The ship docked in Kirkwall, Scotland at approximately 8.00am. The scenery on the way into Kirkwall was starkly beautiful.
We met in the Platinum Theatre on the ship for our excursion to Skara Brae & and Skaill House. The scenery on the way was of rich farmland, rolling hills and stark moors. Our first stop was at the Neolithic henge called the Ring of Brodgar and then on to the Standing Stones of Stedness, which is another Neolithic Monument erected more than 5000 years ago and is older than Stonehenge.
From here the bus journey took us to Skara Brae &and Skaill House, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Skara Brae is a complete Neolithic Village that was protected by sand dunes until a storm in 1850. The Laird looked out after the storm and saw that the sand dunes had been completely blown away, and on investigating the damage to the sea front he discovered the Neolithic village was complete and untouched for over 3000 years.
The roof of the main house in the village had been blown off revealing a fascinating interior which included beds made of stone, shelving and a cupboard like structure, and a cooking area. All the dwellings in the village were linked by underground tunnels. It is amazing and exciting to see something that is still intact after over 3000 years.
From here we walked to Skaill House, the home of the local laird at the time. The furnishings and tableware in this house were of considerable historic interest.
There is a Spanish Chest (looks like a wardrobe) which came of one of the ships in the Spanish Amarda, who after being blown off course tried to return to Spain by sailing around the north of Scotland, but was wrecked. This piece of furniture is known to be only 1 of 2 that survived.
Also of interest, is the entire dinner service of Captain James Cook from his last voyage, that he did not survive. The crew hadn't been paid and so sold things to the Laird, including the complete dinner set.
The dining room table has been reset in exactly the same was as it was when the Queen Mother visited in 1983, where she also signed the visitors book.
As our excursion had only taken the morning, we decided to catch the shuttle bus into the township of Kirkwall, which is the capital of Orkney. After coffee and lunch, we strolled around the small town on the flagstone streets up to the Bishops and Earls Palace.
Unfortunately we were unable to go into St Magnus Cathedral, as the guests for a wedding were starting to arrive. We sat on the stone wall and watched and waited listening to the bagpiper, waiting for the bride to arrive, however we started to feel uncomfortable as many of the tourists were being a bit invasive, so we decided to continue on our way. Eventually, we made our way back to the Shuttle bus and onto the ship for our last night of the cruise.
We had dinner with James and Yas, after dinner drinks with Irene, listened to music whilst being served our last drinks by Joseph.
