May 29- Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands

Orkney is a group of islands situated a few miles off the north-east tip of mainland Scotland. With its green fields and hills, stone pinnacles rising out of the sea, rugged cliffs and sandy beaches, it is the

ideal place for getting away from it all. A Scandinavian heritage gives the Orkney islands an ambience different from other regions of Scotland. Orkney, the southern archipelago is greener than its companion set of islands known as the Shetland islands. Orkney is rich in artifacts that testify to the many centuries of continuous settlement here.

The people of Orkney (some 15,000 in total), with their unique accent, do not see themselves as Scottish so much as Orcadian. For a long time the islands were owned by Norway, so they have a very mixed culture. The main attraction for visitors to Orkney is its ancient history. From the Stone Age to the Picts and Vikings, the islands have so many sites of archaeological interest.

On the southern shore of the Bay o’ Skaill, in the West Mainland parish of Sandwick, is the Neolithic

village of Skara Brae- one of Orkney’s most visited ancient sites and regarded by many as one of the most remarkable monuments in Europe.

In the winter of 1850, a great storm battered Orkney. There was nothing particularly unusual about that, but on this occasion, the combination of wind and extremely high tides stripped the grass from a large mound, then known as "Skerrabra". This revealed the outline of a number of stone buildings - something that intrigued the local laird, William Watt of Skaill, who embarked on an excavation of the site.

Skara Brae (pronounced /ˈskɑrə ˈbreɪ/) is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 BC–2500 BC. It is Europe's most complete Neolithic village and the level of preservation is such that it has gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status, and been called the "Scottish Pompeii".

Kirkwall, where we were docked, is the largest town and is the capital of Orkney. The name is derived from the Norse name Kirkjuvagr (Church Bay), which was later corrupted to Kirkvoe, then Kirkwa. English mapmakers mistook the later part “waa” as the Scots “wa” (meaning wall); hence the town became Kirkwall.

The Kirkwall “Ba Game, simply called “ba” , is one of the main annual events held in the town. The two sides are the Uppies and the Doonies, or more correctly. “Up-the-Gates” and “Doon-the-Gates” from path or gate. The side any individual plays on was decided by whether the person was born up or doon the gate. The Doonies have the benefit of a flat push to Albert Street while the Uppies have a hard push up to the top of Tankerness Lane. The game takes a long time to complete. I guess there isn’t really much going on in this community so this game becomes something really important and entertaining.

The Ring of Blodgar is a huge circle of 36 Neolithic stones surrounded by a hedge or deep ditch. The site dates back to 2500 – 2000 BC and the original use of the stones is unclear. Reminds us of the standing stones we have seen also in Ireland and England.

In port we were docked beside the Polar Star- an expedition ship whose deck was filled with six Zodiacs. All the passengers were off almost as soon as they docked. Each wore a red jacket and were bundled up warmly. This looks truly like an adventure cruise. You could see passengers from both ships looking at each other and no doubt wondering, “Why would anyone want to cruise like that?” Cruising does mean different things to different people.