The Orkneys

 

We are in far north Scotland about to go even further north to the Orkney Islands. The Islands of Scotland have always called to me. I must say, though, they are not quite as high on the fascination meter as the Scottish Highlands where my people come from. The Orkneys are a little different from mainland Scotland as they have astonishing prehistoric sites, Old Norse heritage, recent history as WWI/WWII naval bases and a POW Camp housing Italian prisoners. 

It was about a ninety-minute ferry ride to get to Orkney. We lucked out in that the sea was very calm. I tend to get a little seasick riding on a children's merry-go-round so rough seas are not my forte.

Rather a nice ferry 

As we head to the ferry port at Stomness, we pass Hoy Island. Hoy has rugged cliffs and a 449-foot red sandstone sea stack called the Old Man of Hoy.

The Old Man of Hoy

After seeing Hoy Island and its cliffs, I was very surprised when we got to the main island of Orkney. Orkney is fairly flat and there are no trees. We saw many, many sheep and cows grazing on all of this grass.

The Port

During WWII, 550 Italians were sent to Orkney to help build barriers into the harbor where the British warships were stationed. A German submarine had come into the harbor and sunk one of these warships causing the loss o 834 lives. The prisoners found they had a lot of time on their hands and decided that they would also build a Catholic chapel. Two Quonset huts were put together and the Italians created a lovely little chapel. All of the walls, roof and pictures were all painted by the workmen.

We finally got to see the Standing Stones of Stennes. It is speculated that these may be the oldest henge site in Britain. If you have ever watched Outlander, you know that these stones are used for time-traveling. As we approached the stones, one of my fellow tourists started playing the theme song from Outlander on their phone which added to the experience. According to Outlander, to time-travel, you need to have a gemstone on you. I checked my pockets to make sure I was not carrying my gems with me and proceeded into the circle.

In the 1850's, the farmer who owned the land got tired of all the people who came to see the stones. 
His solution was to blow them up.  He demolished three of them before he was stopped. 

One of my fellow travelers decided that she wanted to go through the stone per Outlander

She didn't make it very far

Our last stop was the 5,000-year-old prehistoric village of Skara Brae. Skara Brae was discovered after a major storm came along and blew the top off of a sand dune. Walking down the path to the village, there were historical markers (the moon walk, Jesus was born, Stonehenge built, Great Pyramid built) which gave you an idea of how long ago 5,000 years was.

All the houses were the same - beds on the side and stone shelves

At dinner we were treated to some Highland dancing