#scotland2007

[memeweavings]

#10yearsagotoday Bondi and I walked into Kirkwall to see the island metropolis in daylight. The very short pedestrianised centre runs up to the red sandstone of St Magnus Cathedral. A great example of Norman architecture, construction began in 1137 and its stonemasons came from work on Durham Cathedral. The cathedral is owned by the people of Kirkwall rather than any established church. The last final of the original series of Mastermind was conducted here, undoubtedly in deference to the host Magnus Magnusson. The burial markers within the cathedral almost all have a prominent skull and crossbones motif, a symbol of mortality. This is further underlined by the presence of hourglass and coffin imagery. I drove around the top of the Western side of Mainland, spending most time around Birsay Bay (photo) on the trail of some of the local craftspeople. There are many jewellers, silversmith, potters and weavers who have workshop galleries well signposted around the islands. I like some of the local silverwork, especially an item based on an animal figure of Pictish origin, known as "the noble but gentle beast". #Scotland2007 #scotland #orkney #stmagnuscathedral (at St. Magnus Cathedral)

[memeweavings]

#10yearsagotoday On the other side of Mull, lies the much smaller island of Iona, a place of pilgrimage for many centuries, since an Irish priest, latterly known as St Columba founded a monastic community here in AD563. Breakfast at the B&B was graced by the appearance of a young stag, who bounded into the field by the dining room window, pausing for the guests' admiration, and then making a retreat as rapid as his entrance. The other guests were marshalls for the annual Tour of Mull car rally which had run over the preceding weekend, and were about to make their way home to Wigan. The drive across the island is less than 40 miles, but for non rally-drivers, it's a slow journey. We arrived just in time to catch the ferry over, this time leaving the car behind. The island is less than 4 miles long, and it's easy to handle on foot. Iona Nunnery was founded here some 600 years after St Columba's monastery. That monastery was replaced by a Benedictine abbey around 1200, and the building continued to evolve for another four hundred years. The Abbey is another 5-10 minutes' walk along the major spine of the island, and there's a small charge to enter the building and grounds. The building complex began to decay with post-Reformation neglect. Several waves of restoration over the last century have made it a working community project once more. I didn't find the church interior terribly impressive, but the stone carvings around the cloisters are quite memorable. We followed the path a little further, and then made a diversion up Dun I, the tallest hill, before turning back to the ferry ramp. The weather was holding out really well, and I dropped into a hotel for lunch (more Australian staff!), eating outside until a squall forced me to leave Bondi on the porch while I fled inside. The weather alternated sun and squall until we could get the return ferry, but I was rewarded with the most brilliant rainbow I've ever seen, arching from Iona to Mull. #Scotland2007 #scotland #iona #mull #alaskanmalamute (at Iona Abbey)

[memeweavings]

#10yearsagotoday We leave Fort William for the fourth and probably last time, with a view of the wind lashing the water down on the loch. Mull is theoretically only an hour away but weather and ferries will slow us down a tad. (Omits long rant about Scottish ferries.) Disembarking on Mull, there's a huge car line to board the ferry, but the road is not wide enough to properly accommodate cars going in both directions. Since the queuing cars are all properly on the road, the exiting cars have to try to not sink into the muddy verges that have taken a beaten with earlier traffic. Salen is 6 miles further on, and the sun starts to make a braver show. I locate the B&B and then we continue a little further up the coast to Tobermory. The road is another crappy single-track affair, the short drive made less pleasant by 4WD drivers who have no intention of soiling their vehicles with a pause on the verge, and locals (identifiable by license plates or commercial signage) who refuse to use the passing places. The worst was a sour-faced local approaching me in a pickup truck who deliberately drove out from a passing place, and sat in the middle of the road until I had reversed 100 yards to another passing place. Welcome to Mull! The multicoloured street frontage is postcard stuff, but there isn't much more to see, so after half an hour dodging the odd squall, found a pleasant cafe with free internet on the edge of town. Needless to say, the (lovely) staff were imported. Early dinner at Salen Pub, the bartender an Aussie lad from Tasmania. #Scotland2007 #scotland #mull #salen (at Tobermory, Argyll and Bute)

[memeweavings]

#10yearsagotoday Quite bad weather for most of our trip off the Isle if Skye back to Fort William, apartfrom this single beam of sunshine onto Loch Alsh. This picture of Bondi behind me at the wheel was not an uncommon situation. From his earliest years he liked to push behind me to sniff out the window or to rest his head on my shoulder. #Scotland2007 #scotland #skye #alaskanmalamute (at Loch Alsh)

[memeweavings]

#10yearsagotoday Today's destination was Elgol on the southwest coast of Skye. There's a single narrow road leading from Broadford on the coast, and its bumpy winding profile really put Bondi out of sorts. I had to stop several times as he was so agitated. Thinking he had some bowel needs to attend to, I walked him around and around, but found it difficult to entice him back into the car. Once he just curled up in the grass and looked off in another direction. There's usually a selection of boats at Elgol to take you on tours of nearby lochs, frequented by seals and sea-birds. Unfortunately they had cancelled all outings today in anticipation of bad weather (which never came). We got back into Portree by early afternoon. I stopped in at Cafe Arriba (an atypical cafe restaurant with fresh and distinctive food, where I had eaten the last two nights) for some coffee, and was given a recommendation to try the walk on the far side of Portree harbour. This is the #Scorrybreac walk. I misread the length of it (I thought it was 6 miles, it was only 3 km) and turned back halfway as I thought it might be too much for Bondi. #Scotland2007 #scotland #skye #alaskanmalamute (at Elgol, Highland, United Kingdom)

[memeweavings]

#10yearsagotoday The clouds regathered over night, making me exceedingly glad that I'd caught photos of the area during yesterday's sunny spell. Fantastic smoked haddock and poached egg for brekkie, and allowed Bondi to romp in a grassy field nearby. It's ever so quiet, only a few birds and distant clangs of farm machinery breaking through the morning mist. The peninsula north of #Portree is known as #Trotternish, and we followed the road along the coast, stopping first at Kilt Rock, the pleated pillars formed by molten rock squeezed through sandstone, and then near an iron-age souterrain found in 2000. We stopped briefly in Uig, another bland ferry port, and then finally left Trotternish for the small peninsula of Waternish. Another pub lunch, in the small hamlet of Stein. We met a young couple from Slovakia, who were very impressed that Bondi had visited Bratislava, Poprad and the Tatras. Final stop was near #Dunvegen, where we took a short walk up to the #Duirinish Stone, erected as a millennial memorial in 2000. #Scotland2007 #scotland #skye #alaskanmalamute (at Duirinish, Skye)

[memeweavings]

#10yearsagotoday Dogwarts Express This is our third time through Fort William, and we finally have an opportunity to take the #Jacobite steam train out to #Mallaig. It's a 2hr journey each way, with a 30-minute stop at #Glenfinnan, and 2 hours at Mallaig itself. Bondi travelled free, and while there were not a great number of humans on the train (during Summer it's packed every day), he was one of 7 dogs on today's journey. It's one of the great train journeys of the world, better known now because of its use as part of the #Hogwarts Express track in the Harry Potter films. The crossing of the Glenfinnan viaduct is one of the better parts of that journey, and because we were at the back of the last carriage on the way out, that gave the best view of the front of the train on the bends. The scenery is quite varied across the trip, and we were lucky enough to have clearer skies than on previous days. The Jacobite in fact finishes its 2007 season on Friday, so I'm glad I could juggle my schedule around Orkney to fit. It was clear enough to look out across the peat moors and see wild haggis roaming in their native haggitat. On the return journey, the locomotive is moved around to the other end of the carriages, in fact facing in the same way as on the outbound journey because there isn't a turntable at Mallaig. Bondi wasn't terribly impressed by the noise of the engine on our return, so I encouraged him to sit under the table, curled around my feet. #Scotland2007 #scotland #alaskanmalamute #fortwilliam #harrypotter (at The Jacobite Train)

[memeweavings]

#10yearsagotoday I visited the Kirkwall studio of Sam MacDonald, a Lewis-born sculptor who produces a lot of material based on marine life. I've got a bit of a weakness for items like these, whether it be glass, ceramic or metal. After taking Bondi down to Waulkmill Bay, where he was able to play with some other dogs, I finally got back on track with properly visiting the Birsay area in northwest Mainland. I don't generally like British tea-rooms, because they feel like glorified tuckshops, but the Birsay Tea Room produces tasty comfort food from local ingredients, and the view is rather unique. For me today, it was Leek and Tattie Soup, Baked Tattie with Chili con carne & Tomato Chutney, and some gingerbread. Once again, I can't fault the espresso coffee: that's 5 out of 5 venues where the staff have been properly trained. My selection of view for the day was a wide sweep from a headland with the Kitchener memorial (to Lord K, whose ship sank in these waters), across a beach littered with seals and seabirds, over to the island Brough of Birsay with its lighthouse and the outlines of an old Norse village on its landward side. There's a path leading from the centre of the village along the edge of the cattle pasture and down to the beach. From the edge of the rock shelf I could see the seals cavorting in the water or flopped out on the rocky shores. There is a causeway to the Brough, walkable for 2 hours around low tide. I made my way over there, but unfortunately got there a little too late for a safe crossing. The path was 6" under water in places, and the tide was coming in rapidly as stragglers from the other side waded or carried children back to the mainland. I took Bondi for a final walk along the Skiba Geo path, overlooking a set of rocky beaches that acted as natural boat ramps for a few hundred yards. Toward the end there's a grass-roofed stone fisherman's hut, and, a huge segment of whalebone mounted on a short pole. Orkney Ice-Cream is delicious!    This stuff is sooo creamy. The first time I had it was at an Indian restaurant, served with traditional Indian dessert as Orkney Jamun. #Scotland2007 #scotland #orkney #alaskanmalamute (at Waulkmill Bay)