Today was a much better day excursion wise. The sites we visited were interesting, the guide was a great storyteller, and the passengers cooperated!
Today we were in Kirkwall, Scotland, which is on the Orkney Islands off the northeast coast of the mainland. Not only were the skies dark and gray, but they were heavy with rain, lots of rain. We have been very lucky so far in that we have been able to dodge the rain when we were in the outdoors on tour. Today, no such luck.
Michael was on an excursion today for a 3-mile hike that was very muddy and slippery; and it poured down rain the entire time. Why they didn’t cancel was beyond me but the show goes on. He was soaked when he got back.
The sites I visited were quite fascinating. These were Neolithic and Viking sites dating back almost 5,000 years. We passed by the Stones of Stennis, dating to the third millennium BC, but I could only get a poor picture through the rain splattered bus window. We visited the Ring of Brodgar, A huge ceremonial circle of stones dating back 5,000 years. These stones are older than Stonehedge.
The most interesting part of the tour was the stone age settlement called Skara Brae. It has been called the Scottish Pompeii because it’s remarkably preserved dwellings had remained hidden beneath the sand dunes until only 150 years ago.
And finally, we visited a 400 year old mansion called Skaill House. A descendent of the Graham family lived there until the 1990s when it was given to the state. I didn’t get a picture of the house because it was raining too hard, and I wanted to get inside to get out of the rain.
After we returned from our excursions, it was time to do laundry, especially the wet jeans and socks. We then went to tea, and later had dinner with the captain, the general manager, and the cruise director
No comments:
Post a Comment