This morning we were up very early to watch the ship pull into the harbor of Lerwick, the capital, on Mainland in the Shetland Islands. The fog was so heavy it was hard to see but the sun did its job and by the time we were off on our bus the skies were much clearer and the temperatures climbed to 55 degrees by midday.
There is a collection of over 100 islands (only 12 of them inhabited) in the area referred to as the Shetland Islands, this was one of the largest. Over 7,000 of the total 23,000 residents live here. While it is a part of Scotland the people themselves prefer to refer to themselves as Shetlanders and their flag includes a Scandanavian cross since they were originally settled by the Norseman. All of the area we would be visiting has roots back to the Vikings who traveled all of this area with the men often stopping in the British Isles to get wives. This area seldom sees snow though this past winter they did have one snowfall.
On our bus ride, we passed peat fields where the residents cut the peat to dry and use for their heat.
This picture gives an idea of the process and Ken is holding a piece of peat
There are very few trees in the area due to the high winds that they experience and the fact that sheep graze all over and eat anything that is growing including tree shoots. And there are sheep everywhere!!!!!
Wool and mutton are local "industries" along with fishing - herring in particular - although that has been greatly reduced in recent years. Still it is fishing that makes up the major part of the economy, even more so than the North Sea oil. One of the things they use to be able to sell was Shetland Ponies but there is no longer much call for them so the number around has been reduced greatly. It actually costs more to raise them than they can sell them for.
The rolling green countryside and shorelines make for some absolutely beautiful scenery
One of the things we did see at an overlook was seals enjoying a respite on the beach and swimming in the shallow waters of a cove.
Our first major destination was to see Scalloway Castle - actually the ruins of this "home" built by a very cruel Patrick Steward, 2nd Earl of Orkney. It was built in the 16th century and allowed to go to ruin when he died. It can be seen here from a distance.
And then upclose when we wandered through the remains
We also toured the Jarlshof Ruins which has remnants of Stone Age buildings that are about 3,5000 years old. A violent storm in 1905 exposed the remains that have since been excavated by archaeologists. Built on top of this are foundations of Viking longhouses that date back to the 9th century. In the midst of it all is another castle built by the brother Patrick Stewart and also now in ruins.
Homes were primarily underground with mounded roofs and then tunnels from one to another underground.
Around the outsides of the circular structures were indented areas they assume were meant for individual families and then a central area for cooking and heating.
This was the foundation of a long house
And of course there was the castle or laird house
From there you could get a better overview of the area
In the little museum they had a few of the relics that have been found including this game
And this sketch on stone
On the wall was this map that gives a bit of an idea of where we would be traveling on this cruise as you can see the Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway as well as the British Isles our starting and ending point.
On our way back we were able to get a view of the seaport area
And since the fog had lifted a far better view of the island as we sailed out and headed for the Faroe Islands.
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