Trip to Scotland
Staying in the Highlands
Arriving at Wick
We finally arrived at Wick at around 11:00 pm . . . and got off the train just in time to see the ONE cab pulling away from the station. Finally found a phone booth and tried the numbers the hotel gave us for cab companies - neither worked. Luckily there was a police station right there so Paul went and asked if they had any other numbers for cab companies. Luckily they did. The man came to pick us up in a few minutes that felt like a week.
He dropped us off at the door of the hotel where a hedgehog greeted us - a real one. I guess I never thought about them living wild somewhere - I had only seen them in a pet stores before.
We entered the hotel and were greeted by "Igor" (I have no idea what his real name was). He was creepy enough but then he showed us to our rooms - it was too late to run. This was where Kjersti's smile finally faded - she was done!
We tried to make the best of a bad situation and tried to accept it with a smile (grimace) but we survived by reminding ourselves that we were in the highlands - that doesn't mean "high-living" it means survival.
If you are accustomed to fancy hotels - look long and hard before deciding on a place to stay in the highlands. When they say quaint - they mean rustic - which is to say - more rustic than even I'm used to.
Anyway - another issue in the north is the length of night. We got there around 11:00 pm and it had just gotten dark. Kjersti mentioned that she thought it was around 8:00 pm - not 11. Then at 3:00 am I was awakened by bright daylight coming through the window - that was it for sleeping.
And - oddly enough no one there does mornings! Igor asked us what time we wanted breakfast and when we said around 7:00 I thought he was going to faint.
Scenes from our digs in Keiss
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 This is what is discribed on the website as an "attractive view over Sinclair's Bay". |
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Quoted material here from the website descriptions: Top photos are the "cosy bedrooms" . . . "attractively furnished bedrooms at the Sinclair Bay have colour television and tea/coffee hospitality tray, and most have en suite facilities. Most bedrooms enjoy attractive views over Sinclair's Bay."
As it turns out the rooms where scary to say the least and the TV in my room made some kind of weird noise - I thought it was going to blow up!
Luckily that's a convenience store across the street where we found food.
Next page - touring the Orkney Islands