Orkney, Day 2

Orkney is an very small island, but its main attractions are out in the middle of no where. We knew that we wanted to rent a car once we got there, and the lady that owned the hostel we stayed in (the Peddie Hostel - a great place to stay) had told us it was cheap and we would have no problem just renting one once we got there. What she didn't take into consideration was that the Monday was a national holiday and there was a rugby competition going on that weekend. As we started calling around, our frustration levels started rising as no one had anything to rent to us. One company had a manual transmission car (the most popular here) but it has been years since I've driven one and at best I am a beginner. Our final attempt before just taking the manual car produced great results though. The had one car available and it was an automatic! WOO HOO! I really thought that we would be walking everywhere and not seeing a lot of Orkney. No we just had to wait for the car to be available for the day, so we explored Kirkwall. The Cathedral of St Magnus there is wonderful. The stained glass windows are amazing, and Mike finally figured out how to take great shots of them with the new camera. It is amazingly old with lots of memorials on the walls, and a wonderful area created by children in the late 1980's during a pilgrimage. The stone work on the inside and out is incredible as well. Needless to say, I highly recommend stopping by if ever you are in Orkney.

This is the Bishop's Palace. You get entrance to the Earl's Palace along with this place. Both are incredibly old residents of at one time the Bishop, and then eventually the Earl of the area took over the Bishop's residence and made the newer Earl's Palace. It was really interesting to see. There were petrified wood chunks in the Bishop's Palace, but it was not as well intact. The Earl's Palace still had quite a bit of the original structure, but it was fun to see stairs to nothingness, floating fireplaces, etc. and imagine the opulence of once upon a time.

As soon as we got the car, we headed the south of South Ronaldsay island and to the Tomb of the Eagles. Its a little privately owned burial tomb that is run by two sisters. Their father found the tomb after a big storm and they are incredibly knowledgeable about the tomb, the people, and the artifacts that were found at the site. They give a great hour long lecture before they let you out to walk to the tomb. You pull yourself along the tunnel into the tomb. Its great fun.

This was on our way back into the mainland. Its called the Italian Chapel and was built by the Italian POWs that lived on the island during World War II. It was made by connecting two of the army issued barracks and a TON of dedication. The inside is breathtaking and the outside is wonderful. One of the men even stayed behind to finish this church after they were released. Amazing.

(Mike has been uploading pictures like mad. All 430 pictures can be seen on flickr.)