A Triumphant Return to Orkney

I first arrived in Orkney on the night of 7th September 2004. It turned out to be an unexpected paradise, and for the subsequent eight years, one month, and fifteen days, I dreamed of returning. Last Thursday, just before midnight, I achieved that dream.

Ladies and gentlemen, I spent the weekend in Orkney, one of my two favorite non-American locations on the planet. I spent the entire weekend experiencing what the islands had to offer to me, and took more than 250 pictures. Orkney boasts such a wealth of history, and so many distinct and fascinating attractions, that there would be no way to do any of it justice with just one post. Therefore, over the ensuing weeks, I'll be posting one or two features about Orkney per week under the featured tag "Island Paradise". After more than eight years, it will be a labor of love that I expect to perceive as being practically effortless.

Pictured is me at the top of Wideford Hill, overlooking the Orcadian capital of Kirkwall. Stay tuned, 'cause there's plenty more where that came from.