07/15/11 - Amy

"Orkney"
So, for Matt's birthday I cooked up a little surprise. As his nickname may indicate, he studies Vikings. There are some remnants of Viking culture in the UK, although not many. We had already been to York, where there was one big settlement. Another haven for them within easy reach is in the Orkney Islands, which are surprisingly not too far from Aberdeen - just a five hour drive to the ferry, and a 90 minute sailing across. For some reason or other, I wanted the trip to be a surprise, so I told him that what I was planning would last for two days and require a change of clothes and a toothbrush. Although he guessed I had some trip planned, he had no idea where we were going. And it remained that way until we entered the port! It was a fun 5-hour drive, because all along the way I kept teasing him by reading the road signs and suggesting that the local farm museum/random small village/quarry in the distance was our destination.
Our trip to Orkney was fortuitous, as it happened to coincide with the tall ship races between Orkney and Shetland, which meant that there were these lovely boats in the ports of Stromness and Kirkwall to look at, and that the whole island was all abuzz with excitement!