LL from Calgary is my first visitor – I have been planning this trip for weeks. My main concern? – LL is v easygoing and will be happy with anything we do, but the weather is unpredictable, and I’m just afraid her memories of Orkney will be grey drizzle, and the smell of a wet dog in the back seat.
Scout likes everyone and is always happy to see other people, but when LL walked into the hotel room, Scout went nuts. Absolutely nuts. She hasn’t seen LL in almost 3 years, and it was clear she remembered her well. (I kinda got a little choked up.)
As you may have gathered, we like to shop, and we like trying new foods. I had packed my car for an 8-day road trip, and of course, all my packing involves Scout. LL was packing for a full month here, plus she has 3 weeks in the GTA, before heading home, so she had lots of luggage (once Aer Lingus found it). Oh, and I needed some housewares for the guestroom, which I could only get in Scotland (as opposed to the islands). Each day of the past week on the road, at least one of us was (a) re-packing a suitcase; and/or (b) buying clothes, or bedroom pillows, or dog food, or gin, or groceries. Each day of the week the free space in the car around us shrunk somewhat. First the boot/trunk filled to the point where I had to really push to close the door; then Scout’s space in the back seat was encroached upon; then, by the last day, LL was shoving bags down at her feet every time we got back into the car. As driver, I was the only one whose space was relatively unaffected.
Yesterday LL got her first taste of a typical Scottish day. Now, LL was raised in Manitoba, has lived all over Canada, and currently lives in Calgary, so she knows cold. Even though the forecast said it was 11 degrees, by the time we finished our errands in town in the rain and the wind, all she wanted was a cup of tea and a big bowl of steaming hot ramen. Everyone says, “it’s a different sort of cold”. It really, really is.
We also got our first taste of tourists from ‘the other side’. LL & I were just doing our grocery shopping, but in the stores, every time we turned to reach for some vegetables, or a loaf of bread, there was another tourist with a backpack, standing in our way, looking at the black pudding, or tins of marmalade. Don’t get me wrong, they were very nice, very polite, but they were just . . . there. At exactly the same time we realized, they were us. When we are wandering the shops along the Rhine, or in Bordeaux, or standing on the sidewalk in Barcelona, we are the tourist in the way. Every one of those times, I bet there was a local, just wanting to get her baguette and haricot verts, or pick up his dry cleaning. Hunh.
It’s first thing in the morning of day two and today was going to be laundry because of the weather, but it’s turned out to be sunny. So, we’re off to the Brough of Birsay to see the puffins. I’ve checked the forecast, the tide tables, and most importantly – the Harbourmaster’s site – no cruise ships today. Right, it’s a plan.