Day Six: A Busy Day of History, Getting Lost, Scenery, Getting Lost, Ice Cream, Getting Lost and Hikes

After breakfast, we headed off to see some of the sites. We drove north-west to see some of the prehistoric sites for which the Orkneys are famous. Many of these sites have only recently been discovered (well, in the last century). The roads are narrow with wee pullouts and are rather poorly marked. I finally found a map that actually worked after we got lost a few times.

The first of the sites we stopped at was the Stones of Stenness. They don't seem to really know why they are here but they were set up 3000 years or so ago.

Directly beside them is an ancient site of Barnhouse, which was the site of an ancient village. The people who lived here are thought to have been the builders of Maes Howe--see later.

After this, we drove a short distance to the Ring of Brodgar. Only 21 of the 60 stones are still standing, but it is a magical spot. It is older than Stonehenge!

Next, we drove to Stromness, a town on the west coast of the Mainland where we walked about and had lunch. It is a very cute little town, with interesting stores but few places to eat. 

After lunch, we headed to Skara Brae, which is the most amazing archaeological site. It predates both the pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge and was only discovered during a huge windstorm in 1850. It has a great interpretive centre with the interesting and unique displays and interactive exhibits. Then you head out to the actual village site where you can still see the houses with the beds, boxes and dressers of the people who lived here 5000 years ago. That sand really preserved a lot!

Leaving there, we drove to Yesnaby. This was pretty much the highlight of the day for scenery. The cliffs are amazing and we walked through the heather and grasslands to see the Yesnaby Stack. What is so amazing is that you don't have to walk very far from the main tourist attractions to discover that no one else is around. This was especially true of the Stack--it was about a 15-minute walk and when we got there, no one was around.

Our last archaeological stop was at Maes Howe. Egypt has the pyramids and Scotland has Maes Howe. Built about 5000 years ago, this is a Stone Age tomb that was constructed out of enormous sandstone blocks weighing many tons and brought from great distances away--challenging to do in this day and age, never mind then! You can actually walk (well, crunched over) through a passageway into the crypt. Inside there are 3 additional chambers. No one seems to really know what had been interred there. However, during the winter solstice and for 20 days on either side, in the evening the sun reflects directly on the back wall--an interesting phenomenon which is now recorded by a webcam! As well, there are numerous Viking "graffiti" engraved with rather interesting sayings. For instance, one says

• "Ingigerth is the most beautiful of all women" (carved beside a rough drawing of a slavering dog)

• "This mound was raised before Ragnarr Lothbrocks her sons were brave smooth-hide men though they were"

Finally, we headed off to drive back to the Ayre Hotel. But we had one last stop--Gerry's Orkney Ice Cream. She wasn't very happy when we arrived because she was trying to close shop but we got in and had our cones. We'll go back tomorrow to try their specialties!