Graham Place

I stepped out of the door first thing this morning to a quiet peaceful Stromness devoid of people and traffic to make my way to the slip for a refreshing swim. I stepped out of the door two hours later into a horde of tourists clutching cameras and maps. Seven tour buses were parked at the harbour having spilled out people from the 3 cruise ships berthed at Kirkwall and Stromness today- a possible total of 3,500 people all intent in spending 30-40 minutes ticking the correct box on their Visit Orkney sheet. It felt as though I were back home but without Greyfriars’Bobby and the Castle.. 

Fortunately the Cheeky Monkey Taxi Service was at hand at the pier heid to whisk me away to the complete calm of Orphir where I dined regally at the home of the CMTS driver and the present Mrs Creel. It turned out that the driver was also the Maitre d’ for the lunch, a position he performed very well even though there were one or two niceties he missed. I pointed them out to him and I know he will be perfect the next time we meet. They are lovely hosts and as you can imagine the repartee was superb.

Home to sun and quieter streets.