UK (London & Scotland)
Arrived by train at Gare De( train station of---) Lille Flanders early afternoon of Tuesday 12 September . Just a short walk from Lille Flanders is the long distance station Gare De Lille Europe which serves high speed international routes including Eurostar and some regional high speed trains. We used the time to 'veg out' until our 1830 departure to London on the Brussels-London Eurostar service.
Gare De Lille Flanders 
Our train to London
A short trip and with the time difference arrived at St Pancras Station at 1900. Two short tube rides had us at our London Hotel located a 5 min walk to Kensington Gardens. Our stay here was only 2 nights before heading to Scotland. We spent the full day catching a train to Camden Town and linking up with Regents Canal walking the 'toe path' along the canal then onto Marble Arch and back to the hotel.
The next day (Thurs 14 Sept) we had a half day before our afternoon 4+hr train trip to Glasgow so spent the time exploring more of Kensington Gardens having finding it a great place to walk around from previous visits.
Colourful Camden Town
Regents Canal
Rolls-Royce Tce Cream Van
Had lunch at a Garden Cafe, back to the Hotel and picked up out Luggage then two tubes to Euston Station for our trip to Glasgow overnight, then train to Thurso and short taxi ride to Scrabster to connect with our 1730 Ferry to Stromness on the Orkney Islands.
mesmerised by the scenery
Glasgow (from hotel room)
Ferry to Orkneys
Orkney Islands
Glasgow (from hotel room)
Arrived evening of Friday Sept,15 at 2000, checked into our digs and had dinner. Next morning bus trip to Kirkwall (20 min ), the 'capital' of the Island, to pick up a rental car to explore the Island over the next 3 days. Our decision to visit here was primarily to hopefully view the Northern Lights. There are a number of vantage points around Orkney where sightings are common when the conditions are right. We have an app on our phones that gives good info regarding the level of solar activity, with one other important condition being a cloudless night or minimally so. We had one night forecast that met these conditions so ventured out to the western top end of the island that had an excellent vantage point. It was not long before we started to witness solar activity but without colour as the freezing cold windy conditions brought with it increased cloud cover to the point that it was obvious we were not going see the lights. But at least many on the other side of the island right down the east coast of Scotland, parts of England and most rarely, the south west of England had magnificent displays. To add insult to injury after our return ferry to Scrabster our taxi driver had a great show when he started work early morning in Thurso.
Despite our disappointment, there were some amazing sights to see. The island is renowned for it's historical archaeological sights dating back 6-7000 years to the first inhabitants, with Stonehenge like circles 1000 yrs older than their famous counterparts on Salisbury Plain.
Ferry Docked at Stromness
Around Stromness
Around Kirkwall
Around the Island
