Orkney is an island group of about 70 islands, 20 of which are inhabited. The population of the islands is about 22,000. The area has been inhabited for 10,000 years. We are in Norse territory and there is a Viking history here. Kirkwall is the main town, which is on the largest Orkney island, referred to as Mainland, which gets confusing because you could be talking about either mainland Scotland, or Mainland, Orkney.
We are really far north, but surprisingly, due to the Gulf Stream, the climate is very temperate, rarely going below freezing. We are on the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska.
Norse people began inhabiting Orkney in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. The Kingdom of Norway annexed Orkney and it remained in Norse control until 1492 when absorbed into Scotland, but there were many, many battles between Scots and Norsemen along the way with religion being a main fighting issue.
Kirkwall, the administrative center of Orkney, has a protected harbor and it greets visitors with about 25 national flags fluttering in the breeze.
What we saw of Orkney couldn’t be more different from Skye’s mountains. The landscape around Kirkwall is nearly flat with undulating hills, virtually no trees, and lots of agricultural land.
Tourism, fishing and agriculture are the main industries. Barley is the main crop. If I didn’t mention it, every town in Scotland has its own distinctive distillery, so barley is grown everywhere. There were two other cruise ships in port as we arrived at our anchorage, a Viking ship and a National Geographic ship.
Our excursion was a walking tour of Kirkwall with a local guide. Kirkwall has a number of 17th and 18th century buildings. We also learned that the British Navy had headquarters in Kirkwall during both World Wars due to Orkney’s location in the North Sea. The people of Orkney are called Orcadians. And boy do they have a heavy Scottish accent.
The photo above showing the white building with the tree in front is where locals will say, “I’ll meet you under the big tree.”
Within the town of Kirkwall, the big attraction is St. Magnus Cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace and the Earl’s Palace. The cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Scotland and was started in 1137, taking 300 years to complete. The story of St. Magnus, once the Earl of Orkney, is about the eventual feud with his cousin Hakon. Hakon ultimately captured Magnus and Magnus was killed by being struck in the forehead with an axe. At his burial site, miracles were reported and Magnus was eventually canonized and became a saint. Bones believed to be Magnus’s are in the cathedral.
The cathedral is built of red and yellow sandstone and is quite striking.
Across the street is the remains of the Bishop’s palace.
And across another street is the remains of the Earl’s Palace.
After the tour, Christine and I wandered around the main street looking in shops. We strolled back to the harbor to await our tender. Two tenders run back and forth to the ship, so you never have to wait long for a ride back to the ship.
We rested for a bit. I went to play trivia and was on a team tied for first place. I then went to the port talk about our next port, Invergordon. I picked up Christine and we went to the main dining room for dinner. We were seated at a table with 2 other women, Laurie and Margie. They both were from NYC, but are now living outside of D.C. in Maryland. We had a really nice conversation.
We went to the show, which was Sandra Valls. She made her Broadway debut at age 59 in the show Real Women Have Curves. She’s a comedian and singer. She did a very funny story about an Olivia excursion in Costa Rica. She had everyone in stitches as she made fun of all the awful things the excursion encountered during a jungle walk.
After the show, I took my dancing queen up to the nightclub for dancing.
The end of the day gave us a nice sunset. Because we are so far north, the sun doesn’t disappear until after about 10:30 p.m.
So tomorrow is our last port of call in Invergordon. Wednesday we’ll be a sea until docking in Dundee for the night.