# Upcoming trip to ancient sites with online friend



## Ameriscot (Apr 25, 2016)

I used to be on a senior forum called Eons which went belly up a few years ago.  One of the friends I'm still in touch with is coming to the UK from where she lives in the NW US this summer. I've known her online since about 2007 but we've never met.  We were in the Living Abroad group and the British group on Eons as well as some other groups.  We've been friends on FB since Eons closed, so I've known her a long time.  

Anyway, I commented on a post about the ancient sites on the island of Orkney off the northern coast of Scotland.  We both commented how we'd like to visit as neither of us have.  A few days later she sent me a message that she's coming over for a wedding and how about going to Orkney together.  Cool!  We've got the whole thing booked for 3 days in August - flight, car, hotel.  

This is the site we're most excited to be visiting:

http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/skarabrae/

The iron age settlement of Skara Brae was uncovered during a storm in the mid 19th century.  It was inhabited between 3200 and 2200 BC.


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## ndynt (Apr 25, 2016)

How very exciting, Annie. Enjoy ! ! !  I hope you will enrich our lives with your wonderful pictures.    I have worldwide online friends from 1998 that I have yet to meet.  So wonderful that the internet opens the world and allows us to find others with the same interests.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 25, 2016)

Thanks, Nona!  I will certainly post tons of photos!  This lady is very optimistic and contented and I can tell from how she posts that she's an outgoing, fun and exuberant person.  

I was on a forum in 1997 but didn't stay on it or remain friends with anyone.  I do have friends I've known online since 2002 from an American expats forum.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 25, 2016)

Another ancient site we will visit:

http://www.odinorkney.com/pages/maeshoweabout.html

And some standing stones:

https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/ring-of-brodgar-p669061


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## Pinky (Apr 25, 2016)

Great that you will meet up with your longtime internet friend. That's how I met my best friend who lives in S.Au. who I shared interests with, back in late '99. It will be interesting, getting to know one another and sharing travel experiences together. Looking at the images, gives me shivers (since I was a very small child, I felt a connection to the Scots .. go figure).


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## Ameriscot (Apr 25, 2016)

Pinky said:


> Great that you will meet up with your longtime internet friend. That's how I met my best friend who lives in S.Au. who I shared interests with, back in late '99. It will be interesting, getting to know one another and sharing travel experiences together. Looking at the images, gives me shivers (since I was a very small child, I felt a connection to the Scots .. go figure).



Yes it will be nice to finally get together.  

I love ancient sites.  Saw some for the first time in Ireland.  And Scotland also has tons of them!


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## jnos (Apr 25, 2016)

Great story and photos. Thanks, too, for the map, for those of us who have never left the US (except for Canada at least). Looking forward to hearing how it goes.


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## SeaBreeze (Apr 25, 2016)

Sounds wonderful Ameriscot, I know you'll have a great time!


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## Fern (Apr 25, 2016)

I'm always so fascinated by history. The older it is, the more I find it fascinating.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 25, 2016)

Thanks all.  It's the same for me - the older it is the more I'm fascinated.  When I got married one of the places my husband took me (I'd never been to Scotland) was Kilmartin Glen which is jam packed with 5,000 year old burial cairns, cup and ring markings, standing stones, stone circles, etc.


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## vickyNightowl (Apr 26, 2016)

How great is that?!!

Have fun,I can't wait to see all the adventure in pictures!


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## Ameriscot (Apr 26, 2016)

vickyNightowl said:


> How great is that?!!
> 
> Have fun,I can't wait to see all the adventure in pictures!



I'm ready to go now!  Been looking at Orkney on streetview google maps.  We decided renting a car is the best option and since I can't drive a manual but my friend can, we're renting a manual (the most common here) and is nearly half the cost of an automatic. 

In the meantime - sister is coming end of May and we're all flying to Michigan together mid June.  Then in July a wedding to go to and my Australian inlaws will be here and we'll spend lots of time with them. Then....end of August - Orkney!  In between all this some nice, long bike rides.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 26, 2016)

jnos said:


> Great story and photos. Thanks, too, for the map, for those of us who have never left the US (except for Canada at least). Looking forward to hearing how it goes.



Here's a better map showing the entire UK.  Orkney had 70 islands and north of that is the Shetland islands.  I believe the Orcadians and those on the Shetlands don't really think of themselves as Scottish.  Lots of Viking heritage.  I'm very curious to hear the accent and how well I can understand it.  They have some of their own unique words as well.  The town of Kirkwall where we'll be staying was settled in the 11th century.


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## Myquest55 (Apr 26, 2016)

Oh, that sounds like a WONDERFUL trip!!  My sister and I have talked about visiting the Viking settlement in New Foundland but not sure we'll ever get there!  I have seen photos of the sites in the Orkneys and Shetlands - so amazing they are still there.  I also hope you will share photos with us, along with any other tidbits of knowledge interesting enough to share.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 26, 2016)

Myquest55 said:


> Oh, that sounds like a WONDERFUL trip!!  My sister and I have talked about visiting the Viking settlement in New Foundland but not sure we'll ever get there!  I have seen photos of the sites in the Orkneys and Shetlands - so amazing they are still there.  I also hope you will share photos with us, along with any other tidbits of knowledge interesting enough to share.



I've been wanting to visit Orkney since I heard about that settlement, probably about 12 or 14 years ago.  Got hooked on ancient sites when I visited Ireland in 1998.  

As always I'll take lots of photos.


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## Ameriscot (May 1, 2016)

I've looked up a list of ancient sites in Scotland - many are 5,000 years old and some go back as far as 10,000BC!

http://www.scotland-inverness.co.uk/stones.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_prehistoric_Scotland

This is one of my favourites.  Husband took me on our honeymoon and we often take visitors there or go back on our own.

http://www.kilmartin.org/

Our most recent trip to Kilmartin last year on a bike ride.  I'm standing atop a burial cairn.


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## Capt Lightning (May 1, 2016)

Here's a small one near me.  Its history is a bit confused.  It does have very early origins, but in later years it was removed  by farmers clearing the land. It was then rebuilt by archeoligists using he original stones and what historical evidence they could find.


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## Ameriscot (May 1, 2016)

Nice one Capt. These are the closest to where I live. 

http://www.castlehousemuseum.org.uk/distant/distantb.html


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## Ameriscot (May 1, 2016)

Capt, don't know if you'd be interested, but the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh is having a Celts exhibition from March to Sept.  One item is the Gundestrup Cauldron which I've read about and seen on the documentary The Celts from the 1980's, and it's also on the cover of one my books on the Celts.  

I'm spending a week in Edinburgh in June with my sister and husband so will definitely visit this.

http://www.nms.ac.uk/celts


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## Ameriscot (May 1, 2016)

This report is a few years old, but this is one of the sites we'll visit on Orkney.


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## Capt Lightning (May 1, 2016)

That's an impressive piece of silverwork.  

Looking in the opposite direction to the stone circle is this horse carved into the hillside.  Of much more recent origin, but still impressive..


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## Ameriscot (Aug 5, 2016)

Making final plans for this visit.  My friend is now in London visiting friends and will come up to Scotland in a couple of weeks for a Pagan wedding.  Then we'll meet up and head to Orkney.  

I got a newsletter in my email that said this year they are offering a new twilight tour of Skara Brae.  It has to be booked ahead, only 12 people at a time, and we get to see sections that the public can't.  The site gets quite crowded during the day, so this will be really nice.  While reading this I thought, yea, right it'll cost 100 or more.  Nope. 10 each!  

http://www.orkney.com/whats-new/twilight-skara-brae

The rest of the sites are free to me because I'm a Historic Scotland member, and my friend will get the Explorer Pass for 3 days.  

I'm going to bring my 'real' camera with all the lenses, my phone camera of course, and I think I'll bring my GoPro video cam and stick it to the dashboard for the drive.


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## Shalimar (Aug 5, 2016)

Great pics!


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## Pinky (Aug 5, 2016)

The Twilight Tours is brilliant, and so is the fee. I am already excited to see your photos from the trip. Enjoy!


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## Ameriscot (Aug 5, 2016)

Pinky said:


> The Twilight Tours is brilliant, and so is the fee. I am already excited to see your photos from the trip. Enjoy!



Thanks.  We go on the 22nd.  Wishing we'd booked for 3 nights instead of 2!


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## Byrd (Aug 11, 2016)

Never been to Scotland myself, but I've always (ever since reading about it in novels as a child) been fascinated with celtic culture. I do love modern celtic music. Maybe I should give it a go one day before I can't.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 11, 2016)

Byrd said:


> Never been to Scotland myself, but I've always (ever since reading about it in novels as a child) been fascinated with celtic culture. I do love modern celtic music. Maybe I should give it a go one day before I can't.



I highly recommend a visit to Scotland and/or Ireland!  You'd love it.


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## oakapple (Aug 12, 2016)

Have fun ( not quite the right word) but visited Skara a few years ago, and it is very atmospheric, especially if you have a good imagination.I  think it was a bleak site, very stark, but then when it was inhabited, that is what a lot of life was like.I love Scotland.:love_heart:


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## Ameriscot (Aug 12, 2016)

oakapple said:


> Have fun ( not quite the right word) but visited Skara a few years ago, and it is very atmospheric, especially if you have a good imagination.I  think it was a bleak site, very stark, but then when it was inhabited, that is what a lot of life was like.I love Scotland.:love_heart:



Thanks.  Looks like there are so many sites that our two days won't be enough!


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## bluebreezes (Aug 14, 2016)

I hope you'll have some photos to share from your adventure too. I would love to get to Scotland at some point since my family is of 100% Scottish heritage and I'm the only one who hasn't been (although I've been to Ireland). I'd particularly like to explore several of the islands. A few years back I took an intensive Scottish Gaelic language course offered by the Gaelic College in Englishtown, NS, and it was a wonderful experience. I've still got the book we used, but without others to practice with, it's a bit tricky to keep the skills up.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 14, 2016)

bluebreezes said:


> I hope you'll have some photos to share from your adventure too. I would love to get to Scotland at some point since my family is of 100% Scottish heritage and I'm the only one who hasn't been (although I've been to Ireland). I'd particularly like to explore several of the islands. A few years back I took an intensive Scottish Gaelic language course offered by the Gaelic College in Englishtown, NS, and it was a wonderful experience. I've still got the book we used, but without others to practice with, it's a bit tricky to keep the skills up.



I always take tons of photos.    I attempted to learn Gaelic - too tough!  Hope you can visit Scotland and there are many gorgeous islands.  I love ancient sites and we've got plenty.


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