|
|||
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!
|
ORKNEY - Day 3 22 September 2001 If you want to get away from it all, Orkney is the spot for you. This is the place where you can drive miles without seeing another car, where the "main drag" has no sidewalks, is the width of a car, has cars going in both directions, and people walking in the middle of the street, and where excitement can be something as simple as finding a Scottish primrose in the middle of a field at a time of year when it doesn't normally bloom (I've been told people come from all over the world hunting for Scottish primrose and how lucky I was to see one lone straggler left from the summer blossoms this late in the year). It's definitely been a busy two days, with an overlay of a touch of stomach flu for me, which sent me to bed with a fever last night. But we certainly packed in a lot yesterday, starting with a 7:45 ferry ride to the island of Graemsay, which is where our friend Sian is rennovating a house with the intention of setting up a B&B. She has a humongous task ahead of her, but it was fun to see it all--and it will be wonderful to see the pictures when it's all finished. We spent 2 hrs on Graemsay, until the ferry came back (there are 11 families living on this island which is 1-1/2 x 2-1/2 in area). Then we saw just about all the major attractions on Mainland, Orkney. This place is famous because it has some of the oldest ruins known in existence. Scara Brae, for example, is a preserved settlement from 3500 BC, preserved because a great storm covered it all in sand and it wasn't discovered until earlier last century. It's amazing to be looking at dwellings where people were living 3500 years ago. The Broch of Gurness is a "newer" settlement--from the 1st century AD and is a place where you can walk around and actually get IN the houses. Absolutely amazing. Near the Broch of Gurness we stopped to watch seals cavorting on the beach, which was great fun. We also toured Kirkwall and saw the huge Norman cathedral, St. Magnus, which totally dominates the skyline from the distance. We saw the Nordic saga, but with such tongue in cheek that when it traces the genealogy of the Norsemen, the photos are of people like Nicholas Cage, Bruce Willis (Thorfin the Skullcracker), Arnold Schwartzenegger and a host of other people, including Mae West. We giggled a lot about that and even tho it wasn't required we left a donation because we so appreciated the humor in an area which takes itself very seriously. But now it's time for dinner and then back to collapse once more. We have two more days here. Tomorrow we take the ferry to the island of Hoy, which is reported to have some spectacular scenery. I'm taking lots and lots and lots of pictures. We have been even more removed from the news here than we were in London, if that is possible. The only thing I learned today was that the Britsh press was very impressed with Bush's last speech. We only heard a quick soundbite, but it certainly sounded more presidential than "we're gonna get these fellas." Maybe he's learning how to be president. I hold judgement until we get home.One Year Ago: |
||
Some pictures from this journal |
<-- previous | Journal home | bio | cast | archive | next -> |
||
Created 9/5/01 by Bev Sykes |
|||
