Shetland Day 1

Super pretty train trip from Glasgow to Aberdeen yesterday. It looked more like France than Scotland, with rolling fields full of blooming mustard plants, and a few with lavender. It was so scenic it was hard for me to read, and it’s tough to get me to put down a good book.

Our luck with weather was holding strong all day. We walked to a tiny neighborhood locally called Fittie, properly known at Footdee, so named because it’s at the foot of the River Dee. It was the original Aberdeen fishing village, and was very tiny, very cute. 

There’s a new, fairly fancy restaurant at the end of the point, and we just made it in time to have lunch. Our server had such a bad sunburn on his face he was hard to look at, and he wasn’t the only person I saw who has not listened to the NHS warnings about wearing sunblock!

Restaurant is the building on the right - top floor all glass

We had about four hours to kill after lunch, so we walked around Union St, the main commercial area, then sat in a lovely public garden and just watched the world go by for a bit.

After stops at Waterstones for books and M&S for salads, we went to the NorthLink Ferry terminal to catch our ride to Shetland. There was a mixup with our reservation, and if we’d been traveling on the weekend we would have been stuck sitting up all night. But it wasn’t crowded and they had a tiny interior room left.

It was a little like being at camp, if your cabin swayed slightly all night. I’ve not been in a bed that small in many, many years, but it was much better than sitting upright for 13 hours.

After we crawled out of our pitch-dark cave this morning, we were once again greeted by blinding sun, clear skies and warm temps. We had to wait a while for a car to be delivered, but we’re on island time, so we didn’t mind.

Once I got the hang of driving from the right on the left, we went to a fantastic espresso bar for breakfast. It was easily as good as any latte I’ve had in New York, and we were able to sit outside in shirtsleeves to enjoy it.

I follow a couple of Scottish libraries on Twitter, one of them in Shetland. We had time, so we went for a look and were pleased to meet the library’s mascot, Super Sheltie. I’ve never gotten so many “likes” on a Tweet, which clearly shows that a hand puppet is more popular than I!

Then it was down to the harbor to meet up with a little boat for a tour of Bressay, an island with lots of seabirds. The fellas, Kenny and Joe, were lovely guides, full of information and good cheer.

The boat was advertised as a twelve person capacity, but we were kind of cramped with just the four of us. The sea seemed pretty calm until we got out to where the birds were. Then we started rocking pretty hard. Kenny thought he might give it a try and attempt to get close to the cliffs anyway, but Joe talked him out of it. If he hadn’t, Carolyn would have <s>.

Even though we didn’t get close, we saw plenty of seals, a few puffins, a good number of gannets, and a variety of cormorant that I’ve not seen before. We were followed by a black-backed gull who was certain we’d feed him, but his certainty was misplaced. If I’d had food I wouldn’t have given it to him, since I’m fond of my finger tips.

As we got close to the harbor, some of the seals who’ve been tempted with food followed us in. They would have climbed into the boat if they’d had the ability!

After our trip, we checked into the hotel in Scalloway, the former capital of Shetland. Nice place, but the room is only slightly bigger than we had on the ferry. Kind of New York sized. But the dinner we had here was good, and the beds are comfy.

All is well!