Scara Brae and the ring of Brodgar

Monday July 20 2015.

Did the usual and then had a shower! We then hustled our buns and caught the tour bus to Scara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar.

 The tour company had two buses as there was another cruise ship in town. Both were double deckers one all enclosed and on only ½ enclosed.  We had to line up to buy our tickets and so did all the boat tourists!

Wouldn’t  you think that they could have collected on the ship, loaded the bus at the ship and gone off on the tour? Nope! Loaded a bus at the ship drove into the bus terminal got all the boat people off stood them in a line to buy tickets then made them and us by the way line up to get back on a bus! Good thing it wasn’t raining I tell ya!

So all the tickets were bought. Then the fun began, Everyone wanted to sit on the upstairs of the open bus. Not us for once we were smarter than normal. We waited patiently until the open bus was full and listened to a teenaged know it all tyrant rave on about the bus not leaving until it was full! The driver being a pretty smart savvy guy closed the door and left. Sally had some words with the tyrant and we boarded the second closed in bus and leisurely  made our way to the upper warm dry level picked a couple of nice seats made ourselves comfortable and off we went.

We drove some back roads and eventually arrived in Stromness where we stopped at the bus terminal to pick up a few more paying customers and then we drove off to Scara Brae.

Scara Brae is a Neolithic village site that was discovered after a particularly nasty storm. Not just your ordinary every day storm but a nasty one. That washed away some of the beach and bank (Not a money bank) It was and still is in quite remarkable condition after being underground for some 5,000 years.

We arrived and as it turns out we followed bus #1 all the way here! I don’t know why so don’t ask ok. We all disgorged at the same time which of course resulted in another long waste full time wasting line up for tickets! We actually had tickets for this site as we had bought the discoverers pass away back in Shetland so we gleefully jumped the que! (I didn’t even feel the least little bit of remorse). Entered the site through the full to the rafters with tourists museum.” Whoa”! Sally said “I’m outahere” so we found the nearest exit and went to the reconstructed house before everyone else! Smart girl that Sally! Looked around ooghed and awed and the n walked down to the real thing.

Whooppee no so many people yet though I can see them lining up in the distance better hurry so we did took some pictures and then clambered down onto the beach to see if we could find a treasure. No luck so then we went up to the lairds house for a tour and a coffee.

Back to the bus just as the rain started found our seats still vacant and watched everyone from the upstairs outside of bus #1 look for a dry warm seat! Smart we are! Eventually everyone got on and off we went to the Ring of Brodgar.

The ring of Brodagar is just another ring of standing stones only bigger and more complete then the standing stones of Stenness so I won’t bore you with a description ( Go see for yourselves). After 20 minutes the time allowed by the tour operators we left.

I spoke to the Driver about getting dropped off at Maeshowe which we did.

Maeshowe is a Neolithic chamber tomb discovered many many years ago. Actually it was never lost and has been known about for  ever. Anyhow we went into the Mill and inquired about the tour only to be told that the tours were all filled up for the day! “What the” ssaid I and Sally lit into the counter girl! This all resulted in us not going to gaol but being able to have a look see in the tomb. No photo’s please. Guess they figure the spirits won’t like it? Anyhow as tombs go it was OK. It even had some Runic graffiti left by some lost Vikings a long time ago.

We caught the bus returned to Kirkwall had a coffee and a pint at the Reel bar and returned to the harbour had a visit with the Norwegians on Anita and then back on board kalinka1

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