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Teaser: 
We woke in our B&B, to a view of cows and the ocean. The place was toasty warm - the only time in Scotland that really felt warm. My dad overestimated how early we'd have to leave, so was dressed and packed, and then got overheated and had to wait in the car while I got finished with my morning (finished dressing, packing, arranging, paying). We got to the ferry dock in plenty of time on the windy, grey morning. Two days earlier, we had trouble with the gale, coming back from Islay. There were similar problems on the northern tip of Scotland. The B&B owner told us not to worry about the ferry. They still sail in really bad weather, and this was merely bad. It was bad enough that they routed us through the more sheltered Scapa Flow, rather than going up the exposed west coast of the island of Hoy. It was still rather rough, especially before we made it into Scapa Flow. My dad had some trouble with seasickness, but he made it through.
See? Sea: rough.
Cantick Head Light, on the island of South Walls. It's connected to the south end of Hoy by a causeway. Orkney is a group of islands. Mainland Orkney is the biggest one. The next biggest, Hoy, is to the southeast of it. The ferries from Mainland Scotland only run to Mainland Orkney, and you get to the other islands from there.
These next three are all of Hoy High Lighthouse. Funny how different the land looks behind the light, in each one.
Coming in to Stromness...
(clickable)
Just out of Stromness, was The Standing Stones of Stenness.
I don't like to show multiple photos of the same thing, but I'm going to do it again. These two photos were taken 45 seconds apart. :-)
Of all the stone circles and other similar neolithic sites in Scotland, this was my favorite. It looks like modern art! There are five main stones in the group. There were as many as 12, at some point in the past. Nobody knows what happened to them.
These two stone are very similar. They're about five meters tall, and have a rectangular cross-section, with their tops cut at an angle.
This one is similar to the first two (the first one is on the left), in that its top is angled, but it's wider than the others, tapers outward, and is thinner.
See? Much thinner.
"I crush your sheep! *crush* *crush* That's a loch behind them, by the way, not a plowed field.
So there are those three tall, thin stones, and then these two groupings. In the foreground is a pair of short, upright stones at the end of a platform. Behind them is a 2m stone, that's fairly wide, and has somewhat of a sideways chevron shape. Really different.
Most of these stones are fairly smooth, like they've weathered well.
This is called the Watchstone, and it's just down the road a short way from the Stenness ring.
The Ring of Brodgar was nearby, but we then made our way to Kirwall, since we had a distillery tour in the afternoon, and needed to check in at the B&B. So checked in, and walked downtown to look for lunch.
They had a lovely town hall.
And there was St. Magnus Cathedral...
The construction St. Magnus Cathedral was begun in 1137, two years after the canonization of Magnus, and twenty years after his death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Magnus_Cathedral
>
These were among the oldest markers I saw there, mostly from the 1600's, I think. Though St. Magnus's tomb was made when the church was first built, and the founder's tomb is there as well.
(clicky)
The above windows are only about 27 years old.
After touring the Cathedral, we went back to the B&B to wait for our transport. As the tour of the distillery featured seven whiskies, they were keen to give us a ride to and from.
Highland Park, Scotland's northernmost distillery. And one of the best.
Casks resting in the warehouse.
After the tour was the tasting. We sampled seven different whiskies. The oldest one was drawn from the cask that day, and was "about 44-1/2 years old." It was most excellent.
After the tour, we went back downtown. Funny, I don't remember dinner. Did we skip it? Leftovers from lunch in the room? Anyway...
The ruins of the Bishop's Palace, which was built at roughly the same time as the cathedral.
We woke in our B&B, to a view of cows and the ocean. The place was toasty warm - the only time in Scotland that really felt warm. My dad overestimated how early we'd have to leave, so was dressed and packed, and then got overheated and had to wait in the car while I got finished with my morning (finished dressing, packing, arranging, paying). We got to the ferry dock in plenty of time on the windy, grey morning. Two days earlier, we had trouble with the gale, coming back from Islay. There were similar problems on the northern tip of Scotland. The B&B owner told us not to worry about the ferry. They still sail in really bad weather, and this was merely bad. It was bad enough that they routed us through the more sheltered Scapa Flow, rather than going up the exposed west coast of the island of Hoy. It was still rather rough, especially before we made it into Scapa Flow. My dad had some trouble with seasickness, but he made it through.
See? Sea: rough.
Cantick Head Light, on the island of South Walls. It's connected to the south end of Hoy by a causeway. Orkney is a group of islands. Mainland Orkney is the biggest one. The next biggest, Hoy, is to the southeast of it. The ferries from Mainland Scotland only run to Mainland Orkney, and you get to the other islands from there.
These next three are all of Hoy High Lighthouse. Funny how different the land looks behind the light, in each one.
Coming in to Stromness...
(clickable)
Just out of Stromness, was The Standing Stones of Stenness.
I don't like to show multiple photos of the same thing, but I'm going to do it again. These two photos were taken 45 seconds apart. :-)
Of all the stone circles and other similar neolithic sites in Scotland, this was my favorite. It looks like modern art! There are five main stones in the group. There were as many as 12, at some point in the past. Nobody knows what happened to them.
These two stone are very similar. They're about five meters tall, and have a rectangular cross-section, with their tops cut at an angle.
This one is similar to the first two (the first one is on the left), in that its top is angled, but it's wider than the others, tapers outward, and is thinner.
See? Much thinner.
"I crush your sheep! *crush* *crush* That's a loch behind them, by the way, not a plowed field.
So there are those three tall, thin stones, and then these two groupings. In the foreground is a pair of short, upright stones at the end of a platform. Behind them is a 2m stone, that's fairly wide, and has somewhat of a sideways chevron shape. Really different.
Most of these stones are fairly smooth, like they've weathered well.
This is called the Watchstone, and it's just down the road a short way from the Stenness ring.
The Ring of Brodgar was nearby, but we then made our way to Kirwall, since we had a distillery tour in the afternoon, and needed to check in at the B&B. So checked in, and walked downtown to look for lunch.
They had a lovely town hall.
And there was St. Magnus Cathedral...
The construction St. Magnus Cathedral was begun in 1137, two years after the canonization of Magnus, and twenty years after his death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Magnus_Cathedral
>These were among the oldest markers I saw there, mostly from the 1600's, I think. Though St. Magnus's tomb was made when the church was first built, and the founder's tomb is there as well.
(clicky)The above windows are only about 27 years old.
After touring the Cathedral, we went back to the B&B to wait for our transport. As the tour of the distillery featured seven whiskies, they were keen to give us a ride to and from.
Highland Park, Scotland's northernmost distillery. And one of the best.
Casks resting in the warehouse.
After the tour was the tasting. We sampled seven different whiskies. The oldest one was drawn from the cask that day, and was "about 44-1/2 years old." It was most excellent.
After the tour, we went back downtown. Funny, I don't remember dinner. Did we skip it? Leftovers from lunch in the room? Anyway...
The ruins of the Bishop's Palace, which was built at roughly the same time as the cathedral.
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Date: 2014-05-06 08:16 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-05-06 02:23 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-05-06 05:44 pm (UTC)From:Their standard 40y goes for around $2500. Their 50y is more like $17K. I'd guess this one would be around $10K if they released a single cask at this age.