A Long Way From Home - 58.968341N, 3.295026W

Everyday gets more amazing than the last.  I may have said that already, and I may have not, but it is absolutely true.

I awoke this morning to the sun shining, and an inch of fresh snow on the ground.  After having stayed up late watching the Olympics, I awoke early to do the same thing.  I was really hoping to get in some Canadian hockey, but I did get to watch Sweden win a game (go Sedins!)  After breakfast, I left the B&B and went for a walk along the beach, which I was surprised to discover in the daylight was a mere half block away from where I spent the night sleeping.  I walked all up and down it, and watched the surf, and as I was heading back, I bumped into the owner's husband, who was walking his little dog - and I did the walk all over again while I talked to him.  (We saw seals!) 

 

  

 

The tide was coming in, so we walked through the park in town, and all through the town before returning to the B&B.  I still had an hour to kill before I needed to leave for my ferry, so I went back down to the beach and had the single best shortbread I've ever eaten, served to me by a young dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty who blushed every time I looked at him.  I think he baked it himself, because when I was paying, I complimented the café on the shortbread, and he looked very, very pleased with himself.

The owners of the B&B very graciously drove me to the ferry port, a few miles outside of town, and the ferry ride was nothing short of spectacular.  I spent all 90 minutes of the ride on deck, chatting with some old men.  They were really quite nice.  There were eight of them in total, though I didn't speak to them all, and they were taking their friend on his bachelor party to Orkney to go on a specially reserved tour of the Highland Park distillery, which is the groom's favourite whiskey.  The groom - John - was trying to convince me that I wanted to go away to Venice with him next month and get married, because I enjoy fishing, and his current fiancé doesn't.  I tried to point out the age difference (he was at least as old as papa), but he promised to be a perfect gentlemen!

 

 

On the ferry ride, we passed by some magnificant sedimentary cliffs, and a stack the locals refer to as the Old Man of Hoy.  The whole ride was gorgeous, though my face is windburnt now.

When I got into the Stromness port, my breath was taken away.  Stromness is a picturesque harbour town, very small, with one way cobblestone streets, no sidewalks, and little brick houses dotting the horizon.

The only thing that put a damper on the day was arriving at my hostel.  I found the hostel crammed into the corner of an alleyway, door unlocked.  I walked in to find a note on the table that said staff don't stay on site, and that if I wanted to book a room, I had to walk a block down the street to the payphone, call this number, and within 10 minutes, someone would show up.

I did all that, and 40 minutes later, the woman arrived, gave me the keys, and left.  I didn't even get any info out of her without asking, except that one of the bathrooms was broken.  I wasn't perturbed yet - and I was starving, so I dropped my stuff off and left for lunch.  I went to this amazing (everything is amazing these days) - amazing little bistro, and had a nut roast with 3 types of salad, and a glass of mulled wine - a bistro that sells mulled wine! 

After that, I went back to my hostel to discover that there is no heat in the ENTIRE building, and that my room is the size of my queen sized bed at home.  I tried to ignore it, but I needed to wear my toque and scarf inside, and eventually, I crawled under the covers.  I was extremely unhappy because I had been chilly all day on my walk, and on the ferry, and now, I couldn't get warm and I was starting to get really shivery.  I was talking to Bryan online at the same time, and he called the other hostel in town for me and booked me a room.  I lost my 42 pounds sterling to the other place, because no refunds were allowed - there was even a sign that said "No Refunds" - and that's where I am now.  This hostel is much better.  Cleaner, bigger, and warmer.  I did have to pay another 48 pounds sterling for the three nights, but all in all, I think it's a small price to pay.

It was snowing about two hours ago.