The Bois and Read Families' trip to Scotland


The Morning of June 16, 2000: Callanish, Caroloway and Blackhouse Village

Danusia and I stayed at the flat again and Al picked us up for breakfast.  We again had trouble getting Adam going but it wasn't long before we were out and about.  This would be our last full day on Lewis and there was still lots to see.


Callanish I

The Standing Stones at Callanish are over 5000 years old, predating Stonehenge.  There are a few theories, but no one's sure who built this stone circle, or how or why - though some of the stones line up with astrological events.
Over the centuries, the stones were slowly buried in peat.  They were rediscovered and excavated just over a hundred years ago.

There are two smaller stone circles nearby, but even though they're each impressive, this one is huge and gets all the attention.  There's just something special about it.
Adam, me and Danusia at Callanish.  Danusia claims her Playboy Bunny pose was unintentional .

We had lunch at the Callanish Visitor Center and continued north.  This is the ruins of the Carloway Broch, built by Picts over 2000 years ago.  What's left of it is covered by moss on the outside so it looks like part of the hill.  Brochs were stone towers that served as both house and barn.  You can see from the picture on the right that it had two walls, one inside the other.
The two-foot space between them was used for storage and simultaneously insulated the place.  Ingenious, huh? 

The ground floor was where the animals were kept.  There was a wooden floor above that, and that's where the people lived.


We continued north to the sea and then followed the coast to the northeast.  We came upon a reconstruction of a blackhouse village.  It's essentially what a town would have looked like two hundred years ago. 

We didn't stay long because the next tour wouldn't start for over an hour, so we had a quick look around.
The houses have stone walls and thatch roofs because those are the local natural resources.  The Hebrides will never run out of rocks. 

This is a newly thatched roof.  The thatch is held in place by a rope webbing weighed with stones. 

Next:  The Afternoon of June 16, 2000
 
 
Florida to London: Danusia's side trip
London to Edinburgh: Grey Mare's Tail
Edinburgh to Luing: Edinburgh Castle, the ferry to Luing
Luing to Aviemore: Hill climbing, grey weather
Aviemore to Foyers: Glenfiddich distillery, Loch Ness, Falls of Foyers
Foyers to Glen Sheil: More of Loch Ness and Falls of Foyers, Urquhart Castle, Glen Sheil
Glen Sheil to Stornoway: Eilean Donan Castle, ferry from Uig to Tarbert
Stornoway, Luskentyre and Tarbert
The morning of June 16, 2000
 Callanish
Dail Mor
Ceilidh on the lawn
Stornoway to Inverness: A quick good-bye, foggy ferry ride, bus to Inverness
Inverness to London: Hot Hamlet, Floridians get sunburned

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