Since it was much too windy today to walk around outside, I decided to head to the two primary museums in the Orkney Islands. They first was the Stromness Museum which was not too far from my B&B. It is more of a local museum and focused on the seafaring history of the islands.
However, it is half a mile from the big parking lot I usually use, so I decided to try to drive closer and get parking which did not require so much walking since my knee is still bothering me from my fall in Edinburgh. As the common saying points out, "Getting there is half the fun." Well, I can tell you that getting there and getting out is most of the stress.
This looks like a good road, right? Except to get there, and I have no photos of the event, I took a similar side road just as a bigger car turned down it coming towards me. I swear that we passed with only 3" on all sides, but I did not take photos because I did not want to tangle with the stone wall on my left or irritate the other driver. Anyway, luckily, I did not encounter any more vehicles for the 400' I drove down this road.
It amazes me where the Orcadians put parking lots!
I am walking now, but I have no idea how this motorhome got here.
The occasional alleyway showed that the houses on the left were actually on the edge of the bay.
On the other side of the road, there were occasional walkways between buildings that gave access to individual homes.
Can you see what is inside this old phone booth? Many of these booths have been repurposed to contain heart defibrillators. I think it is a terrific idea!
And this is the actual museum.
Just a couple of the displays inside. There were some neolithic artifacts, and a lot of seafaring items.
Now, since I got into that parking lot, my next task was getting out of it. This time I took the more direct route through the main shopping area of town. Lots of people walking around, and had to avoid a couple of baby carriages, but mostly it was uneventful.
Whew!! Onward to Kirkwall.
Parking in Kirkwall is broken up into a dozen tiny lots, and parts of the main shopping area were blocked off, so I took a roundabout route and found a good, and largely empty, parking lot. Walked about 700 feet to museum.
This is the museum.
I thought this exhibit was interesting. Because there was almost no wood on Orkney, they made chairs out of straw. Here are samples.
Following are some of the Neolithic items displayed in the museum. They also have items from the iron age, Medieval period, and more modern era.
The people who built Skara Brae and the stone circles here used bone, as well as stone, for tools.
They made pottery as well. Amazing that these pots are over 5,000 years old.
I also visited the St. Magnus cathedral today, but I put that in a separate posting.
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