here, there, everywhere

In Kirkwall, the main city on the Orkney Mainland, where I've finally been able to get internet access; I got here by ferry on Monday night after taking a slow bus that wove its way through the highlands and up the coastline from Inverness, and spent the first two days in Stromness, a smaller city on the south end of the Mainland. My first day here I took a bus tour (as no one in Orkney would appreciate it if I tried to drive) which went to a handful of the major archeological sites on the island; the whole landscape is peppered with neolithic and viking ruins, most of which are largely unrestricted, which means there are giant stone circles older and vaster than Stonehenge that you can frolic around (if you're so inclined) and touch, and partially excavated prehistoric village settlements that you can wander around freely. Yesterday I rented a bike and somewhat stupidly set off through cow pastures and past two lochs back towards some of the stone circles I'd seen the day before; it was about ten miles round trip and I haven't ridden a bike in years, which means I can barely walk today, but it was probably worth the searing pain to be able to stand all alone in the middle of a cow pasture with just the cows and stones for company.