We kick off the fourth week of this cruise with our third port in a row which is Stornoway. This is the capital city of Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
Stornoway Morning
When I got to the crow’s nest for my morning coffee, we were passing Isle of Skye.
Since our tour today isn’t until 10 am, we had time to eat breakfast in the dining room.
We were there shortly after it opened and it took forever to get our breakfasts. We had no starters except for this cute cheese danish.
and I had the vegetable scramble with turkey sausage and Steve had eggs benedict with turkey sausage.
The waiter tried to tell us it was because they couldn’t find the sausage. Strange!
Stornoway Tour
We are taking the Historical Lewis tour which scheduled to last four hours.
Tour Description: Depart from Stornoway and cross the typical peat moors of central Lewis before heading toward the stunning west coast and the village of Callanish — site of the Callanish Standing Stones. This henge, in the shape of a Celtic cross, is the island’s most dramatic prehistoric ruins and dates from 1500 BC.
Next, continue along the beautiful Atlantic coastal road and stop at Carloway — a pretty parish with a scattering of island croft houses. Here you’ll see the Carloway Broch fortified stone tower, built around 100 BC for defensive purposes. It is the best-preserved broch in the Hebrides.
The Atlantic coastal road leads to the beautifully remote coastal settlement of Gearrannan. Step into this restored village of typical ‘black houses’ on the edge of the ocean. It’s like a journey back in time. Built as a combined byre, barn and home, with an open peat fire in the tradition of ancient long-houses, the black house was where folk lived together with their animals until as recently as the 1970s. In the museum, listen to an introductory talk about the history of this tradition, the village and the island.
Our tour was called fairly quickly and we loaded up on the tender. It was raining when we went over and did that off and on until after we returned.
Once outside the small cruise terminal, we found our bus and after it loaded up we were off for the first stop. The town of Stornoway was cute and we passed Lew’s castle on the way out of town which offers tours.
Callanish Standing Stones
The first stop was the Callanish standing stones. Along the way, we crossed peat moors and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
Yes that’s rain streaming down the windows! The Callanish stones pre-date Stonehenge and are supposedly in the shape of a Celtic cross although it is hard to see that from the ground (and while trying to stay dry).
Poor Steve got a bit wet when he took my photo!
It was beautiful here and although the stones are not as large as at Stonehenge there are more of them.
Access was unrestricted which was nice.
There is a gift shop, cafe and restrooms at this stop. I did buy some cherry shortbread which the two of us finished before the tour was over!
Carloway Broch
Back on the bus we headed to stop two which was the Carloway Broch.
It’s a stone fort built about 3,000 years ago. It’s pretty well preserved and you could still climb stairs inside it.
We had a break in the rain for most of this stop. Behind me is the view Steve’s looking at in the picture above.
This was the view from the other side.
Steve unknowingly dropped his binoculars on the way down the trail but fortunately someone behind us picked them up and gave them to the tour guide. Thank goodness! We’ve already lost a couple of pairs over the years.
Gearranan Village
Then we headed to the third and last stop. It was Gearrannan village of black houses.
These were actually lived in from the 1820s to the 1970s.
The residents were crofters which are tenant farmers.
It also has some re-enactment with guides to explain the home and one running the loom.
The peat fire sure was hot and effective.
Here’s dried peat stacked up in the home.
Along the way we had learned it takes 18,000 slabs of peat to heat the home yearly. A good peat cutter can do 1,000 slabs a day.
We passed this home on the way back.
Apparently a dead whale washed up from Japan and this homeowner decided to use bones as entrance to his yard.
Stornoway Afternoon and Evening
The town was quite busy due to a tattoo happening so decided not to try to find somewhere to eat in the rain and with all the people. Our tablemates said they were asked if they had a reservation when trying to have a bite in a cafe.
The weather did clear up in the mid afternoon while we were having late lunch onboard of sandwiches. I had the chicken salad which was pretty good. At the time we returned just sandwiches, salads and desserts was open (oh and sushi).
Dinner was in the main dining room.
I started with the seafood fritters.
While Steve had the crab cocktail. We both had the gourmet greens salad.
My entree was the fajitas.
Steve had sweet and sour shrimp.
He enjoyed it. Pistachio ice cream finished off my meal.
I was pretty tired tonight so read a bit before going to bed early.
Here’s today’s daily program. Click the image for the full PDF.
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