I missed something in yesterday's blog, so let me add it now.
Stats:
Horses: 11
Shetland Ponies: 2
Cattle: 1000
Sheep: 500000
Owl: 1
Today was our day off. We got up at the leisurely hour of 7:30 (cough) to be down for breakfast at 8. Still didn't feel like enough sleep but we've done nothing but go go go since we arrived. First, we have to show you the humble entrance to our perfect hotel.
We had several goals for the day, the first of which was to spend money along Albert Street. That's where the majority of the shops are and where they're clearly used to tourists. ("Oh, you're looking for that shop? It moved last year and Google Maps hasn't updated," we were told by a very polite shopkeeper.)
As luck would have it, the Google Maps fail took us to a lovely shop with plenty of Christmas present potential items. We picked up everything from hairy coo (highland cattle) socks, to a Scottish baby book for Mum's new great-niece, to a cards saying "Thank you for looking after our plants." That last one is going to our next door neighbour. I'm not telling who the socks are for. Nope, not telling.
After we contributed to the economy on one side of Albert Street, we wanted to be equal opportunity spenders, and went to the other side, looking for the one shop I will always go to in any city I'm in: the bookshop. It was this shop that had moved but Google Maps took me serendipitously to the first shop. At The Orcadian, many books were picked up. Several were purchase. Some will become presents. Some are mine all mine!
I should mention it was at this point we lost Dad, because Dad knows what Mum and I are like when we get into a bookshop. He wandered back to the hotel because 1) he was tired and 2) he could have a nap and be back before Mum and I would be finished in the bookshop. I believe his reasons were fifty/fifty for point 1 and point 2.
Eventually, we were hungry because hunting and gathering books is a tiring affair, so we went to a tiny little place called the Pomona Cafe. I find the name funny because a friend of mine just named their cat Pomona. There were no cats in the cafe but there was a sultana and cherry scone that Mum devoured. I had a croissant with brie and bacon, because as much as I love scones, I don't like cherries. They taste too much like cough medicine for me. Anyone who was a child in the 80s understands this.
After supporting Kirkwall's small businesses, we headed back to the hotel to both check on Dad and pick up all the souvenirs we've collected thus far. To avoid having overweight luggage at the airport tomorrow, Mum and I took it all to the post office to ship home. We discovered last year that it is actually cheaper to send stuff home via the post then it is to pay overweight baggage fees and play roulette with whether or not they will allow your luggage on the plane at all.
There was one other place I really wanted to go today. I wanted to see some famous balls. I follow these balls on Twitter (bite me Elon, it will always be Twitter) and how they frequently get in verbal battles with their counterpart in Shetland.
The balls belong to the Kirkwall Library and Archives, which will often snipe at the Shetland Library. This past week they've been playing virtual Boggle where all their words are insults. Shetland gives as good as it gets though, so no one is either the victim or villain in this battle.
I lost Mum in the library for a while, and anyone who has ever even briefly met my mother knows how likely that was to happen.
Mum and I contributed to the library fundraiser and then went back to Mounthoulie Place, aka, The Albert Hotel for a bit of a rest before dinner.
Before I discuss dinner, I have to show you my room, both halves of it. I mentioned when I first arrived there were two halves, a sleeping and seating area, and both have televisions. I don't know how that would work if both were on at the same time, but Dad would've loved the setup to watch the Stanley Cup Finals (if they weren't in the middle of the night).
I love my hotel room.
Dinner was back at The Neuk because their food is yummy and the chefs there are brilliant at adapting anything for Dad.
For the first time in years, Dad cleared his plate four days in a row. He even made room for dessert, somehow, we all did. It was a hardship but dessert needed to be eaten and we would not fail it.
Now that we are stuffed to the gills, it's time to pack up as our flight is at 10:40 tomorrow morning. Mum and Dad are pretty much all packed, but my suitcase looks like it spent some time in the Orkney wind, so I must be off.
Stats:
None today. There aren't any horses, sheep, cattle, or owls in downtown Kirkwall.
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