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The
Guest These belong to my goddaughter, who lives in Kentucky
(They're big on motivational slogans) * Discussion * Talk about it here. WHAT I'M READING...
Sarum WHAT I'M WATCHING...
NEW Samples of two of the Pictures from the Cincinnati are now up at Steve's Club Photo page. Pictures from our Family reunion are on my own Club Photo page.
That's it for today!
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ORKNEY - Day 1 20 September 2001 OK. Well, I have unintentionally insulted Sian, our hostess here in Orkney. I said that we would be without internet access and she informs me that not only is our B&B across the street from an Internet Cafe, but I have the use of her computer whenever I want. So, I guess I may do an entry or two from here. Our day has been in transit. We left York very early and got on the train for Edinburgh. Headlines in the stations were conflicting--one says to prepare for nuclear war; the other says no troops moving into Afghanistan. So we don't know what to believe any more. We got to Edinburgh and had the route from hell to get out of the station. It involved at least 50 flights of stairs (ok--I exaggerate slightly) and Walt, bless his heart, did each flight twice so he could carry my suitcase for me. I was having a hard enough time just getting up all those stairs (dieting starts AS SOON AS I GET HOME!). We had very little time in Edinburgh--just long enough to stop in a pub for lunch, watch a bagpiper play pipes, and get on the bus to the airport. Security at Edinburgh airport is no more tight than what we see in Sacramento, actually. The only difference we saw was that they said they were allowing only one carry-on, which could be a slim-line briefcase or a purse, and it could not weigh more than 6 km. I have a cloth bag from Australia which has been a godsend. I could fit my camera, my bum bag, my thick book, and the important stuff and it qualified as a purse and was considerably less than 6 km. Our plane to Orkney was a prop plane, seating 40 people. It was kind of an up and down run. One hour from Edinburgh to Inverness, where some passengers got off and more got on, and then 30 minutes from Inverness to Kirkwall. The Inverness-Kirkwall leg was a bit bumpy, but since I expected those "gale force winds," I expected it. The airport is teeny, teeny. But we were met by our friend Sian and the lady from the car rental agency in Kirkwall. Mary and her mother went in Sian's car and we went with the car lady, who gave us a bit of a tour in from the airport to the rental agency, including the house where she was born (she gives tours of Kirkwall the way I give tours of San Francisco). Orkney is wild and windswept and you won't find lots of trees here, but already we can see a kind of beauty about the place. Lots of cows with heavy coats and long-wool sheep. And then it began to get dark, so we couldn't see much. We'll know more tomorrow. Our B&B is lovely--and all 4 of us are in the same place. We are in the "center" of town, and I use the term loosely. You walk in the middle of the street here, because sidewalks are so narrow, but there aren't that many cars anyway. We are the equivalent of a quarter of a block or less from the waterfront, where we will take the ferry tomorrow (at 7:45) to Graemsay, the island where Sian has a house. Walt says it's like living on Fisherman's Wharf. We had a lovely dinner of local lamb and are now at Sian's house and I am feeling guilty for making everyone wait in the living room while I'm in here, so I'm going to end this very short entry. Just wanted to let folks know we've arrived and will be here for several days. I'll probably post more later.I'll be back on the 27th One Year Ago: |
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Some pictures from this journal |
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Created 9/5/01 by Bev Sykes |
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