Orkney Islands

The Orkney Islands are way up at the top of Scotland. We spent two nights in Kirkwall, the largest city with a population of 8,000, and then three nights at my mom's house on the island of Papa Westray which has a population of 70, yes 70, people. In Kirkwall we went for a tour of the Highland Park distillery. They are regarded as the makers of the finest single malt scotch – tough to argue with that. The next day we took a four hour bus tour of the island. We saw Skara Brae, a 5,000 year old civilization with stone houses which was discovered just 150 years ago. Next we stopped at the Ring of Brodgar which is a stone circle similar to Stonehenge.

Papa Westray, or Papay as the locals call it, is like a whole different world. To get to Papay from London you have to take three flights: London to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Kirkwall, then finally a 12 minute flight from Kirkwall to Papay on a 9 passenger plane.The runway on Papay is made of gravel, a big upgrade from the grass runway which was used until a few years ago. Besides a few houses, there is the tiny airport, a fire station, a church, and a school. The school has 10 students. Papay's claim to fame is their abundance of birds which nest in the cliffs on the north side of the island. I was ecstatic when we came upon a group of puffins. At first there were 3, then 5, then 10, then I counted 17 at once! They let me get within 30 feet of them and I just watched in awe for an hour as the took off to to fishing and then came back up to the cliffs. The highlight of my stay in Papay! There were lots of cows, sheep, and farmland. The people were so friendly and would welcome us in for tea and scones as we walked by. To put it into perspective, Papa Westray is 2,500 acres as opposed to my cousins' farm in California which is 3,300.

Back in London now for our final night in Europe. I won tickets to see Paul Simon at the Roundhouse which will be quite a way to finish off the trip! Then on to California in the morning where it will be 101 degrees and sunny at the Ranch in Bakersfield. Just a wee bit different than the 60 degrees and clouds/sun/clouds that we had in Scotland. We've been having such a great time in Europe but I'm definitely looking forward to being in one place for more than a couple nights. LOTS of photos to post once I get to some decent wi-fi back in the States.