Cheers from Orkney!!

Greetings - We are now on Orkney, an island north of the Scottish mainland. We spent the past couple of nights in Stromness, will spend most of today in Kirkwall, and then take an overnight ferry to Aberdeen.



Since I last posted we have covered a great deal of ground. From Islay and the land of peaty single malts (and for those inquiring minds, Islay Ales!) to Skye. Two very different islands - equally beautiful. Skye is home to the Cullens, volcanic mountains that rose out of the sea. We encountered lots of people there to climb the mountains, and managed not to feel compelled to do so at all. We stayed in a lovely family home there, and were awakened each morning by the bleating sheep. We had a very nice visit at the origin of Steve's favorite malt -- Talisker. The setting of the distillery is beautiful, and the stream from which they get their water runs down from the hills right beside the plant. It's probably a good thing that pottery is difficult to ship, because we found some gorgeous pottery throughout the island. We did have to buy small examples of the pottery painted to evoke the meeting of land and sea.

Two very disparate breweries exist on Skye -- one very small (Cullen Brewery) and the other small, but rapidly becoming quite a commercial success (Skye Brewing.) We had nice visits at each, but enjoyed Cullen a bit more because we just spent time talking with the brewer.

From Skye we went through Inverness and spent the night at the 2007 CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Pub of the Year -- The Anderson. Guess I should probably explain that it is also a B&B, we didn't actually sleep in the pub! We definitely have to thank Don Hoag for turning us onto The Anderson. It was beautiful, comfortable and had amazing food. The owner is from Pennsylvania, and he and his wife moved to Scotland several years ago. Oh, did I happen to mention they have an amazing selection of Belgian beers, not to mention over 200 single malts? The managing director of Orval was there with his family the same night as us. We didn't speak with him, but helped make Jim Anderson look good by drinking Orval -- such a sacrifice!!

Orkney is yet again a very different island. For most of its history Orkney was a possession of Norway, so a bit of a change, although we were all expecting even a bit more Nordic feel. Yesterday we spent some time at a 5000 year old community that until the 1850's was buried beneath the ground. An amazingly well-preserved grouping of homes, complete with stone dressers and beds. Not much is known about the people that lived at Skara Brae, or why they left, but it was awe-inspiring to stand where people lived even before the Pyramids of Giza were built. After that we visited the Ring of Brogda, a perfectly circular set of stones built before Stonehenge. We got to walk the circle and touch the stones -- a truly magical place.

Tonight we are spending the night on the Ferry as it goes from Kirkwall to Aberdeen. We have reserved lounging chairs, so it should be another adventure!!

Well, that brings us up to speed for now. Thanks to all who have responded with comments. I will post again as soon as I can!!