October 7 -- Inverness-Thurso-Stomness-Kirkwall

We left fairly early this morning for the train station.  We got on our train and headed from Inverness to Thurso, by the way of Wick.

We got to Thurso with a few hours to spare so we asked the taxi driver to take us to a place for "eats".

He took us to a pub that only served drinks.

We found a little restaurant to wait out our time until our ferry was ready to leave for Stomness.

The ferry.

Ugh.

I get motion sick, the high speed train was making me sick, then we had the ferry....They said moderate swells...when the ferry slapped down on the surface of the ocean, knowing that the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean were meeting underneath me....well, lets say, all I could do was breathe through it.

We landed in Stromness and took the city bus to Kirkwall, 132 km/h down narrow roads was only adding to the sick feeling I had.

We got to the visitor's centre and literally our hotel was a stones throw from there.

The Kirkwall Hotel, built in the 1800s.  It was home.  They were amazingly friendly and helpful.  We arrived late and due to my motion sickness I hadn't eaten since lunch.  At 10.30 they opened the kitchen and fed me a sandwich and 2 salads.

We flopped into bed ready for a great day of adventure tomorrow!

My initials are in the carpet!!

I thought the ferry and the bus were scary....the elevator looked original to the build of the hotel.