{"id":1097,"date":"2017-07-17T10:19:47","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T18:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/?page_id=1097"},"modified":"2017-08-11T06:58:19","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T14:58:19","slug":"scotland-and-ireland-2017-page-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/?page_id=1097","title":{"rendered":"Scotland and Ireland 2017– Page 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the Glenfiddich distillery tour we drove back west and then south along the western shore of Loch Ness for a look at Urquhart Castle .\u00a0 Cameras in hand,\u00a0 we were ready for Nessie, as the Loch Ness monster is known by her friends.\u00a0 Urquart Castle is close to the 1933 sighting of Nessie, but, alas,\u00a0 a boat was the closest thing to a monster we saw.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lock Ness and Urquart Castle<\/p><\/div>\n

Urquart Castle looks a little worse for wear after a 1000 years of fighting over its ramparts.\u00a0\u00a0 It was near here that \u201cBonnie Prince Charlie\u201d\u00a0 was defeated at the Battle of Culloden, outside Inverness on\u00a0 April 16th, 1746. To celebrate the British victory George Frideric Handel<\/em><\/span> composed a three-act oratorio<\/span> (an extended musical composition for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra) which when performed in Edinburgh in 2009,\u00a0263 years after the battle, outraged its Scottish audience, proving that the Scots do not forget or forgive.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Who was Bonnie Prince Charlie you ask. If you insist, See: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Charles_Edward_Stuart<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Flat<\/a>

Ooops, a little flat tire misadventure on the narrow road back to Invergordon<\/p><\/div>\n

KIRKWALL, SCOTLAND<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Skara<\/a>

Kirkwall and Skara Brae, Orkney Islands of Scotland<\/p><\/div>\n

Kirkwall is the largest settlement and the capital of the Orkney Islands.\u00a0 Except for its cathedral, there is not much to see in the village.\u00a0\u00a0 However, Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar and other important and impressive Neolithic archaeological sites lie a short drive from town and are not to be missed.\u00a0 We reserved Mercedes van and a guide for the day (good work Brenna!).<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>

In the tender headed for the Kirkwall dock<\/p><\/div>\n

\"David<\/a>

David Hamilton of www.redsorkneytours.com. David is owner and guide.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Countyside<\/a>

Countyside outside Kirkwall Scotland Orkney Islands<\/p><\/div>\n

https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_3052_720.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Gives new meaning to “windswept.”<\/p>\n

\"Neolithic<\/a>

Ring of Brodgar — Neolithic stone circle<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Skara<\/a>

Skara Brae–ruins of a neolithic village dating to around 3100 BC.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Skara<\/a>

Skara Brae village–artist reconstruction<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Skara<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Neolithic<\/a>

Maeshowe– Built circa 3500 BC and considered to be the finest neolithic chambered tomb north of the Alps.<\/p><\/div>\n

PORTREE, SCOTLAND<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our next port of call was scheduled to be Portree .\u00a0\u00a0 The morning we arrived offshore of the port the weather was foul, moderate rain and rough seas, and conditions were not improving.\u00a0 We hung around for several hours hoping for calmer seas,\u00a0 but the Captain finally gave up and announced on the that it was unsafe to tender into Portree.\u00a0 We heard the rumble of the anchor chain coming up,\u00a0 and the boat turned away toward Oban, our next scheduled port of call.\u00a0 Ah, well . . ..<\/p>\n

\"Angela<\/a>

Waiting\u00a0 to tender into Portree, Angela and Brenna popped up on the ship TV<\/p><\/div>\n

OBAN, SCOTLAND<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Oban,<\/a>

Oban, Scotland<\/p><\/div>\n

Oban is a little low-key place of about 10,000 residents . The village is arrayed along the waterfront and is mostly about two streets deep.\u00a0 Oban’s claim to fame is its position as the gateway to the Hebrides Islands.\u00a0 We were the only cruise ship in port and so would have Oban to ourselves.<\/p>\n

\"Oban,<\/a>

Oban, Scotland<\/p><\/div>\n

We rode the tender through moderate chop and rain into the Oban harbor.\u00a0 To escape the rain we headed straight for the Oban distillery (the scotch is named after the town), a brief walk from the dock and the largest building in the village.\u00a0\u00a0 And . . .<\/p>\n

\"Oban<\/a>

Oban Distillery<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Brenna<\/a>. . .more tasting.<\/p>\n

\"Oban<\/a> Next we found a taxi to the Highland Games in a park a mile or so above the town. The games are a home town affair, not a show put on for tourists.\u00a0 The stands were filled with locals who shouted their approval for a good toss of the stone or hammer.\u00a0 There were foot races for everyone from serious runner to kids.\u00a0 However, the highlight of the afternoon was the big boys throwing everything from heavy stones and long hammers to what looked the be telephone poles.<\/p>\n

\"Tossing<\/a>

Tossing the stone ball for distance.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Paul<\/a>

Paul and Pam watching the Highland Games<\/p><\/div>\n

https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/obanpipesweb.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n
https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/obanhammerthrowweb.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n
\"Paul<\/a>

Paul in a pub back in Oban<\/p><\/div>\n

PORTRUSH, SCOTLAND (MAYBE) <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the Glenfiddich distillery tour we drove back west and then south along the western shore of Loch Ness for a look at Urquhart Castle .\u00a0 Cameras in hand,\u00a0 we were ready for Nessie, as the Loch Ness monster is known by her friends.\u00a0 Urquart Castle is close to the 1933 sighting of Nessie, but, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1022,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1097","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1097"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1340,"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1097\/revisions\/1340"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkb.mirimar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}