Blogs from Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

28th September Well those high winds the Captain mentioned yesterday didn’t disturb us during the night and this morning we saw the sun rise as we docked in Kirkwall, Orkney. An initial technical hitch which prevented the gangway from being lowered was a bit worrying but we need not to worry for long as it was soon sorted and we could then set off on another panoramic tour. We travelled inland to the spiritual hub of the island so-called Neolithic Orkney which comprises of four ancient monuments designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We passed the ancient Ring of Brodgar - Scotland’s largest stone circle with a diameter of 100 mtrs and much older then Stonehenge. We stopped to view the Standing Stones of Stenness dating back more than 5,000 years and one of the earliest ... read more

Erster Stop des Tages war - nach einem kleinen Hafenspaziergang - das Stromness Museum. Neben ganz viel Marinegeschichte (u.a. die deutsche Kriegsmarine in Scapa Flow im Ersten Weltkrieg), Walfang und dem Entdecker Dr. John Rae von der Hudson Bay Company gab es auch zahlreiche ausgestopfte heimische Vogelarten zu bewundern. Besonders interessant fand ich die vielen Artefakte aus aller Welt (z.B. von den Inuit, Indianern, Chinesen, Inkas...), die von den Seefahrern Orkneys zurück nach Hause gebracht wurden. Wie absolut international Orkney damals war! Zweiter Stop des Tages war die Italienische Kapelle auf einer Insel hinter den Churchill Barriers. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Chapel Die Barriers sind Zementblöcke, die im Zweiten Weltkrieg von italienischen Kriegsgefangenen gebaut wurden, um deutsche U-Boote abzuwehren. Die Italiener bekamen zwei Wellblechbaracken (Nissen... read more

We had a fairly early start as we would be cramming a lot in today. Our first stop was, of course, Tesco so we could pick up some lunch and snacks for during the day. The lovely weather that we'd had yesterday seemed to be continuing, so our guide suggested that we buy some disposable BBQs and some food to cook on them. What a genius idea! It would make a nice change from having a bog standard sandwich or wrap. We bought some of those burger and bun sets that most supermarkets do. It totally reminded me of my childhood as I used to have them for my tea every so often. Then we were off to explore the Orkneys, yesterday's sneak preview had left me wanting more. Our first stop was the Standing Stones ... read more

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands…. North of Scotland! 59 Degrees North Can you imagine, today we are at the far northern end of Scotland in the Orkney Islands. We are at the same latitude as Oslo, Norway, St. Petersburg, Russia, and Juneau, Alaska. As we come into the port at Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, our first thought is how much the countryside looks like the Falkland Islands, except there is more elevation here….lots of green rolling hills, windswept and treeless. The port is along Scapa Flow an inlet from the North Sea which was home to the Royal Navy’s fleet during both World War I and II. Orkney became part of Scotland in 1468, although it was founded by Norwegians. We hopped aboard a bus and headed out on an hour’s trip across the rolling windswept hiss. ... read more

As I write this I'm watching the Superbowl in my hotel room. The score is 14-3...Go Ravens!!! Today we drove from Inverness to the far north of Scotland--John O' Groats to be exact. From nearby we caught the Ferry to the Orkney Islands. Now we are really north. The only place further north in the U.K. are the Shetland Islands. I believe that the Shetland Islands is where Scottish Santa Claus lives, or as he is know here--Haggie Claus. The Orkneys were not in the plan until yesterday evening. I have wanted to go to Cape Wrath--the NW corner of Scotland--for 25 years now. I made special arrangements for someone to drive us there but that fell through at the last minute because of an illness. That's OK. Now I have an excuse to return to ... read more