Orkney Islands, Scotland

 August 6 - Orkney Islands, Scotland

🍷🎉Happy Birthday, Mary!🎉🍷

Tonight we celebrated Mary’s birthday at the Bayou Steakhouse.  The entree was a filet mignon which was the size of a small roast!!!

From the reviews we had read the Orkney Uncovered tour with Kinlay promised to be an excellent day.  We are sharing with Sandy & Ron and Evelyn again.  Unfortunately our luck ran out in the weather department!  We had periods of mist, light rain, real rainfall and very high winds in some places!  Oh well!  Layers and water repellant jackets were perfect for the conditions!

Our first stop, St Magnus Cathedral started in the 12th century, is dedicated to St Magnus, Earl of Orkney when Orkney was part of the Kingdom of Norway. It is a combination of Romanesque and Gothic Architecture. It was constructed of red and yellow sandstone.

From the cathedral we went to the Ring of Brodgar part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney.  This is a monument built by the Neolithic people over 4000 years ago!  It contains a stone circle and burial mounds.  How did they accomplish this?!?

Next we made a brief stop at Yesnaby Cliffs.  It was raining so hard and the visibility made it impossible to enjoy the view. The wind was so strong that we could hardly stand!

Back into the vehicle and on to Skara Brae   Neolithic House and village.  This is a group of nine Neolithic houses discovered in the mid 1800’s, and still being discovered today. These rooms give us a glimpse of life 5000 years ago!

 We had lunch at a local pub where we could taste Haggis!

After lunch we made our way back to the ship via Scapa Flow. the world’s 2nd largest natural harbour and wartime anchorage.  We also saw the Churchill Barriers constructed to stop Kriegsmarine U-boats breaching Scapa Flow.

We had a quick stop at a farmer’s property to see some Highland Cattle and a couple of Wooly Pigs!

We completed the day’s tour with a stop at the Italian Chapel - the miracle of Camp 60.

Kinlay did not disappoint!  This was a wonderful day, despite the weather - full of information, some laughs, and a great chance to learn about the Orkney Island.  Next up - Invergordon!

The Happy Travellers