More Isles!
Jun. 13th, 2010 06:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bebootsOriginally written June 10th
It turns out that my previous negative attitude towards the Isles of Lewis and Harris was totally unjustified. For all the hassle it took getting up there in the first place, it was actually nearly worth it!
... I may actually go back at some future date.
First of all, the scenery is gorgeous. There is also a set of massive standing stones, older and better preserved than Stonehenge that I totally missed because we had no access to vehicles beyond buses on set routes and expensive taxis. It's called Callanish, and until the mid-1800s, it was mostly burried in a five-foot layer of peat, preserving, well, the bottom five feet of the stones as well as the burial chamber, for thousands of years... At least until 19th century antiquarians and amateur "archaeologists" got their hands on it. ;P
The hostel we stayed at, the Am Botham Bunkhouse, was located in an idyllic little bowl-shaped valley on the seashore, with a little lake in the middle and lots of little fluffy lambs frollicking in the surrounding hills.
In fact, sheep seemed to outnumber human beings, which is rather peaceful after days in a big city like Belfast. You were right, guys.
On our only night there, we ate at a seafood restaurant down the way on the docks called "Anchorage". It looked kind of sketchy on the outside, but the inside was all recently renovated, tasteful hardwood and absolutely delicious, but cheap, fresh seafood dishes. I had a marinated Italian seafood salad, containing fesh fish, scallops, mussels, and tiny little (adorable) purple octopi. It was AMAZING. :)
The bunkhouse itself was great. I need to post photos of the eccentric decor. The front lawn had the spine of a large whale on it (by which I mean a row of old grey whalebones),and there was a rowboat hanging from the ceiling inside. The windows on the inner doors were portholes from sunken ships (specifically named, along with the fates of their crewmen - how many survived, drowned, or missing, on accompanying plaques. ) Our room suggested the interior of a steamship, from the shape of our bunkbeds to the door, which was opened by turning a little wheel. You'll need to see the photos. :)
We were the only people in our room, which was nice and peaceful. :) We chatted with a few of the other guests over breakfast in an equally uniquely decorated kitchen and dining room, including a retired Scottish couple and an Irish artist in her mid-forties, the latter of which was on her way to an even MORE islolated island.
Yeah, it turns out that there ARE more islolated British islands than Harris, despite the impression I gave in my past post. ;) For instance, I could have visited the ruins of the abandoned village on St.Kilda, once famously the most isolated inhabitted island in the British isles. Tourists visited it in the 19th century for bragging rights, just so they could say that they'd been to such a place. It was evacuated in the late 1920s after the market had declined so much that the islanders faced starvation.
By contrast, I like fresh seafood served on China plates next to a functioning ferry and bus terminal. Therefore, the Isle of Harris has a lot of things going for it. :)
It turns out that my previous negative attitude towards the Isles of Lewis and Harris was totally unjustified. For all the hassle it took getting up there in the first place, it was actually nearly worth it!
... I may actually go back at some future date.
First of all, the scenery is gorgeous. There is also a set of massive standing stones, older and better preserved than Stonehenge that I totally missed because we had no access to vehicles beyond buses on set routes and expensive taxis. It's called Callanish, and until the mid-1800s, it was mostly burried in a five-foot layer of peat, preserving, well, the bottom five feet of the stones as well as the burial chamber, for thousands of years... At least until 19th century antiquarians and amateur "archaeologists" got their hands on it. ;P
The hostel we stayed at, the Am Botham Bunkhouse, was located in an idyllic little bowl-shaped valley on the seashore, with a little lake in the middle and lots of little fluffy lambs frollicking in the surrounding hills.
In fact, sheep seemed to outnumber human beings, which is rather peaceful after days in a big city like Belfast. You were right, guys.
On our only night there, we ate at a seafood restaurant down the way on the docks called "Anchorage". It looked kind of sketchy on the outside, but the inside was all recently renovated, tasteful hardwood and absolutely delicious, but cheap, fresh seafood dishes. I had a marinated Italian seafood salad, containing fesh fish, scallops, mussels, and tiny little (adorable) purple octopi. It was AMAZING. :)
The bunkhouse itself was great. I need to post photos of the eccentric decor. The front lawn had the spine of a large whale on it (by which I mean a row of old grey whalebones),and there was a rowboat hanging from the ceiling inside. The windows on the inner doors were portholes from sunken ships (specifically named, along with the fates of their crewmen - how many survived, drowned, or missing, on accompanying plaques. ) Our room suggested the interior of a steamship, from the shape of our bunkbeds to the door, which was opened by turning a little wheel. You'll need to see the photos. :)
We were the only people in our room, which was nice and peaceful. :) We chatted with a few of the other guests over breakfast in an equally uniquely decorated kitchen and dining room, including a retired Scottish couple and an Irish artist in her mid-forties, the latter of which was on her way to an even MORE islolated island.
Yeah, it turns out that there ARE more islolated British islands than Harris, despite the impression I gave in my past post. ;) For instance, I could have visited the ruins of the abandoned village on St.Kilda, once famously the most isolated inhabitted island in the British isles. Tourists visited it in the 19th century for bragging rights, just so they could say that they'd been to such a place. It was evacuated in the late 1920s after the market had declined so much that the islanders faced starvation.
By contrast, I like fresh seafood served on China plates next to a functioning ferry and bus terminal. Therefore, the Isle of Harris has a lot of things going for it. :)
