We have long wanted to visit these islands, and the fact that this cruise made stops here was a real selling point.
We got a fairly rude welcome, in that we had to go through UK immigration at 6:30am, preceding our 8:30am arrival. We showed up at 6:20am, and those who know us know that that is a rather early hour for us. The line was already quite long, but it moved along relatively quickly. The only answer to that imposition in our leisurely pace was to decide which restaurant to visit for an early breakfast. It did not go as well for many who followed us. The order of staterooms to be screened was obviously set by the value of our rooms. The two decks of us at the lower end of the pecking order drew the 6:30am time slot, while the various upper decks drew later times. However, the two UK immigration folks had a hard time keeping up, and there were soon announcements telling people not to come until further notice. We were safely out of the queue before all that, luckily.
For only the second time on our cruise, we had to tender in to Lerwick, Shetland. The winds were strong enough that we could not dock as planned and had to use our tenders to make landfall. We had a bus trip around the main island and got a sense of its topography and habitation. It was a more gentle land than we expected, and offered lovely sweeping views across the island as well as to other islands in the archipelago.
We saw many sheep, and it was shortly after lambing season--lots of ewes and young lambs visible everywhere. (Our guide told us there are about 7,000 people on this island, but 280,000 sheep!) We also saw Shetland ponies here and there (if not here, where?). We heard that the ponies can be quite temperamental. Some folks who went on a Shetland pony excursion got nipped, and went home with some funny stories of their up close and personal time with these creatures.
There are lots of stone walls on the Shetland Islands, but no trees. A Shetland saying is, "If you're lost in Shetland, stand up." And there is wind. Apparently, the wind is just an accepted fact of life here. They also have a large coral reef system here, resulting in a number of pretty, pale sandy beaches, in this case, dotted with seals.
After touring about, we spent some time in the old stone city of Lerwick. We definitely got a sense of being someplace very different from where we'd been so far on this trip.
Our weather took another step south on Thursday in Orkney. Lots more wind, but this time accompanied by colder temperatures and solid rain. Our highlight here was a visit to a circle of standing stones--think a small version of Stonehenge. The wind and rain and bitter temps added to the mystical nature of these old stones. As we modern folks trudged out to the stones and then walked amongst them, we had the droning wind to help set the scene.
We also got to see the Italian Cathedral, an old Quonset hut (with a fancy facade) that was ornately decorated by a group of Italian prisoners of war during WWII. Quite a feat of determination and zeal.
After returning to our ship, we caught the shuttle bus that took us into Kirkwall, the main city in Orkney. We visited the grand St. Magnus Cathdral and wandered down the cobbled streets.
A very brief visit to two spots we'd wanted to see. Such abbreviated time left us wanting more, but at least we now have a good sense of what these pretty islands are like.
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