Kirkwall to Thurso

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Geo: 58.5926, -3.52461

We took the ferry back to the mainland. The trip was a bit more choppy, but I focused on this blog to keep me from getting to queasy. We had abiout 30 minutes before dinner so I collected my laundry (nicely done, they even presses my undies!) and went to prepare for the morning. Since the hotel that we are staying at tomorrow has no lift or porters, we have to pack an overnight bag and have it ready in the morning. We had dinner tonight at 7:30 at the hotel's restaurant again. I had mainly sat with Barbara and Shirley (the Canadians) most of the day, so I went and sat by myself to see who I would get. I ended up sitting with the 3 sisters and a married couple (all from Australian). We spoke about the day and visiting London. I was asked, again, what holidays we have in America and how many vacation days we get. Apparently the Aussies get a guaranteed 3 weeks off, plus a guaranteed 10 days of sick days, in addition to all the National Holidays. They were surprised when I said most people only get 2 weeks off or even sometimes just a week off. The only gentleman in the group asked about American rights compared to Canadian rights and about the American school system. For dinner I had a cream of vegetable soup for the appetizer, mince meat and potatoes for the main course (more like a beef stew flavor but with hamburger meat in a thick sauce….very tasty), and a slice of chocolate cake. I asked the waitress for a tall glass of milk, and once again I got the look of bewilderment that I usually get when I ask for milk to drink. After dinner they had music in the morning room, but when I got there it was an elderly man playing the accordion. Apparently, accordion music is big up here so I went instead to sit in the bar. The World Cup was still on and a few people were watching it. I blogged some more and then wet to bed early for once!

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