Back to Scotland — Isle of Lewis



 I was under the impression that Scotland is basically one place, just north of England. Was I ever mistaken! It is made up of 790 islands, of which 94 are inhabited.  So today we docked at Stornaway on the Isle of Lewis.  In the afternoon we took a very interesting shore excursion.

We visited three interesting places on the isle:  the Callanish standing stones, which predate Stonehenge by about 2,000 years. Set in the shape of a Celtic cross, it is based on the lunar calendar.  We also saw the Carloway Broch, a defensive tower built around 100 BC. We stopped at Gearrannan, where there is a museum of ancient “black houses.” Here people and their animals lived together, using peat for fuel, as recently as 1974!

The Callanish Standing Stones






The Broch — the outer wall was five or six feet wide!  The entrance was very low.







The Black Houses






The heather is in bloom every where.  Lovely!




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