July 24, 2015
Day 40: Heading south. After we went north that is.
It's strange really, to be this far north when the landscapes don't look a whole lot different from southern England. It's green, very green, with stone fences and sheep and houses on pastures that look like they belong in a fairy tail.
We saw the Ring of Brodger, which is a world heritage site and was on my must see list. It is an ancient stone ring, a similar type deal to Stonehenge, that dates back to 2500BC. It is a stones throw away from connecting sites, and another area that is being excavated.
In fact the Orkney Islands are knee deep in archaeological sites. Who knew? We stumbled into one site entirely by accident. It is a place called Skara Brae and consists of prehistoric houses set along the seashore. Even Leo didn't know it was there and Leo knows were EVERYthing is. This place was cool, especially since it had a cafe with tea, and scones so good I would argue they were the best of the whole trip!
I love places like this and can't help but try to imagine what it would have been like back in the day. Was it a harder life than today? In some ways I'm sure it was. No bicycles and no reruns of Jerry Springer would have been hell. On the other hand living that close to the sea, with plenty of pasture land for animals, must have made for a stable food supply?
Anyway, it was cool.
We kept riding north until there was no more north to the island, then it was time to roll south. We ended up in Kirkwall, which is a town with a Norwegian influence, a beautiful church/cathedral and an exceptional campground.
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Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 1,666 miles (2,681 km)
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