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Published: October 17th 2012
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I sniffled my way from my Inverness hostel to the bus station and wound up at the airport a whole hour and a half early. Anywhere else, and that would be expected. They always say to arrive 2 hours before your flight, right? Well, when I walked in a little before 8am, I was the only one in the entire airport. No employees in sight, no waiting passengers. If the lights hadn't been on and sounds coming from behind of the counter at the cafe, I would have thought that I was in the wrong building. There was a plane out back-- I probably could have taken myself for a little joy ride! I waited around and asked the first person I saw where I was to check in. Turns out, in a airport you can pretty much walk off the street and on to the plane in like 8minutes flat. There were 11 people on my 35 seater plane to Orkney Islands, and I was "upgraded" to "1st class" (aka the first row rather than the 2nd row), so that there would be someone in charge of the emergency exit door. Sweet, more leg room and a cozy chat with
the flight attendant. We flew over the islands and the weather was beautiful! I was so excited to have a "warm" day!
I had been researching a little bit last night about Orkney Islands transit and was horrified. A 20minute drive from the airport to my hotel was going to take over 4 hours on the bus. Probably the only bus on the entire island. The best money I have ever spent went towards a rental car. Oh blessed, blessed little Astra. How I love you. And how I love the fact that I am now a champion left-side-of-the-road driver. That's right, I am rocking this European driving thing. Haven't been lost yet. Maybe because its about an hour from coast to coast on the island, so it's not too bad navigating 6 total roads. Whatever, I'll take the confidence where I can get it these days.
I first walked around Kirkwall city, saw St. Magnus cathedral, walked through the museum, and tried to do some archive digging at the library but they are closed until tomorrow. Next, a tiny Italian chapel that was built by Italian hostages during the war, and then back to Kirkwall to eat
at Helgie's. I found out what heaven tastes like. Tuna/sweetcorn/cheese sandwich. I will be making something similar to this at home on a regular basis. They are known for their creative alcoholic drink creations so I had to try a little mocktail to fit in. Applesour. It was also close to celestial.
I just drove around the island after that and visited a few historical sites, enjoying the fact that I didn't have to depend on public transit to get me there and that I could leave my stuff safely in a locked car. Maeshowe was the first stop. It is a 5,000 year old Neolithic, sandstone tomb. 5,000 year old!! So interesting. The best part was the tour guide. Her name was Moira and had the cutest accent. She introduced me to her "bonny ducks" that she feeds each day, and told the little kids on the tour that there would be "no scuttles" about climbing into the dark tomb (no whining, I'm guessing).
Next were the Rings of Standing Stones of Stennes and the Ring of Brodgar. I'd be lying if I told you these were terribly exciting. Cool and very historically relevant, but just stones
in the ground, really. I snapped a few photos and headed back to check into the hotel before it got dark. It's a cute little hotel on the Loch of Harray with an incredible view. Great big bathroom sink, too--perfect for two "loads" of laundry!
So far so good in Orkney!
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