Ancient History & Mystery & Standing Stones

A day of discovery in the Outer Hebrides

     We are currently staying on the group of islands off the Scottish coast known as the Hebrides (pronounced Heb-rid-ease) and there is a tremendous amount of history, going way back.  Like the day Fiona was born here ... hey, just kidding!

      Actually more like 5,000 years back - to the days of druids and other ancient peoples - who built many landmarks that still stand to this day.   The stone arrangements above known as the Callanish Stones are a bit like Stonehenge. 

     And they are filled with mystery and with a lot of ancient mythology, such as - how did they build these things?  How did they transport the rocks here from somewhere far away?  And what is the design supposed to represent?

The Standing Stones of Callanish

     These pictures show the magnificent stones on the West coast of the island on a bluff above the sea.  They are sort of a timeless reminder that we have some ancient ancestors who were pretty clever.  
     This setting has been described as spectacular and even magical.

A retro black & white photo yesterday of Alison, Lewis, and Ruby

     
     It's kind of an amazing feeling to view these up close and absorb the atmosphere and hear the distant thunder ... hey, that really happened!   There was a huge thunderstorm with lightning and heavy rain and the whole bit yesterday when we were touring. 

The Tower at Carloway

     This was another amazing structure of immense size, built a long time ago by people who knew how to make things last.  You need to use your imagination, because at this point just the base is left, but just think the size it must have been.  Look hard and you can see some children sitting on the far side of the structure. 

    And there were internal stairways built of stone, with cool views.

 

The Black House Village

     People used to live in these houses and it wasn't so long ago - in fact there a few folks who still do.  This particular spot has been preserved and restored to show how life was a couple hundred years ago.  Things were tough. 

     It was basically a stone wall with a thatched roof.  It was a hardy building that could withstand the rugged weather and climate conditions.  It's windy on the island much of the time.  And the winter nights are cold and long.  
     We have the good fortune of being here at the height of summer, and the days are long ... see below.

Sunset over Stornoway (almost)

     I wanted to get a sunset picture here, and you have to wait up pretty late for that.  Last week was the longest day of the year, and that means that it never really gets dark here on the Island of Lewis.
     It's not quite the land of the midnight sun, but this is the far North Atlantic, and the sun sets at almost 11:00 pm, then sunrise is around 4:00 am, meaning it just gets kind of twilight at the darkest.
    So below is my best attempt at capturing the end of the day.  Got lucky when the clouds parted (did I mention the weather is iffy?) and the sun appeared for a brief time.