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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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Orkney
discovery Forget your Skara Brae. It may well have some of the oldest fitted kitchens in the world, but I found a different kind of magnaet on Orkney. Never mind Vikings and their runes in the Neolithic wonders of Maeshowe, either. It’s only graffiti, when you think about it, even if almost 900 years old. The chamber might well be five times that, but it’s still not what I remember most from our visit to these northerly islands, even though I am a history buff. The Ring of Brodgar, with its 27 megaliths on an area of 845 m2, may dwarf Stonehenge but it was tiny compared to my greatest discovery on Orkney. That came in Birsay towards the end of our week’s holiday. Before then, we’d gawped at the Italian Chapel, transfixed at how much was achieved with so little. It was hard to credit we were inside a Nissan hut, such was the effect of the trompe l’œil in all its ‘baroque’ glory. Hoy had beckoned, and its Old Man. We’d driven up to Rackwick, where we found cottages miniscule beneath enormous cliffs. The walk along the headland to the world-famous stack was so bracing no cobwebs were left after the first few seconds. After teetering on the edge for photographs, appalled at my bravery (aka stupidity) I thumped down onto my tummy to enjoy the puffins in safety. A combination of clown and acrobat as they reversed onto narrow ledges, I could be there yet, watching them. I was less keen on the skua and their propensity for dive-bombing. Closer at hand, mere minutes from our hotel, was St Magnus Cathedral. The ‘upstairs’ tour was excellent, with a guide as knowledgeable as he was humorous. I didn’t know a gallows ladder always had 13 rungs. We saw the bells and clock mechanism, then ventured out on to the narrow ledge at the top to view Kirkwall spread beneath us. Flying to Papa Westray, the views were even better. Luck glistened in sunlight, and we marvelled at water in every shade of blue from turquoise to indigo, keeping our eyes open for sheep eating seaweed. The hop from Westray to Papa Westray is the shortest commercial flight in the world: you are no sooner taking off than you are down again. We came back to a special certificate and some Highland Park to drink at our leisure. The most northerly distillery had some delights in store for my taste buds. Talking of which – my greatest discovery… Homemade raspberry cheesecake at the Birsay tearooms, with creaminess rich as Orkney’s heritage with a tart edge, more cutting than a Viking blade, garnished with golden raspberries that glowed like the simmer dim (midnight sun). Orkney is a fabulous place – oozing history, with magnificent nature as well as arts and crafts and people so friendly you feel you’ve lived there all your life. But I’d be attracted back just for the cheesecake, never mind anything else. First
published in VISA 83 (Feb 2009) |