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| The Gorgeous Pentalina | |
A short ferry ride from Gill's Bay to St Margarets Hope - lots of
history and lots to see - and a full 3G signal the whole way!
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| Churchill's Barrier (No more sneaky U-boat attacks) - cross at your own risk though |
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| Outside - its a WW2 prison camp hut |
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| but inside |
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| and from the other end |
See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Chapel
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| Looking West - 3180 BC |
Skara Brae - they have a reconstructed house that you can go into - and the internal arrangement/furniture/division is just like in the traditional Mongolian Ger. My abiding memory is the intensely cold westerly wind, bearing the strong sent of "lemon pine disinfectant" - all was explained when the warden approached me wearing surgical gloves - in response to my raised eyebrow I was reassured that the (modern) toilets were being cleaned and that intimate or body cavity searches were not part of the Brae experience.
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| Looking the East - dour, bleak and isolated - Skaill House |
Orkney folk seem to go in for permanent monuments - perhaps it's the lack of trees and the surfeit of stones just under the thin soil - there is even a
Kitchener Memorial. Today I have 'done' 7 sites - ranging from 3000 BC to 1944AD and finally...
...Tomb Raider? I am in Orkney - working my way through the list of Neolithic Highlights provided by Cousin Chris.
Just as the sun was setting I crawled into the last for the day:
Cuween Hill Chambered Tomb from about 5000 years ago - and still in very good nick. The access is a crawl and a squeeze through a long narrow passage and the side chambers even tighter and pitch black - It then dawned on me "this is about the point in
where I step the balanced stone and the way out is sealed by toppling slabs of rock. I admit I was spooked - the tomb is isolated and no one knew I was there - instant end of tourism for the day and head for the hotel (and bar)
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