Although I chose the Bishop's Palace in Kirkwall for today's feature picture. our main adventure of the day was to visit ruins of an ancient 5,000 year old fishing village known as Skara Brae. This village was discovered after a violent storm in 1850 which left it partially exposed. After excavation, ten well-preserved houses were discovered.

Each house was built with flat stones found in abundance along the beaches. The houses had stone beds and closets. What I found most interesting is how the villagers threw out garbage which over time accumulated into piles known as midden. Since the midden provided heat and were piled high everywhere they were made into walls for a second set of homes.