Stornoway is so unlike all the places we have been on this trip so far. I mean seriously! I admit that in other places, we have really had a hard time finding people to talk to, let alone interview them. It was really hard at first and we just came to the realization that’s just the way it is here. Its not America. There isn’t going to be people on every street you turn on. Don’t get me wrong, once you find people here, in general, they are super super nice (as you have read about the people we’ve met). That part is great! But without waltzing right in someone’s house, it was hard to find people to connect with. Even in places like Leverburgh where opportunities were better, we still had to go seek out people more than you would think.
Stornoway is another story altogether. For my American city self, it is much more like what I am used to so automatically I feel more comfortable. But there are people everywhere all day (well from 9-5) and some places are even open until 9 or 10 at night. That’s totally crazy compared to other places we have been. And it’s so weird to me because in the US, that is early! We have places open 24/7! Cultures are different and it has been so interesting to me to see the differences within Scotland between bigger places like Stornoway and Glasgow and smaller areas like Castlebay, Leverburgh, South Galson, and Lochmaddy. And on top of that to see the difference between Scotland and the US, which is of course a big difference.
Today we did a small bit of touristing. I don’t know if that’s a word, but I used it. But we had seen a sale in one of the stores, so of course we had to check that out. Later on after lunch, we went to check out a local loom shop we had seen earlier. I don’t know how much you know about Harris Tweed, but it’s famous and made in Harris! The shop was so cool and had fabric laying everywhere and stuff was plastered all over the wall about the history of the island.
We went in just to look, but it turned into a 2 hour exploration of the shop and conversation with the man named Ronnie who ran the place. He had so much history to tell us about the island and Stornoway and Harris Tweed and anything else! So I decided to ask him a question I had had since I got to Glasgow. What is the difference between the two flags I have seen around Scotland? I know one (the blue and white cross one) was the official one, but there is also a very popular one that is yellow with a red lion on it. And he didn’t know the answer! So he just got up and walked down the street to ask people if they knew. He was just stopping people as they walked by. It was hilarious. We never found out on the street but I looked it up a minute ago. Here is the best answer I found, if you want to know:
After that we walked into a religious book shop (that was literally the name of it). We talked with the lady there and she said her husband would love to do an interview for us! So later on tonight he came over to the hostel and we talked with him. He had SO MUCH information. And he sang us a Gaelic psalm! Score.
Good day. Tomorrow is our last day here and we are going to be chauffeured around town by Donald, the man we met last night.
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| Stornoway Harbor |
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