A Shift of Circumstance

March and April have brought longer days and lighter moods into my life. Spring however has also brought immense changes. I got a new job in Inverness so I will be moving soon. Tomorrow actually.

The position is only seasonal so it’s not quite as settled as I was hoping for but it is a decent wage and will definitely look good on my CV. While I’ve gotten a new job I haven’t yet found a place to live in Inverness so I’ll have to live in a hostel to start with. However the letting market seems to constantly shift and move and make new houses and apartments available so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a place to live.

Considering how lonely Orkney was when I just moved here and had no way of really meeting friends I was apprehensive about moving somewhere completely new and unknown once again, but luckily one of my favourite people in the world needed a change of pace and is coming to Scotland too. We’ll be living together and I can’t wait for all the fun and cosy times we are gonna have. I really have missed her and many of my friends in Denmark.

As I’m saying goodbye to Orkney I’ve finally gotten round to doing a couple of the things I kept telling myself I had to see and do while I was living here, one of them was seeing the upper levels of the cathedral.

St. Magnus Cathedral is really a magnificent building and nearly every window in the church is fitted with stained glass windows.

The cathedral was founded in 1137 by Earl Rognvald, nephew of St Magnus himself. Its been extended and repaired extensively since then and now look completely different than it did upon the original completion.

A stone removed from the original window frame in one of the big windows during later repairs. Here you can see the makers marks from the stone masons who carved these rocks.

Stained and painted glass window portraying Harald Hårfager the Norwegian king. Most of the windows in the Cathedral contain stained glass windows.

The west entrance of the Cathedral and the central nave with the baptismal font right inside the entrance.

The west window is the lastest addition to the building and is full of Orkney imagery.

One of the figures on the beautiful wooden pulpit, probably one of the disciples.

My last day in Orkney was mainly spent at work but I also had time to go swimming at Inganess beach with my roommate, pack the last few things and try to make myself mentally ready for leaving tomorrow morning and then being kind of homeless for the next little while.

So many things are changing and I’ll miss so many people here but I’m also so so so excited for all the new things. I feel really brave and ready to handle this just now, so fingers crossed that feeling stays.

I hope you all the best and if you’re though change just hold on and ride it out, things always somehow settle again.