Scotland

I figure I may as well combine the past few days into one post, as I've done hardly anything compared to the past few weeks! Instead of visiting a new city each day, I've been in the same place since Sunday evening.

That place is Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney Islands, an archipelago to the north of Scotland. It's officially a part of Scotland, however it has largely Norse (Scandanavian/Viking) roots, as opposed to the Gaelic (pronounced Gallic in Scotland) traditions of the Highlands.

I'm here because my grandparents live here, and the Rendall family originates here - specifically on the island of Westray. It's my first trip to visit my grandparents in their native habitat, and so far it's been fantastic. I've learnt so much about my family tree and the history of life on Orkney through them!

The only downside is I've been so used to a fairly hectic schedule that all this free time is unusual and quite unsettling! I imagine that once I'm accustomed to it all it'll be time to leave and my next stop is London - hardly the best place to relax!

Anyway, onto the many sights of the Mainland (as the main island of the Orkneys is known):

[list]
[*] St Magnus Cathedral: one of the oldest in the country and a very impressive sight in the centre of town. Because of it the town of Kirkwall can be called a city.

[*] The Orkney Museum: Quite small relative to others, but with a population of only 20,000 for the entire archipelago, that is hardly surprising. Covers the history of the Islands from the neolithic (Maes Howe/Skara Brae-era) to the modern, including its position as an important Norse settlement on the trade route towards modern-day England and as the location of all the British Fleet in both World Wars.

[*] Food: Food is very very good here - particularly the dairy, meat and fish. The good fish is quite predictable, but it is the climate (12 degrees in summer/8 degrees in winter) that produces rich and fertile land perfect for farming. Once you've had Orkney fudge/ice cream or steak you won't want anything else! The food is made up of little else really, although at one place I eat at the chef was from Bayswater Brasserie in Sydney!

[*]Heritage: Without going into too much detail, its the artifacts and history that bring the tourists to Orkney. From the private-run Tomb of the Eagles, to the UNESCO Heritage Sites of Maes Howe (a tomb) and Scara Brae (community), the sites are impressive and fascinating. There are also the more recent (relative) sights from Pictish Orkney, such as the Earl's and Bishop's Palaces. For more info, read the
Wikipedia site on the Islands

Overall, so far I'd definitely recommend anyone with the time to visit Orkney for a short period of time. I'm here for one week, and I probably wouldn't recommend people without family connections to spend that long. There's enough to do to fill at least 2 days, 3 if you want to take your time. Add 2 days per other island you want to visit.

Now if only we'd get the heat like the rest of the UK (today was the hottest day on record for England)!

PS: For photos of Orkney, click here

I'm really tired, so I'm going to keep this brief.

Today I travelled by bus and ferry from Glasgow to Kirkwall (on the Mainland of the Orkney Islands) to visit my grandparents!

I went by bus from Glasgow to Inverness (via Perth) - 3hrs+

Then had a 2hr stop over in Inverness, during which time I had lunch and took a City Sightseeing tour around the city. There really is nothing there aside from a fairly modern castle. In fact, the main industry of Inverness seems to be funerals. Rather morbid I know, but true! They spent most of the tour telling you about haggis and the kilt, not the sights of the city!!

(Postscript: I've been told that Inverness is the fastest growing city in Scotland. Hmm... it must have been VERY small beforehand!)

Then a 3hr bus trip north to John O'Groats - the most northerly point of the UK mainland.

Then a 45min ferry ride across the straits.

And finally at 7pm was picked up by my grandparents to be driven to their house (30mins away).

Phew.... long day, but very happy to be here! Just had an excellent meal and now I'm off to bed!

Today was a day of opposites and a fitting end to my all-too-brief stay in Glasgow.

I woek up relatively early and caught a bus into Glasgow again to take the City Sightseeing tour once more the whole way around. As with yesterday we had a live guide to explain everything and although she wasn't as interesting as the two we had yesterday, they were great nonetheless.

THe weather was beautiful and although the city was far busier, I managed to find my way around fairly easily! Once I had oriented myself on Borders (of all places) I was fine.

The afternoon, in contrast, was spent at Balloch (near Loch Lomond) for the Highland Games. These are a fantastic example of how traditions remain in Scotland that have long since passed in England. As well as the traditional cycling and running, Highland Games showcase more 'Scottish' pursuits such as caber tossing, highland dancing and the pipe band competitions.

As I said above, the weather was fantastic - about 27 degrees! And on the shore of Loch Lomond the setting was unparalled. We also met Fiona's new boyfriend Jamie for the first time, which was nice and not at all awkward, although Iain was most definitely distracted by all the pipe bands!

The day ended with a fish supper (Glaswegian for fish and chips) and a bottle of Irn Bru (which outsells Coke in Scotland - it's like a cross between Lucazade and Red Bull) and me trying on Iain's kilt! This was the first time I've felt fat - he's a size 30! I think I'm going to have to buy one for myself now - they're so comfortable!

Anyways, tomorrow is a huge travelling day so I better be off!

Ciao.

PS: For photos of the Highland Games, click here

After an excellent day sightseeing yesterday in Edinburgh, we decided to spend today in Glasgow, seeing what is essentially my father and his sister's town. Dad and Evelyn lived there for most (if not all) of their childhood, before Dad's job took him around the region and eventually with Mum to Australia.

So we began on a bus into town from Renfrew (one of the main suburbs to the West of Glasgow). In Sydney Renfrew would be considered a suburb, but the city limits are strictly defined in the UK & Europe, and the urban sprawl is quite autonomous. Thus a place 30min bus ride from the city centre is definitely not part of that city - except possibly in London, but even there has London and 'Greater London'. By this measure, North of Nth Sydney, West of Strathfield, and South of the Airport wouldn't be considered Sydney.

But I digress - we took one of the excellent open-top City Sightseeing tours. I can't praise these enough right now - if you have limited time, as I have, they are a brilliant way of hearing the history of the city and finding out where is great to go. So far they've been decently priced too - about £6-8 ea for a 24-hr ticket. Glasgow's bus even has live commentary by locals, which is mighty interesting.

So we took the tour around the city's poorer East End. The East of cities is invariably poorer in the UK due to the prevailing wind. If you have a largely industrial city, as many were, the wind pushed all the smog and dirt eastward, thus making the Western reaches cleaner and therefore more desirable. The area doesn't look too bad, but I got a great look at the Gorbles (lovely couple, lots of fun!) and Glasgow Green, with the very impressive terracotta fountain and the People's Palace.

From there we went back into the city centre, through George's Square and down towards Stobcross Quay, with the Armadillo (the Clyde Auditorium), the SECC, Science Centre and the Tall Ship. It's in a process of regeneration as well, and will soon (2008) be home to a huge new museum. Following this, we went down Argyle St, past the very fashionable and quirky West End (home to Glasgow Uni too), before stopping at the very recently reopened Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum.

This place is fantastic - it's like a taster to what's at the Museum of Scotland. It's a bit all-over-the-place, with Glasgow next to Ancient Egypt, but it has some fantastic stuff. It's all brand new, so it was quite busy, but well worth a visit - and it's FREE. It has an excellent series of displays at a lower height for kids, as well as housing 'Christ of St John on the Cross' by Dali - their most famous piece.

From there, we went to Tenement House - an excellent example of the old Tenement (single room) flats in early industrial Glasgow. They've kept it as close to how it would have been, and it's great - it's amazing how much they managed to fit into such a small space - especially the bed cupboard/alcove etc.

Finally we went for a walk around the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed School of Art. Mackintosh art is everywhere and he's one of the most important art nouveau designers in the UK. It's all metal and led lights, so not entirely my cup of tea, but it's impossible to overestimate how important it was to the city - his designs are everywhere.

And that was the end of our day. We wandered through Sauchiehall (succy-hall) St for some window shopping, and then back to Renfrew by bus for a fantastic curry!

For photos of Glasgow, click here