Wordless Wednesday, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands.

.We had been to Kirkwall before, so this time decided to stay around the town.

The harbour where the cruise ships dock.

The above three photos were all taken from the ship before we went ashore.

On our way walking around the town we found the Orkney Museum and spent some time in there.

Behind the museum is Tankerness House Gardens.

Doesn't look the most comfortable of seats......

or is it?

As it was a very hot day we passed quite a while there enjoying the sun, flowers and the scenery.

I am joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the blog hop.

British Isles Cruise July 2013 - Kirkwall Orkney Islands.

After leaving Northern Ireland we headed for the Scottish Orkney Islands and Kirkwall. As we had been there before and taken a full day tour with a local guide, this time we decided to stay in the town and look at the sights there. You can see our previous photos of the island here and here.

The harbour where the cruise ships dock.

The above three photos were all taken from the ship before we went ashore.

On our way walking around the town we found the Orkney Museum and spent some time in there.

Behind the museum is Tankerness House Gardens.

Doesn't look the most comfortable of seats......

or is it?

As it was a very hot day we passed quite a while there enjoying the sun and the scenery.

Then it was back to the ship and off to our last port of call, Invergordon.

Orkney Islands part 2.

Well I have eventually got around to posting more photos from our cruise around the British Isles.
After we left the Standing Stones of Stenness we went to the ancient village of Skara Brae.

The houses were built sunken into the ground.

It felt strange to be walking where people were known to have lived thousands of years ago.

This is one of the passageways into the houses that has been reconstructed using the original stonework.

Skara Brae is right on the coast with beautiful views.

Although the sky was blue it was very cold and windy and I would think, very bleak in the winter.

Leaving there and heading for Broch of Gurness we passed some workers digging peat.

The Broch is the central building and the dwellings were built around it and it dates from 100BC.

Leaving the Broch of Gurness we headed back to Kirkwall.

St. Magnus Cathedral Kirkwall.

As we returned to our ship, the pipers were there to see us go.
Next stop will be #
Edinburgh Scotland.

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands.

Orkney Islands, Scotland.

Our first stop on Orkney was Maes Howe which is an ancient chamber tomb dating back to 2700BC. It was very low to get in and unfortunately as I get claustrophobic, after the first two or three feet, I had to reverse back out and let Ivor go in on his own.

He said once you had gone through the low and narrow passage it opened into a large chamber with some natural light.

As no photos were allowed inside I kept the camera and took a photo of some local inhabitants while I waited.

The scenery was lovely too, but it was very cold and windy there.

Next were the four Standing Stones o' Stenness thought to date from 3100BC and the oldest standing stones in Britain. You can read more about them here.

They stand up to 19 feet high.

On the short trip from Stenness we passed this swan sitting on her nest.

Next was the Ring of Brodgar which has many more standing stones but not as big as the previous ones we saw. You can read more about it here.

I took so many photos on Orkney that our next stop at Skara Brae will have to come in the next post.