THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007
Last weekend, we were on Sanday again, for the Arts and Crafts exhibit there. I always like to experience new cultures, and Orkney has a special one, being more influenced by Norse culture then anywhere else we’ve been.
There were great displays of art work, and there were also great pieces of music to listen to. It was a really great weekend!
We’ve been touring around lots of the islands, and we’ve been having a magnificent time! We also went on the world’s shortest regularly scheduled flight! We flew from Westray to Papa Westray, and the flight took two minutes! Imagine!
Le gaol,
Morag
POSTED BY MORAG AT 14:31 PM - 0 COMMENTS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2007
There’s just so much to do here that I feel I already have something else to write! Yesterday, I went to Westray, and had a guided tour of the Notland castle which is there. It’s huge!
It was built for Gilbert Balfour, who was made the Sheriff of Orkney in 1560. The castle is a rather strange one, being both heavily fortified and with nice living quarters for a lord and his family. There are 60 embrasures, and a rather strangely numbered 71 gun loops all over the walls. Embrasures and gun loops are basically just holes through which weapons can be fired, in case you didn’t know! He obviously was very keen on home security.
The whole west tower of the castle was converted to a grand spiral staircase. Unfortunately, the hall floor to which the spiral staircase leads was never complete, and it is only partially roofed. There are sections of the castle which were never finished, so it might have been a bit silly to make a grand staircase before finishing the actual building.
Large stone structures like that always impress me. The mastery of the work needed to build such large, heavy buildings, which last so long, is astounding!
One of the most famous sites on Orkney is Skara Brae. It was hidden underground for 5000 years before a storm uncovered it. It’s the best preserved neolithic (which means it was at the end of the stone age) settlement in all of Europe! It really makes you wonder what other sights could be hidden away! I’ll be paying a visit when I get a chance.
This afternoon we’re off to see the Police Department’s open day. It should be very interesting! All the old black-and-white films that I like from the 1940s and 1950s had nice police officers giving people cups of tea when they would drop in to the station, so I hope that tradition continues.
Mar sin leibh an-dràsta,
Morag
POSTED BY MORAG AT 10:20 PM - 0 COMMENTS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
Hàlo! Ciamar a tha a h-uile duine an-diugh? We’re up in the archipelago of Orkney! There are over 50 islands in Orkney. It is difficult to come up with the exact number, since there are a lot of tiny little rocks which some people say are just rocks, but others say are islands!
Our first few days were spent at the Orkney International Science Festival, and it was really interesting. I learnt an awful lot! I also managed to teach the others a bit of science … if you don’t believe me, you can have a look at our wee animation.
The Science Festival looked at the work that James Clerk Maxwell did. His work was extremely important (if perhaps a little difficult to understand)! It’s a shame fewer people don’t know of him.
Something that he did which is easy to understand is that he made the first proper colour photograph! But regardless of his fame, he is considered as important as Newton and Einstein in the world of science, so I’m glad that I now know a bit about him. We should be proud of him, our fellow Scotsman.
Mar sin leibh,
Morag
POSTED BY MORAG AT 19:25 PM - 0 COMMENTS
