I've not mentioned food and drink much. As I don't want anyone worrying I may be wasting away or dehydrated, I decided to put that right. Orkney has loads of good places to buy food and drink - whether to eat on the premises or take back to cook in your van. There are several … Continue reading Orkney food and drink
Ness of Brodgar
This is quite a long post with a fair few photos, so you might want to get yourself a drink and snack before you start - I did! The Ness of Brodgar is a huge neolithic site, near the ring of Brodgar. It's similar to nearby Skara Brae in some ways, but is believed to … Continue reading Ness of Brodgar
Wednesday word of the week – Simmer Dim
In Orkney it never gets fully dark around midsummer. The sun sets below the horizon, and comes up again a few hours later, but it doesn't sink far enough for total blackness. The resulting, rather beautiful and magical feeling, twilight is known as the Simmer Dim. (Thanks to my lovely friend, appropriately named Dawn, for … Continue reading Wednesday word of the week – Simmer Dim
Unstan Tomb, Orkney
Unstan tomb is another of those 5,000 year old structures you have to crawl into if you want a look round - so obviously I did! You'll get a better look inside from the short film I made. What do you think of my videos - am I getting any better?
Birds of Orkney
Orkney is a great place to see birds. Here are a few of the many, many, pictures we took of fulmar, guillemots, great skuas, cormorants, puffins, oyster catchers, eider ducks, swans, gulls, razorbills ... Do you have a favourite?
Italian Chapel, Lamb Holm, Orkney
The Italian Chapel on Orkney was created from two Nissan huts and decorated by Italian prisoners of war during WW2. It appears that the inside is clad with bricks and there's elaborate moulding or carvings on the ceiling and walls, but that's not the case - it's all a beautiful optical illusion created with paint. … Continue reading Italian Chapel, Lamb Holm, Orkney
Brough of Birsay
The brough of Birsay is a small island, reached by a tidal causeway. There's the remains of Pictish and Norse settlements, a lighthouse, lots of wild flowers, seabirds including puffins, a replica Pictish stone and the opportunity to get very wet if you're daft enough not to check the tide times before you go! Unfortunately … Continue reading Brough of Birsay
St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney
Kirkwall isn't a huge place, but it's technically a city. There's a port, which often has cruise ships moored (or anchored off for the really huge ones, or when there are a lot at once) a good range of shops for tourists and locals, a really good museum, couple of palaces (bishop's and earl's).I believe … Continue reading St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney
Amazing Maeshowe
Maeshowe is the best preserved neolithic tomb on Orkney and it holds the largest collection of runes outside of Scandinavia. Entrance is by guided tour only, in small groups. It's not easy to get tickets – when we tried to book in early April there were only two dates left in June where we could … Continue reading Amazing Maeshowe
Wednesday word of the week – clarted (and blackening)
Two for the price of one* this week! We've seen these signs in several beachside public toilets, here in Orkney. I knew clart meant sticky mud, or dirt generally, so guessed clarted meant to be covered in something messy, but overall the meaning was unclear to us, until we asked. Blackening is a pre wedding … Continue reading Wednesday word of the week – clarted (and blackening)