Today dawned grey but dry and not windy. Can't really ask for more where we are! As EVERYTHING is closed today, we decided to head to the Callanish Standing Stones. We did a lap of Stornaway first to get our bearings and to see what facilities it has. Mainly we saw lots of old women dressed up in their finery including big hats ready for church, but we got an idea of what Stornaway has to offer and will go back to explore further once everything is open. We also came across a very magnificent big statue of a Highland Cow carved from wood, guarding the Co-op.
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| Callanish Standing Stones - 5000 years old |
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| Boy and stone |
We headed to Callanish and found the standing stones with no problem. We parked in the car park and headed up to view them. I think we were the only English there, one thing we have noticed since arriving, there are a lot of Europeans here on holiday. Mainly German, but we have also seen Italians, Austrians, French and Dutch. We have also heard a lot of American accents. We certainly haven't heard any other English accents. We certainly didn't expect so many Europeans here - I guess the attraction is to get out to the farthest reaches of Europe and be in a very scenic place whilst doing so?
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| Being silly! |
Anyway, the standing stones were pretty good looking - a huge circle of them, with rows radiating out of them. Didn't feel spiritual or weird like stonehenge, but still very captivating. They are 5.000 years old and were put in place before the weather got rainy and windy, before the land turned boggy. If they could talk...
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| Abandoned croft |
We decided to do a walk whilst we were there, to take in 2 other minor standing stone circles which we did. We were the only ones who decided to do the walk (it was only 2 miles) so we had them to ourselves. At the last circle, we came across some highland coos - at last, they seem to be a little lacking at the moment. They, unfortunately werent that friendly, as when we decided to put a mat down on the ground by the stones (a distance from the cows), one decided she wasn't happy about it and came over growling at us. We got up and left - how rude.
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| Handsome local |
We finished our lunch on a bench overlooking the bay and walked back to the car. We then found a minor road to take us across the island back to Stornaway. We came across a rather good looking crenelated tower on the way in and decided to investigate - it was a war memory - rather splendid too.
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| Callanish III |
We then headed back home, Tom watched a film, I went running (its quite flat here, so easier than in Ingleton and nice to have sea views) and Matt processed photos. We then got dinner ready. Tom peeled the spuds to go with a roast chicken. I went to cook them, but couldn't get the gas to work - the gas tank was empty. Oh hum. What to do. After a 10 minute panic we found the house phone (our phones don't work here) and the number of someone to help out - they were in - phew (just as well it is Sunday today) and came round. They had a spare tank in the shed and more importantly the special spanner you need to attach it. The gas was back and we were able to cook - phew!
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| Murdo - Guardian of Stornoway Co-op |
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| Peeling spuds |
We had a lovely roast, followed with Ecclefechan tart, a little late, but we are on holiday so it doesn't matter! After watching a bit of Olympics, Tom went to bed and once again was asleep in minutes. He needs his rest as we are having a day on the beach tomorrow. Weather is supposed to be on the up as well - we have been told it will get above 20 degrees at some point this week!
Spent the evening watching Local Hero - great 'local' viewing!
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