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moonvoiceWe stayed in Kirkwall while we were in Orkney, which I really liked. There was the neat little fandom touch (I wrote a Bull/Cullen Dragon Age: Inquisition fic, and researched Cullen's base of Kirkwall a lot, and one can't help but feel it was partly based on the town itself), which was partly why I wanted to stay there.
We ended up in a lovely detached flat behind a family home, and the hosts were really generous and kind. They gave us access to their washing line (which was sorely needed), and while we were on restricted hot water (it only operated at certain times), it worked out fine.
One of the nights we stayed, I had a craving for Chinese and was getting sick of fish & chips or sandwiches or any of the other instant, simple things we ate (I ate an awful lot of fruit, especially raspberries, because they were so cheap compared to here). There was the main stretch, which had a single Chinese place. I was on Google Maps just moving it around and looking at what there was, when I happened to notice a Chinese place in the opposite direction of the town, where nothing else was except houses.
On a whim, I looked them up to see the reviews, of which there were plenty, and they were all very positive. It turned out the local Chipenese (Chippie x Chinese) was something of a staple for the locals, who highly recommended that ferry loupers (tourists) not be put off by the fact that it's a demountable at the back of a home, and it's tiny. So Glen went and lo and behold they had a full Scottish chippie menu (replete with white, red and black pudding), and a full Chinese menu.
And they deserved all the positive reviews, it was amazing.
Tbh everything in Orkney was often better than I thought it would be, which given I went in with really high expectations, was like...pretty unexpected actually.
A very quiet main street in Kirkwall, on Easter Monday, as we searched for lunch.
St. Magnus Cathedral - a Romanesque affair founded in 1137 with its own dungeon - was only about 20 steps from where we stayed (though I still only visited once, because at this point I was *very* sick and could no longer walk more than 2 minutes without needing to lie down for the whole day).
Glen observed that it looks kind of grotesque, and it really does. Nothing is quite centred, and the design is interesting. You can't even really blame it on the fact that it's Romanesque. It's fascinating, interesting and imposing in the landscape.
I did really like the doors / archways though
While we talked about it, Glen said it looked like 'someone who imagined a Cathedral without ever having seen one' and at the time I had no idea what he meant because I had only seen it from a distance and tbh it looked very Cathedral-y. Up close it's weirder.
Walking down the little quiet streets.
The central bookstore. I went in and I REALLY didn't think I was going to get anything but...
Obviously I failed, lol.
There were a lot of things I'd have liked to have done re: energy. We actually had a decent chunk of time in Orkney, but in the end I was too sick and frankly spent most of my time in bed, sleeping or convalescing. I often was too sick to read even, and did hardly any writing. Though Silvia and I spent some time doing the written roleplay stuff we often do (it's just a story where each of us writes a character's POV and we switch back and forth).
At this point, I was pretty seriously scared about how bad my health was, because I couldn't (and still can't) remember a time I'd run myself down so much. I began to be very paranoid that I had secondary cancer, and this really took hold in Aviemore. Glen was concerned too, because it seemed that even when we zoned days for me to do nothing at all, I just wasn't recovering.
Tbh, I still don't really feel like I've fully recovered. And I never want to travel for so long again. My body cannot handle it.
To give you a sense of our location, this is where we parked our car, on the side of St. Magnus Cathedral, facing the main street into Kirkwall, with Bishop's Palace on the left and the place where we were staying directly opposite. We were so centrally located. If I had more energy I think I could've done so much more exploring.
And finally the Fish & Chips from Harbour Fry that restored my faith in UK Fish & Chips. It took going pretty north to find it, but we found it. And I didn't have fish & chips again after this, from memory, because I knew nothing would top it, lmao. Though I have been craving a good old Aussie fish and chips since, with our chicken salt, and different options for sides, and the chips just being different.
We ended up in a lovely detached flat behind a family home, and the hosts were really generous and kind. They gave us access to their washing line (which was sorely needed), and while we were on restricted hot water (it only operated at certain times), it worked out fine.
One of the nights we stayed, I had a craving for Chinese and was getting sick of fish & chips or sandwiches or any of the other instant, simple things we ate (I ate an awful lot of fruit, especially raspberries, because they were so cheap compared to here). There was the main stretch, which had a single Chinese place. I was on Google Maps just moving it around and looking at what there was, when I happened to notice a Chinese place in the opposite direction of the town, where nothing else was except houses.
On a whim, I looked them up to see the reviews, of which there were plenty, and they were all very positive. It turned out the local Chipenese (Chippie x Chinese) was something of a staple for the locals, who highly recommended that ferry loupers (tourists) not be put off by the fact that it's a demountable at the back of a home, and it's tiny. So Glen went and lo and behold they had a full Scottish chippie menu (replete with white, red and black pudding), and a full Chinese menu.
And they deserved all the positive reviews, it was amazing.
Tbh everything in Orkney was often better than I thought it would be, which given I went in with really high expectations, was like...pretty unexpected actually.
A very quiet main street in Kirkwall, on Easter Monday, as we searched for lunch.
St. Magnus Cathedral - a Romanesque affair founded in 1137 with its own dungeon - was only about 20 steps from where we stayed (though I still only visited once, because at this point I was *very* sick and could no longer walk more than 2 minutes without needing to lie down for the whole day).
Glen observed that it looks kind of grotesque, and it really does. Nothing is quite centred, and the design is interesting. You can't even really blame it on the fact that it's Romanesque. It's fascinating, interesting and imposing in the landscape.
I did really like the doors / archways though
While we talked about it, Glen said it looked like 'someone who imagined a Cathedral without ever having seen one' and at the time I had no idea what he meant because I had only seen it from a distance and tbh it looked very Cathedral-y. Up close it's weirder.
Walking down the little quiet streets.
The central bookstore. I went in and I REALLY didn't think I was going to get anything but...
Obviously I failed, lol.
There were a lot of things I'd have liked to have done re: energy. We actually had a decent chunk of time in Orkney, but in the end I was too sick and frankly spent most of my time in bed, sleeping or convalescing. I often was too sick to read even, and did hardly any writing. Though Silvia and I spent some time doing the written roleplay stuff we often do (it's just a story where each of us writes a character's POV and we switch back and forth).
At this point, I was pretty seriously scared about how bad my health was, because I couldn't (and still can't) remember a time I'd run myself down so much. I began to be very paranoid that I had secondary cancer, and this really took hold in Aviemore. Glen was concerned too, because it seemed that even when we zoned days for me to do nothing at all, I just wasn't recovering.
Tbh, I still don't really feel like I've fully recovered. And I never want to travel for so long again. My body cannot handle it.
To give you a sense of our location, this is where we parked our car, on the side of St. Magnus Cathedral, facing the main street into Kirkwall, with Bishop's Palace on the left and the place where we were staying directly opposite. We were so centrally located. If I had more energy I think I could've done so much more exploring.
And finally the Fish & Chips from Harbour Fry that restored my faith in UK Fish & Chips. It took going pretty north to find it, but we found it. And I didn't have fish & chips again after this, from memory, because I knew nothing would top it, lmao. Though I have been craving a good old Aussie fish and chips since, with our chicken salt, and different options for sides, and the chips just being different.
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