07-05-2023 Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland

This was the view from our stateroom early on this morning approaching the mythical Orkney Islands and the town of Kirkwall. As you can see, the seas were smooth as glass, and the skies promised some sunshine in between possible bouts of rain.

I say mythical because the ancient cultures of the Orkney Islands have fascinated me for a very long time.  When we booked the original cruise for 2020, the visit to Kirkwall and the Orkney Islands was high on my list of reasons why I wanted to do this cruise.  Our current cruise altered many of the ports that we visited, but Orkney and the town of Kirkwall were still on the list of places we would see.  I was thrilled.  

Riviera anchored in Kirkwall Bay with a German cruise ship docked closer to town

Originally, our friends Erin and Mui were to be with us on this cruise.  Erin often arranges private tours for the ports she visits, and we would have enjoyed her private tour with a woman Erin arranged for that year.  When the cruise was moved to 2021, and Erin wouldn’t be aboard, I arranged a private tour with the same person.  I am sure it would have been wonderful.  

By 2023, when we finally sailed with Oceania, I was mentally exhausted and decided to simply book one of the three ships tours that were complimentary for us with our O-Life package.  After all the changes to planning and sailing dates and ports, I chose to skip the extra stress of planning a private tour.

Our photo from the bus window as we passed the archeological site of Skara Brae.

We picked one called “North Orkney Exploration”, touring the Neolithic Heartland of Orkney, a World Heritage Site.  What I realized later was that we would not be visiting one of the most interesting ancient sites on Orkney, the Skara Brae Prehistoric Village, occupied from roughly 3180 BC to about 2500 BC and Europe’s most complete Neolithic village.  Although I was a bit disappointed that we wouldn’t be visiting Skara Brae, our chosen tour passed by the site, crowded with visitors, and a bit smaller in reality than I had imagined.  I can read about the village, the history that has been uncovered carefully, and the story of the restoration, all at length on the internet.  I was less disappointed as we passed by the site, happy with the parts of Orkney that we did get to see on our tour.

Once again we were anchored off Kirkwall Bay, with tender service to the pier just a short walking distance to the lovely town of Kirkwall.  The city is first mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga in 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rognvald Brusason, the Earl of Orkney.  Kirkwall dates back to Norse times when it was called Kirkjuvagr (Church of the Bay).  At that time, the sea lapped at the steps of the great cathedral which we explored on our visit, but now much of that land has been reclaimed and the sea is a bit away from the town.

We enjoyed our morning on the ship before departing at 10 when the tenders first began taking passengers to shore.  We wanted as much time as possible to explore the city before meeting our tour bus at noon on the pier.  

Kirkwall was a huge surprise.  After visiting the previous towns on our cruise, where shopping was limited, I was enthralled with the charming streets of Kirkwall, lined with amazing shops, wonderful shop windows filled with Harris Tweed, original art, beautiful handmade crafts, and flowers.  

I was meandering about, and Mo waited outside with my walker as I slipped into a small shop filled with beautiful jewelry, sculptures, paintings, and painted silks.  I chose a scarf, made of thin airy muslin, painted by one of the artists in concert with a jewelry maker. They made the two items to be worn together, but the jewelry was something I didn’t want or need.  I am a scarf wearer, and this lovely thing is painted with the soft sea and land colors of Orkney, and I will treasure it as my favorite keepsake of the trip.

Once back outside, Mo was a bit impatient with me.  She isn’t much of a shopper, but her main concern was that we needed to find the magnificent St Magnus Cathedral.  The skyline of the city is dominated by the great cathedral, and it didn’t take long for us to find it.  

Stepping into the great sandstone cathedral was a breathless moment for both of us.  The huge red sandstone pillars are massive, dominating the view toward the center of the nave.  The warmly colored red sandstone was quarried near Kirkwall, with yellow sandstone from Eday adding more warmth.

St Magnus Cathedral was founded in 1137 by Earl Rognvald, nephew of St Magnus, who was the Earl of Orkney in the early 1100s. When it was first built, the cathedral was part of the Archdiocese of Nidaros (Trondheim) in Norway. Orkney became part of Scotland in 1468, and a few years later, the cathedral was given to the people of Kirkwall by the Scots king, James III.  

A memorial to Dr, John Rae, an employee of the Hudson Bay Co and explorer of the Canadian Arctic

After the Scottish Reformation in 1560, the cathedral was used for Protestant worship.  Today, the cathedral belongs to the people of Orkney and is looked after by Orkney Islands Council.  It has a Church of Scotland congregation, and by arrangement can be used by any Christian denomination.

Several restorations took place, in the 1850s, and again from 1913 to 1930.  The present floors, the woodwork, stained glass windows, and the spire were installed at that time. 

The cathedral structure is constantly monitored to safeguard this magnificent example of medieval architecture that remains in Great Britain.

I wished for more time to explore the stones in the church cemetery, but we just had time to get back to the pier for our excursion departure.

Once on the bus and out in the countryside, it began to rain.  Our destination was a visit to the Standing Stones of Stennes, a 5,000-year-old circle of stones.  People throughout the world are familiar with Stonehenge, the standing stones in England, but there are many standing stone sites throughout the British Isles, including the two sites we would see today on Orkney Island.

By the time we reached the shores of the Loch of Stenness, the rain lessened.  

Our first view of the stones was impressive, even from the parking lot and surrounded by tourists. First cut from Orkney flagstone and erected before the Egyptians began constructing the pyramids, Orkney’s stone sentinels have withstood rain, sun, and wind for millennia.  Visiting these stone circles was as high on my list of must-sees as Skara Brae.  

Only four of the original stones remain, with the tallest about 19 feet high,  The stones were originally laid out in an ellipse.  Although it was thought that the monument was once made up of 12 megaliths, excavations in the 1970s suggest that the ring was never completed, with at least one or possibly two of the 12 stones never erected.  Radiocarbon dates from the excavation show that the site dates from at least 3100 BC, making the Standing Stones complex one of the earliest stone circles in Britain.  

The stones are behind a gate designed to let people in and keep the sheep from getting out.  The guide made sure to warn us that sheep do leave poop around and that we should watch our step.

We made our way back to the bus, sad that we only had 20 minutes or so to actually visit the stones, or to sit quietly and contemplate the possibilities of the culture that created these circles.  The bus did make a slight detour from the main road to drive us past the Ring of Brodgar, just about a mile west of the Stones of Stenness.

Because the interior of the Ring of Brodgar has never been fully excavated, or scientifically dated, the monument’s actual age is uncertain.  However, it is generally assumed to have been erected between 2500 BC and 2000 BC and was the last of the great stone circles to have been built on the Island. It was thought that there were originally more than 60 stones in this circle, however today, only 27 stones remain.  Of course, we saw this one from the bus window.  So much to see and so little time on a bus for more than 4 hours on North Orkney Island.

Our bus continued on our circular route around the island with wide open views of the countryside.  The Orkneys seemed to be a bit less rocky than the Hebrides Islands that we visited yesterday, but were still just as open, without trees in the way of the expansive views.

We reached the lakeside town of Stromness with time for a short visit.  The guide showed us the line for ice cream and a crowded tiny establishment, and we declined.  She said, “You have fifteen minutes, that is where you get your ice cream”.  Um.  Nope.  We also needed bathrooms and they were about a block away.  

Stairs in Stromness…nope

Mo and I found another small shop that did have ice cream and managed to get a cone for each of us before we returned to the bus.  The little town of Stromness looked charming and historic, and we would have loved to explore it a bit more.

Back on the bus, we traveled north toward what turned out to be a beautiful stop at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.  The walk at low tide to the lighthouse would have been doable if we had more time.  Still, it was a beautiful place to walk around and rest a bit and listen to the ocean.

I am not sure why these tours seem so rushed.  The buses travel from place to place with very little time to actually explore or enjoy each site.  Is it important enough to show everything possible in an afternoon rather than exploring fewer sites with more time at each one?  

Ripples marking the meeting of the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, another bus window photo

I don’t understand how these tours are created or who is actually responsible for choosing the tours that are available.  But after experiencing three of Oceania’s available ship tours I very much understand why Erin spends so much time planning private tours whenever possible.  I think I learned a lesson here, but I also don’t expect to be traveling on a cruise ship again any time soon.  When and if we do, I will be more diligent about researching private tours.

We returned to the port of Kirkwall just in time for the very last tender, which was too full for the rest of our group.  Instead, we were loaded onto a ferry that carried many more people than the tenders could carry.  It was a fun trip back to the ship, if a bit slower.

We were just barely back in our staterooms when Riviera set sail and we traveled into the Atlantic Ocean, leaving the Orkney Islands in the rear view mirror of memories.  

I felt a bit sad.  It had passed so very quickly, these two days on the outer islands of Scotland, and I was hungry for more.  Tomorrow we would visit Edinburgh, on the mainland of Scotland, so I had one more day to get a feeling for the country that bred my ancestors.

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