burial sites/passage tombs. I stayed in the car, as my evil Ecco shoes still wanted to chew my feet up, but K and C made the long, steep climb up to this hilltop site. It had a standing stone or two, and a passage tomb, but by this time C had seen enough – it’s another rock, and another cairn… woohoo.
The dim days were beginning to get to me, because except for a little sunshine earlier near the Tomb of the Eagles, it had been grey and lifeless, overcast and misty all day. The dimness affected me more, I think, because my glasses have built in UV filters. They will darken with UV rays, even if the sunlight isn’t making the landscape any brighter. It was about 40 degrees F, and a good strong wind and rain made it seem even colder. There were still amazing subtle blues and greens, pale lavenders and pinks in the sky, the landscape, and the islands in the distance of the sea. Incongruent shades of aquamarine peeked out here and there, and tiny yellow wildflowers peppered every hill. There was an abundance of cows with impatient calves, ewes with their lambs (cavorting, of course), some huddling together for warmth in the biting wind that swept over the desolate isles. While lush green was everywhere, it seemed oddly lonely and bereft, as you rarely saw another human being out and about. I loved seeing the distant and near islands disappearing in the mist and then reappearing in the brief bouts of sunshine.
M, J and I went out in search of dinner, as D was sleeping. We went into Kirkwall and picked a place at random along the dockside street – the Kirkwall Hotel. At first they were snippy because we didn’t have a reservation, but we got a table. Service, on the other hand, was evidently harder to get. The food was great, but at first they completely forgot our soup (we ordered lentil soup), and we had to flag down one of the servers to find out what happened to it. Then they admitted they had forgotten to put in our order at all, so gave us dessert on the house. It seems there was no one server assigned to any table, so things fell through the cracks – and as big as we were, it seems we were crack-fallen. The seafood penne I got was very sweet and vinegary, like the red sauce was made with brown sauce or something. I didn’t really care for it, but M’s roast beef and J’s roast lamb was very good. Desserts again made the day – fudge and whiskey cheesecake was creamy and delightful. It’s amazing how many sins can be made good with a good sweetie.
We drove home via the Stones of Stenness, and walked around a bit, annoying the sheep who seemed to be using the altar as a toilet. There are a few stones there, but they are rather impressive. We went on to the Ring of Brodgar, which was more than impressive. However, that’s when the weather decided to come back with a vengeance, and we quickly took cover. But I did visit the stones on Midsummer’s Eve, as I said I would. No way in hell was I going to spend all night out there in that weather, though!
I'm just now burning all my photos from the laptop to DVDs, so I can go through them and pick the best out.Saturday, 6/21:
This morning we had a great breakfast. Morag puts out a selection of interesting jellies, such as lime and lemon, as well as black currant, marmalade and apricot. There was a couple from Oxford also eating breakfast with us, who specialized in prehistoric archeology. We figured they had been to Orkney many times, but no, this was their first visit. How could you not have visited earlier? The guy had just retired, and had lived all his life just a short distance away in Oxford.
We visited the Tomb of the Eagles and the Italian Chapel the first day. One of the rare moments of sunshine came while at the tomb. You have to drive all the way to the end of the islands for it, but it's worth the drive and the mile hike. Not just for the tomb, but for the incredible angular cliffs and seabirds around there. Everything was at an angle, which is actually how the discoverer found the tomb - the tomb stones were straight, and seemed out of place. You have to pull yourself into the tomb on a rope and a board with wheels, but it's light inside due to skylights. The walk back along the cliffs is highly recommended! There were plenty of seabirds and wildflowers dotting the landscape, like a painter just went crazy with the splatter brush. We saw yellow lichen, white flowers, black birds, and the blue ocean. On the way back, my Ecco walking shoes (which I finally got when my luggage arrived!) decided to start chafing, as I hadn’t worn them since the last vacation the previous year. I took them off and walked along the cliff in my socks, not caring that they were getting damp. Then I took the socks off and put the shoes back on, and it was a little better, but it still chaffed in different areas. Sigh – you just can’t win, can you?
I switched to K and C’s car, and let M and D drive free (J was spending the day back at the B&B, immersed in his laptop for the day). The Italian Chapel was delightful, and much more moving than I thought it would be. The artistry and story is incredible. It was built by Italian POWs out of a Quonset hut and scrap parts. They painted the inside as if it was lined in tiles, created ironwork for the inside, and truly made a magical religious wonderland inside. Sadly, it was only used as a chapel for a couple years, but I am very glad the folks of Orkney were smart and kind enough to have preserved this little gem.
On the way to Kirkwall, we saw signs for the Orkney Wine Shop, so we had to go find out, especially after K and C had so much fun at the liquid deli. It was on a little farmhouse down a dirt road, but with a magnificent view of the seaside and ocean. You were never far from an ocean view on Orkney, wherever you went, and that’s one of its enduring charms. The wine shop was run by a Dutch man who had emigrated to Orkney years before. He let us sample all his wines, which certainly did a lot towards improving our attitude for the day. However, I don’t care for dry wines, and most of his were dry – elderberry wine, whiskey wine, even his strawberry rhubarb wine. They tasted rather harsh to me, but K bought a bottle of elderberry wine.
We got to Kirkwall for lunch, and found the Arnold Hotel for some steak and Orkney beef burgers – quite delicious. We asked the waitress about music venues, as the St. Magnus music festival was going on, but she didn’t have much idea about what was going on where. She did tell us where we could find flyer information, though… and we heard the ubiquitous bagpipers practicing in the pub next door. I love bagpipe music, but don’t think that most players have the control necessary to play a set of full pipes indoors. It’s like a tuba – a powerful instrument, too powerful for close range unless you have a deft touch.
We wandered around Kirkwall a while in the afternoon, and visited the Sheila Fleet and Ortak jewelry stores. Sheila Fleet (http://www.sheilafleet.co.uk/) has some spectacular modern/traditional jewelry styles (though not cheap!). My favorite designs were the Cascade (design inspired by a waterfall) and the Breckon design, made for the spouses of the guys who prepared all year for an Up Helly Aa celebration, in thanks for their patience, and inspired by designs in St. Magnus Cathedral. I saw these carvings in the church itself when I visited later, and it made me feel as if I had been let in on a secret. We also saw a blackening truck go through - sort of a pre-wedding tradition on Orkney, which involves throwing a molasses/flour mixture on the bride and groom and parading them through the streets before making them wash off in the freezing ocean. And these were their friends!
We visited several other stores, such as Judith Glue – but we were warned that while this used to be a great local shop, it had a great deal of crap in it now. I bought some local music and some fudge (tablet). The fudge in Scotland had a much higher sugar content than I’m used to, rather than the creamy texture of most American fudge. Our search for music ventures was in vain – we didn’t see any we were interested in at convenient times or prices.
On the way back to the B&B to pick J up for dinner, we stopped at Coween Hill to climb up to one of the local burial sites/passage tombs. I stayed in the car, as my evil Ecco shoes still wanted to chew my feet up, but K and C made the long, steep climb up to this hilltop site. It had a standing stone or two, and a passage tomb, but by this time C had seen enough – it’s another rock, and another cairn… woohoo.
The dim days were beginning to get to me, because except for a little sunshine earlier near the Tomb of the Eagles, it had been grey and lifeless, overcast and misty all day. The dimness affected me more, I think, because my glasses have built in UV filters. They will darken with UV rays, even if the sunlight isn’t making the landscape any brighter. It was about 40 degrees F, and a good strong wind and rain made it seem even colder. There were still amazing subtle blues and greens, pale lavenders and pinks in the sky, the landscape, and the islands in the distance of the sea. Incongruent shades of aquamarine peeked out here and there, and tiny yellow wildflowers peppered every hill. There was an abundance of cows with impatient calves, ewes with their lambs (cavorting, of course), some huddling together for warmth in the biting wind that swept over the desolate isles. While lush green was everywhere, it seemed oddly lonely and bereft, as you rarely saw another human being out and about. I loved seeing the distant and near islands disappearing in the mist and then reappearing in the brief bouts of sunshine.
M, J and I went out in search of dinner, as D was sleeping. We went into Kirkwall and picked a place at random along the dockside street – the Kirkwall Hotel. At first they were snippy because we didn’t have a reservation, but we got a table. Service, on the other hand, was evidently harder to get. The food was great, but at first they completely forgot our soup (we ordered lentil soup), and we had to flag down one of the servers to find out what happened to it. Then they admitted they had forgotten to put in our order at all, so gave us dessert on the house. It seems there was no one server assigned to any table, so things fell through the cracks – and as big as we were, it seems we were crack-fallen. The seafood penne I got was very sweet and vinegary, like the red sauce was made with brown sauce or something. I didn’t really care for it, but M’s roast beef and J’s roast lamb was very good. Desserts again made the day – fudge and whiskey cheesecake was creamy and delightful. It’s amazing how many sins can be made good with a good sweetie.
We drove home via the Stones of Stenness, and walked around a bit, annoying the sheep who seemed to be using the altar as a toilet. There are a few stones there, but they are rather impressive. We went on to the Ring of Brodgar, which was more than impressive. However, that’s when the weather decided to come back with a vengeance, and we quickly took cover. But I did visit the stones on Midsummer’s Eve, as I said I would. No way in hell was I going to spend all night out there in that weather, though!
Jul 13th, 2008, 06:48 AM
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Orkney sounds beautiful. My husband has a cousin who lives there.
Speaking of pre-wedding tortures. My husband's work in Aberdeen stripped him to his boxers, tied him to a fork lift truck, lifted him up, threw flour, honey, eggs, and fish guts all over him, and parked him in front of a busy road. And that was considered pretty tame. They are nuts!
Speaking of pre-wedding tortures. My husband's work in Aberdeen stripped him to his boxers, tied him to a fork lift truck, lifted him up, threw flour, honey, eggs, and fish guts all over him, and parked him in front of a busy road. And that was considered pretty tame. They are nuts!
Jul 13th, 2008, 07:38 AM
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Oh GreenDragon, I am so very excited about this report! Going to print it out and savor it on the couch a little later on (have to fit in some excercise to get in shape for our two-week trip in September).
I reserve the right to ask questions and make comments!
Anna Roz
I reserve the right to ask questions and make comments!
Anna Roz
Jul 14th, 2008, 04:29 AM
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Sunday, 6/22:
The second day we visited the Ring of Brodgar first, hoping for some better weather than the night before, but it was still threatening to take off with us, especially when I spread my arms and fanned out my shawl. I looked like a really fat eagle, I think. The stone circle itself is huge and very impressive, but the icy wind and rain made us less than happy to be there.
Next was our appointment at Maes Howe, a Neolithic chambered cairn. The path up to it was surrounded by fencing and barbed wire, so the aforementioned wind and shawl made the trip¡K interesting. We walked up to it, and then waited for the tour guide to show up. We didn¡¦t see her and speculated that she might pop up out of the ground at any moment, from some underground (and out of the wind) passage, and we were envious. But eventually she walked up, and let us in. She gave us a great deal of history about the area, the tomb, its discovery, and the various folks that had been in it, including the Viking writing on the walls that differed little from modern day graffiti. One said something like ¡¥Ivar has a huge axe¡¦ ƒº Once we were in out of the wind, it was surprisingly warm, so I had to start shedding layers like an old snake. Of course, I had to put them all on again before stepping outside, but it was worth it not to sweat to death.
We went on to Skara Brae next, and luckily we had our handy-dandy GPS to help find it. K and C, without such handy-dandy help, got lost for a while. D and J decided to sit this one out, so M and I braved the wind and the rain and walked through the gift shop, the visitor centre, and the mock-up (with a tiny resident mouse) and on to the site itself. It really is fascinating to find this very domestic layout, all curved and organically shaped, from 5000 years ago. It looked like nothing more than a Neolithic sand trap. The beach next to it was very sandy, but with slate blue water reflecting the cloudy skies.
Most of the sites we see from that time are religious in nature, like Stonehenge or the Pyramids. But this is very homey ¡V beds, dressers, shelves, hearth. It made it seem very much like I had a connection with these ancient peoples that I never felt before. I caught a glimpse into what their everyday life may have been like, and realized it wasn¡¦t all that different from mine. They worked hard to make things and feed themselves, even if our society has a lot more in terms of conveniences, it isn¡¦t all that different. So, here¡¦s to my ancestors! May we always survive.
After Skara Brae, we wanted lunch, and tried the Standing Stones Hotel in Stenness. Standard fare ¡V fish and chips, crab cakes, not bad. We dropped M and D off, while J and I went for some further explorations of the north part of the mainland. We first tried to find one of the cairns (started with a W), but just ended up on the top of a mountain near a weather station, on a very narrow, muddy, unpaved single track road. I was not confident of my ability to go further, so back we went. I¡¦m rather unadventurous when K isn¡¦t around acting as instigator.
Heading down into Kirkwall (this was J¡¦s first visit to the town) we looked around for later dinner options, and ran into K and C by accident. I was just parking the car so I could explore St. Magnus Cathedral in earnest, and was undeterred by their appearance ¡V on I went! It was beautiful inside, just as it is outside. Red sandstone in the rain shows the black mold and makes a dramatic contrast and design with architecture. The inside is also dramatic, and beautifully configured for space and awe. There were some classical musicians practicing while I walked around, presumably for a performance that evening as part of the festival. It was very powerful music, like something from the score of an action movie or something ¡V strong and it seemed to tell a story. It seemed incongruous to hear that sort of music along with the medieval stained glass pictures.
While searching for the Broch of Gurness, we instead found something called a doocot, which is probably a simplification of the word dovecote ¡V it looked like a stepped pyramid made of stone. We went on to the Broch, which J thought was the Broch of Guinness (boy was he disappointed!) We did find the Broch eventually. However, I didn¡¦t feel like exploring the Broch in the weather we were having, so I stayed in the car and updated my journal while J went down to the beach and explored the seashore. He found seals, spectacular seacliffs, and spraying waves.
Afterwards, we were still feeling adventurous, so went in search of the Earl¡¦s Palace. Instead, we found this lovely little fisherman¡¦s hut at Skiba Geo. This cove was absolutely breathtaking ¡V high cliffs surrounding a sandy little beach that you could barely see for the rocks. The waves were rolling in and the seabirds darted in and out of them searching for dinner. There were so many shades of black and blue, it looked like something out of a Maxfield Parrish painting, except the wind was blowing MUCH faster.
As we were heading home from that spectacular sight, we came across what looked like a military training area, with earthworks in a big square, barracks, bunkers, etc. We also saw a HUGE bull with a ring in his nose. J absolutely had to stop to take a picture of his private parts. Don¡¦t ask, really. No, seriously, don¡¦t even.
Back in Kirkwall with everyone for dinner, we decided to try the Chinese place as a break from the pub food and Indian food we had hitherto been surviving on. Well, the Chinese certainly know how to use pepper and garlic, let me tell you! It was almost (not quite, but almost) too much pepper for me ¡V black with encrusted pepper yummy umm yumm! That set us to practically comatose, so off to bed we went.
We were very tired of all the dim and dusky days, covered with clouds and rain. While it was only mostly dark for a couple hours each night, (and never got black, just a deep twilight), it was still rather depressing to only glimpse the sun occasionally through a brief break in the grey layers. We were glad we were moving on the next day. Orkney itself was beautiful ¡V we just chose the wrong weather to visit with.
The second day we visited the Ring of Brodgar first, hoping for some better weather than the night before, but it was still threatening to take off with us, especially when I spread my arms and fanned out my shawl. I looked like a really fat eagle, I think. The stone circle itself is huge and very impressive, but the icy wind and rain made us less than happy to be there.
Next was our appointment at Maes Howe, a Neolithic chambered cairn. The path up to it was surrounded by fencing and barbed wire, so the aforementioned wind and shawl made the trip¡K interesting. We walked up to it, and then waited for the tour guide to show up. We didn¡¦t see her and speculated that she might pop up out of the ground at any moment, from some underground (and out of the wind) passage, and we were envious. But eventually she walked up, and let us in. She gave us a great deal of history about the area, the tomb, its discovery, and the various folks that had been in it, including the Viking writing on the walls that differed little from modern day graffiti. One said something like ¡¥Ivar has a huge axe¡¦ ƒº Once we were in out of the wind, it was surprisingly warm, so I had to start shedding layers like an old snake. Of course, I had to put them all on again before stepping outside, but it was worth it not to sweat to death.
We went on to Skara Brae next, and luckily we had our handy-dandy GPS to help find it. K and C, without such handy-dandy help, got lost for a while. D and J decided to sit this one out, so M and I braved the wind and the rain and walked through the gift shop, the visitor centre, and the mock-up (with a tiny resident mouse) and on to the site itself. It really is fascinating to find this very domestic layout, all curved and organically shaped, from 5000 years ago. It looked like nothing more than a Neolithic sand trap. The beach next to it was very sandy, but with slate blue water reflecting the cloudy skies.
Most of the sites we see from that time are religious in nature, like Stonehenge or the Pyramids. But this is very homey ¡V beds, dressers, shelves, hearth. It made it seem very much like I had a connection with these ancient peoples that I never felt before. I caught a glimpse into what their everyday life may have been like, and realized it wasn¡¦t all that different from mine. They worked hard to make things and feed themselves, even if our society has a lot more in terms of conveniences, it isn¡¦t all that different. So, here¡¦s to my ancestors! May we always survive.
After Skara Brae, we wanted lunch, and tried the Standing Stones Hotel in Stenness. Standard fare ¡V fish and chips, crab cakes, not bad. We dropped M and D off, while J and I went for some further explorations of the north part of the mainland. We first tried to find one of the cairns (started with a W), but just ended up on the top of a mountain near a weather station, on a very narrow, muddy, unpaved single track road. I was not confident of my ability to go further, so back we went. I¡¦m rather unadventurous when K isn¡¦t around acting as instigator.
Heading down into Kirkwall (this was J¡¦s first visit to the town) we looked around for later dinner options, and ran into K and C by accident. I was just parking the car so I could explore St. Magnus Cathedral in earnest, and was undeterred by their appearance ¡V on I went! It was beautiful inside, just as it is outside. Red sandstone in the rain shows the black mold and makes a dramatic contrast and design with architecture. The inside is also dramatic, and beautifully configured for space and awe. There were some classical musicians practicing while I walked around, presumably for a performance that evening as part of the festival. It was very powerful music, like something from the score of an action movie or something ¡V strong and it seemed to tell a story. It seemed incongruous to hear that sort of music along with the medieval stained glass pictures.
While searching for the Broch of Gurness, we instead found something called a doocot, which is probably a simplification of the word dovecote ¡V it looked like a stepped pyramid made of stone. We went on to the Broch, which J thought was the Broch of Guinness (boy was he disappointed!) We did find the Broch eventually. However, I didn¡¦t feel like exploring the Broch in the weather we were having, so I stayed in the car and updated my journal while J went down to the beach and explored the seashore. He found seals, spectacular seacliffs, and spraying waves.
Afterwards, we were still feeling adventurous, so went in search of the Earl¡¦s Palace. Instead, we found this lovely little fisherman¡¦s hut at Skiba Geo. This cove was absolutely breathtaking ¡V high cliffs surrounding a sandy little beach that you could barely see for the rocks. The waves were rolling in and the seabirds darted in and out of them searching for dinner. There were so many shades of black and blue, it looked like something out of a Maxfield Parrish painting, except the wind was blowing MUCH faster.
As we were heading home from that spectacular sight, we came across what looked like a military training area, with earthworks in a big square, barracks, bunkers, etc. We also saw a HUGE bull with a ring in his nose. J absolutely had to stop to take a picture of his private parts. Don¡¦t ask, really. No, seriously, don¡¦t even.
Back in Kirkwall with everyone for dinner, we decided to try the Chinese place as a break from the pub food and Indian food we had hitherto been surviving on. Well, the Chinese certainly know how to use pepper and garlic, let me tell you! It was almost (not quite, but almost) too much pepper for me ¡V black with encrusted pepper yummy umm yumm! That set us to practically comatose, so off to bed we went.
We were very tired of all the dim and dusky days, covered with clouds and rain. While it was only mostly dark for a couple hours each night, (and never got black, just a deep twilight), it was still rather depressing to only glimpse the sun occasionally through a brief break in the grey layers. We were glad we were moving on the next day. Orkney itself was beautiful ¡V we just chose the wrong weather to visit with.
Jul 15th, 2008, 08:21 AM
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Enjoying your report, GD - thank you for taking so much trouble to share so much with everyone. Glad you had a good time and sorry to hear about your luggage and your fall on Arthur's Seat - it sounds like it didn't slow you down for long, though, fortunately.
Not sure who told you that you "got there just after 7 weeks of glorious sunshine and a heat wave" - if it's any consolation, we certainly didn't have that in Edinburgh ! We had a handful of sunny days in May, two of which I'd call hottish. You could have had it worse, believe me !
I always thought banoffee pie was Scottish since I first heard of it from a Scotswoman, in 1992 (in Italy !).
Smiled at that "How could you not have visited earlier? The guy had just retired, and had lived all his life just a short distance away in Oxford." I don't think anyone outside of northern Scotland would regard Orkney as a short distance away ! I hardly know anyone in Edinburgh who's been there, never mind Oxford ! I've not yet been (although I did my degree in prehistory & archaeology) but I'd like to - but Italy is always more of a draw to me ! I think that living somewhere where it's not very warm, my main holiday wouldn't seem like a holiday if weren't hot - I just love sitting outside and basking in the sunshine. But I suppose it's not so important if you live somewhere that gets hot anyway - not sure where JAX is ?
So sorry we couldn't meet up while you were here.
Not sure who told you that you "got there just after 7 weeks of glorious sunshine and a heat wave" - if it's any consolation, we certainly didn't have that in Edinburgh ! We had a handful of sunny days in May, two of which I'd call hottish. You could have had it worse, believe me !
I always thought banoffee pie was Scottish since I first heard of it from a Scotswoman, in 1992 (in Italy !).
Smiled at that "How could you not have visited earlier? The guy had just retired, and had lived all his life just a short distance away in Oxford." I don't think anyone outside of northern Scotland would regard Orkney as a short distance away ! I hardly know anyone in Edinburgh who's been there, never mind Oxford ! I've not yet been (although I did my degree in prehistory & archaeology) but I'd like to - but Italy is always more of a draw to me ! I think that living somewhere where it's not very warm, my main holiday wouldn't seem like a holiday if weren't hot - I just love sitting outside and basking in the sunshine. But I suppose it's not so important if you live somewhere that gets hot anyway - not sure where JAX is ?
So sorry we couldn't meet up while you were here.
Jul 15th, 2008, 10:44 AM
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JAX is Jacksonville, in north eastern Florida, where it is definitely hot. It's also, I think, the mindset of what a long distance is. I've maintained for a long time that to an American, 100 years is a long time while for a European, 100 miles is a long way. We think little of a 200-300 mile road trip - for the weekend.
The folks who told me of the fabulous weather were in Grantown, Orkney, Lewis and Skye - must have missed the lowlands
The trip report continues:
Monday, 6/23:
Oh, I hate getting up early early for a long day of travel! But, the good news is it’s already light out at the 4am wake up time. We skipped breakfast, as our hostess was still sleeping and we could get food on the ferry (well, except for K and C, who would wait until afterwards). And guess what! The bloody sun was bloody shining. Sure, now that we are leaving, it decides to come out and taunt us like a bratty kindergartener. So, nah!
I seriously debated running over to the Ring of Brodgar for some brief sunny shots of the stones – and K was thinking the same thing in her car. But we both did the mature thing and drove towards Stromness and the morning ferry instead. Sigh. I bet if we had been in the same car we would have gone!
We did get some shots of seals on the rocks as we left the harbor. While we did see and get photos of the Old Man of Hoy, it wasn’t in the sun yet – the sun had yet to rise high enough or strong enough so it was in the shadows of the cliff it was near. It was still spectacular and worthy of reverence, though. You could see the layers of rock form colors and lines, and how it might look with the sun shining on it, but it wasn’t something you could capture on camera for remembering.
We had a full breakfast on the ferry and started our drive along the north road to our fist stop, Durness. Along the way we saw deer, sheep butts (cavorting), shaggy coos, and some of the most spectacular scenery I saw on my entire trip. There were sheer cliffs, sandy beaches, blue and aquamarine bays, diving seabirds, and rolling green hills. Each time we turned another corner, came around another bend, we would scream ‘Oh, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!’ And then we would turn another corner, and scream it again, and again, and again. Why had no one mentioned this delightful part of Scotland to me in my research? I never came across anything talking about the incredible beauty of this drive. I had imagined it would be a fairly boring drive across barren cliffs and sere fields, but I was so very, very wrong.
After near sensory overload along that fantastic drive, we came across Smoo Cave, near Durness. We had thought we would meet up with K and C here, but after having lunch at the Smoo Cave Café, we didn’t see them (it was around noon). Nobody but me really wanted to go down to the cave itself, but I didn’t let that stop me. Mom came as far as the top of the cliff, and then hung out while I climbed down the steps to the cave. It was definitely worth a trip! It is not difficult to climb down, though there are many, many steps. Some are a bit tricky, but it’s in good repair. Once down at the mouth of the cave, you can see that there is a cave stream coming out of the mouth of the cave, walk over the bridge, and then into the cave. Normally there are tours, but there was a sign saying the tours were cancelled due to threat of flooding – there was lots of rain lately, after all. Ignoring the danger, I walked into the underground waterfall cavern… oh, so powerful, so incredible! There was a whole in the cave itself that let in some sunlight, so you could see this strong, massive waterfall pushing the water out. It wasn’t some mountain stream trickle, this was a full blown, powerful cascade. I got soaked from the spray just standing and gazing at it.
After some heartbreaking moments, I tore myself away. I don’t know why I’m so fascinated by powerful waterfalls. The wimpy ones don’t do it for me, it’s got to be thousands of gallons of pumping water to get me going – and this one did.
I started the trek back up the stairs, and met a German tour group coming down. We got back together with the boys and went on to the second half of our tour of the north. It was as spectacular as the first half, though more trees once we drove inland. There were glens and valleys, mountain tarns with crystal clear reflections of the puffy clouds above. Tantalizing glimpses of the seaside peeked through mountains to the right. By the time we arrived at Ullapool, we were almost drained from the constant beauty and stunning landscapes we had driven through (and stopped often for photos!)
We found a pub for some refreshments before we were due to the ferry checkin; the Argyll Hotel didn’t seem very interested in our custom, and so we just had some sweets and drinks. The owners looked to be a couple of retired hippies, complete with a flowing dress and long hair.
Waiting in line for the ferry, we saw K and C doing the same. They had had a similar reaction to the landscapes on their trek of the day, and took some Dramamine for the ferry trip. Unfortunately, the ferry loading was delayed, so they were very loopy before they had to drive onto the boat – they almost fell asleep.
This ferry trip, we found another local to chat with. This one was Willie, who was coming back from a motorcycle drive down to South Wales for a wedding. Fortunately, though his bike broke down on the way back, it was only a couple minutes out of Ullapool. He should probably be thanking his guardian angels or gods or whoever is looking out for him, I would think. We talked a lot about the education system on the islands; evidently a parent can choose for his children to go to a Gaelic school, and they will be taught English as a second language, or an English school with Gaelic as a second language. We talked about the economy, prices, weather, etc… it was a very pleasant chat, and he also told us that the B&B was very easy to find, just outside of the ferry terminal.
He was quite right, you couldn’t miss the place, there it was! Graham, our host, was quite nice, though he giggled a bit at the end of everything he said. He showed J and I up to the family room, which gave us two double beds to stretch out on (one had a bunk on top), while the girls were settled in a twin downstairs, and M and D had two singles upstairs. Everything was clean and neat, not fancy. The area was close to everything, right on the dockside street.
K and C and I went out in search of dinner, and found the Caledonian Hotel – where we had a couple pints and watched a young girl with purple hair flirt with her guys. However, they only had pints, so K had to overcome her objections and go to the Indian place, Balti House. The guy who prepped the takeaway order was quite nice – raised in Aberdeen, but born here in Scotland. It’s quite surreal to hear someone speak English in a Scottish accent one moment, and then start speaking Hindi to his brother the next. He said there wasn’t much around for trad music, perhaps MacNeil’s might have some. K and C got their takeaway dinners, and we headed back home for an early night after a very long day of travel.
The folks who told me of the fabulous weather were in Grantown, Orkney, Lewis and Skye - must have missed the lowlands
The trip report continues:
Monday, 6/23:
Oh, I hate getting up early early for a long day of travel! But, the good news is it’s already light out at the 4am wake up time. We skipped breakfast, as our hostess was still sleeping and we could get food on the ferry (well, except for K and C, who would wait until afterwards). And guess what! The bloody sun was bloody shining. Sure, now that we are leaving, it decides to come out and taunt us like a bratty kindergartener. So, nah!
I seriously debated running over to the Ring of Brodgar for some brief sunny shots of the stones – and K was thinking the same thing in her car. But we both did the mature thing and drove towards Stromness and the morning ferry instead. Sigh. I bet if we had been in the same car we would have gone!
We did get some shots of seals on the rocks as we left the harbor. While we did see and get photos of the Old Man of Hoy, it wasn’t in the sun yet – the sun had yet to rise high enough or strong enough so it was in the shadows of the cliff it was near. It was still spectacular and worthy of reverence, though. You could see the layers of rock form colors and lines, and how it might look with the sun shining on it, but it wasn’t something you could capture on camera for remembering.
We had a full breakfast on the ferry and started our drive along the north road to our fist stop, Durness. Along the way we saw deer, sheep butts (cavorting), shaggy coos, and some of the most spectacular scenery I saw on my entire trip. There were sheer cliffs, sandy beaches, blue and aquamarine bays, diving seabirds, and rolling green hills. Each time we turned another corner, came around another bend, we would scream ‘Oh, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!’ And then we would turn another corner, and scream it again, and again, and again. Why had no one mentioned this delightful part of Scotland to me in my research? I never came across anything talking about the incredible beauty of this drive. I had imagined it would be a fairly boring drive across barren cliffs and sere fields, but I was so very, very wrong.
After near sensory overload along that fantastic drive, we came across Smoo Cave, near Durness. We had thought we would meet up with K and C here, but after having lunch at the Smoo Cave Café, we didn’t see them (it was around noon). Nobody but me really wanted to go down to the cave itself, but I didn’t let that stop me. Mom came as far as the top of the cliff, and then hung out while I climbed down the steps to the cave. It was definitely worth a trip! It is not difficult to climb down, though there are many, many steps. Some are a bit tricky, but it’s in good repair. Once down at the mouth of the cave, you can see that there is a cave stream coming out of the mouth of the cave, walk over the bridge, and then into the cave. Normally there are tours, but there was a sign saying the tours were cancelled due to threat of flooding – there was lots of rain lately, after all. Ignoring the danger, I walked into the underground waterfall cavern… oh, so powerful, so incredible! There was a whole in the cave itself that let in some sunlight, so you could see this strong, massive waterfall pushing the water out. It wasn’t some mountain stream trickle, this was a full blown, powerful cascade. I got soaked from the spray just standing and gazing at it.
After some heartbreaking moments, I tore myself away. I don’t know why I’m so fascinated by powerful waterfalls. The wimpy ones don’t do it for me, it’s got to be thousands of gallons of pumping water to get me going – and this one did.
I started the trek back up the stairs, and met a German tour group coming down. We got back together with the boys and went on to the second half of our tour of the north. It was as spectacular as the first half, though more trees once we drove inland. There were glens and valleys, mountain tarns with crystal clear reflections of the puffy clouds above. Tantalizing glimpses of the seaside peeked through mountains to the right. By the time we arrived at Ullapool, we were almost drained from the constant beauty and stunning landscapes we had driven through (and stopped often for photos!)
We found a pub for some refreshments before we were due to the ferry checkin; the Argyll Hotel didn’t seem very interested in our custom, and so we just had some sweets and drinks. The owners looked to be a couple of retired hippies, complete with a flowing dress and long hair.
Waiting in line for the ferry, we saw K and C doing the same. They had had a similar reaction to the landscapes on their trek of the day, and took some Dramamine for the ferry trip. Unfortunately, the ferry loading was delayed, so they were very loopy before they had to drive onto the boat – they almost fell asleep.
This ferry trip, we found another local to chat with. This one was Willie, who was coming back from a motorcycle drive down to South Wales for a wedding. Fortunately, though his bike broke down on the way back, it was only a couple minutes out of Ullapool. He should probably be thanking his guardian angels or gods or whoever is looking out for him, I would think. We talked a lot about the education system on the islands; evidently a parent can choose for his children to go to a Gaelic school, and they will be taught English as a second language, or an English school with Gaelic as a second language. We talked about the economy, prices, weather, etc… it was a very pleasant chat, and he also told us that the B&B was very easy to find, just outside of the ferry terminal.
He was quite right, you couldn’t miss the place, there it was! Graham, our host, was quite nice, though he giggled a bit at the end of everything he said. He showed J and I up to the family room, which gave us two double beds to stretch out on (one had a bunk on top), while the girls were settled in a twin downstairs, and M and D had two singles upstairs. Everything was clean and neat, not fancy. The area was close to everything, right on the dockside street.
K and C and I went out in search of dinner, and found the Caledonian Hotel – where we had a couple pints and watched a young girl with purple hair flirt with her guys. However, they only had pints, so K had to overcome her objections and go to the Indian place, Balti House. The guy who prepped the takeaway order was quite nice – raised in Aberdeen, but born here in Scotland. It’s quite surreal to hear someone speak English in a Scottish accent one moment, and then start speaking Hindi to his brother the next. He said there wasn’t much around for trad music, perhaps MacNeil’s might have some. K and C got their takeaway dinners, and we headed back home for an early night after a very long day of travel.
Jul 15th, 2008, 11:37 AM
#38
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So, GreenDragon, you are on Lewis now? I'm glad that you got some good weather finally! Do you think the scenery on that drive would have been as spectacular in dim weather?
And one little point:
<i>"raised in Aberdeen, but born here in Scotland"</i> - did you mean something different? (Last I checked Aberdeen is in Scotland!
And one little point:
<i>"raised in Aberdeen, but born here in Scotland"</i> - did you mean something different? (Last I checked Aberdeen is in Scotland!
Jul 15th, 2008, 12:21 PM
#39
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Raised in Aberdeen and born here on Lewis, I meant
Yes, that drive still would have been spectacular. The colors shone out even when the clouds covered the sun (it was on and off all day)
Yes, that drive still would have been spectacular. The colors shone out even when the clouds covered the sun (it was on and off all day)
