Appunti di viaggio

view from the italian chapel

Orkney Islands are without trees,but except for that are beautiful. And cold In these days it snowed almost every day, and froze during the night. Sea and snow, a nice mix Even tho they are small, they can offer a lot. From 5000 years old tombs, standing stones (a group of stones spread in the south part of the main land (stenness)), an italian chapel build by italian war prisoners in the ’43. Beyond the historical part, there’s the nowadays part (seriously?!) there are lots of pubs, where it’s nice to go in and feel “at home”. Scottish welcome is lovely and warm! And live folk music (you can find it everywhere in Scotland!), if you happen to be in Kirkwall during the weekend, go to “the reel” cafe’ on a saturday night, you’ll be surprised by a group of musician who gather together freely to play some good music.

Kyleakin visto dall'altra sponda

A name that makes you cold (“actually it doesn’t makes sense in english, the joke is that “inverno” in italian means winter, so inverno/inverness…ok i’ll stop here). Nessie is close by, but i couldn’t see her…if she doesn’t like cat’s food, next time i’ll give her risotto, maybe she has sophisticated taste.

Monsters aside, Scotland is really beautiful, and the Highlands are gorgeous, and the views along the coast remember me of Norway. I’ve stopped for a couple of days in Kyleakin, a small maritime village on the Skye island, on the point close to the mainland. It is not a touristic season, and so there were no tourists the first day (except me). Only a group of americans with an organized tour stopped there for a night. In the hostel where i was sleeping i was the only customer. And because of that the village was much more beautiful. Only Seagulls and small birds to keep me company.

Today i’m going to Ullapool, funny name, they told me it’s nice, but i don’t know anything about it. And i’ll stop till Monday morning, but only because there are no buses on Sunday :/

Relaxing morning drinking ginger tea before going to Glasgow.

Ayr is a maritime town, quiet at the moment, but probably full of turists and people on the beach during summer. Nice parks and the coastline, but there’s not much else to see, unless you have a bike or a car and you can drive in the nearby villages.