I am off on the grand birding and archeology tour of the Northern Islands of Scotland while Nancy heads to Seattle and points U.S. My first stop--Aberdeen, Scotland. We are in Viking territory now.
Granite City--that is Aberdeen's nickname because the whole thing is made out of granite. Dark grey with shiny flecks is the basic rock around Aberdeen. Thank heavens it is kind of sunny so the shiny bits sparkle. Otherwise, it is pretty dark and kind of forbidding. City is tidy and looks prosperous. The granite buildings are mixed with modern shopping malls and office buildings.
This city was chartered in the 1100's by the Scottish king and suffered when the English won. The general area had been inhabited since the early stone age. Good rivers, good harbor--many advantages as a city site so it recovered from the wars and continued to thrive in business. Still does. I am only here overnight so limited time to explore. But one of the main news items in the paper is a spread that 25 graves of some 11th C monks have been discovered as a private school was digging to replace their electric lines. The monastery was closed and destroyed during the Reformation and most of its site has been lost to records so everyone is surprised and interested. The other news concerned the fishing industry. We had gotten pretty good at reading the Irish agricultural reports about the price of lamb vs. beef. Now--cod vs. mussels.
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| Everything granite. |
Aberdeen is the main harbor for serving the North Sea oil platforms and the hotel has clocks showing the time in Aberdeen, Oslo and Houston. Not interested in London, New York, Tokyo. I love seeing all the giant ships in the harbor where my ferry takes off. They are supply ships for the oil rigs. While all looks prosperous to me, one of my shipmates pointed out the many oil tankers parked just outside the harbor. The price of oil is so low, that much capacity is idle. Flock of mergansers in the harbor, my first on this trip. Yay.
Next day
I was overnight on the Northlink Ferry to Lerwick, the main city of the Shetlands. Everything is "Magnus:" the wifi password, the bar/lounge, the logo of the Viking on the ship. Turns out Magnus was the Viking earl of Orkney who also controlled the Shetlands. Nothing even pretends to be Scots here--they fly the Shetland flag, their big summer festival is about Vikings. I had a cozy berth for the overnight trip and enjoyed the beautiful evening in a front window seat for the evening. Although the ship docks at 7:30 am, breakfast is open until 9. How civilized.
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| 10 PM-the beginning of sunset, looking north. |
I am glad I took my time and ate on the boat since nothing is open in Lerwick on Sunday morning. Walking from the boat to the bus station was lovely. Warmish--65 degrees, mild breeze. Time to watch the terns carry fish to their babies, watch a herring gull catch and eat a crab. The bus to Sumbergh Head came along at 12:15. Quite a few people on the bus--where did they come from in this empty town? Sumbergh is the main airport so there are several reasons to visit. My ferry to Fair Isle leaves from here too on Tuesday morning.
In 2005, Nancy, Kitty and I had a grand trip to Norway and Scotland with a good stopover here in the Shetlands. As I got off the ship this morning, there was the hotel we stayed in for one night and where we got stuck in the elevator. In my memory it was hours but probably actually 30-40 minutes. The famous hotel and elevator are just the same. So was the Viking bus station in the town center. It felt kind of homey.
On that trip we went even further north and stayed in Unst, the most northern inhabited area of the UK. But we also did some exploring on the south mainland as this area is called. We visited the archeological site Jarlshof--a settlement from the bronze age through the 17 C. It is right here with the former laird's house which turns out to be my hotel now. I was hoping it was the same one and to my delight I am in this old-fashioned hotel in a gorgeous spot. I am looking out on the bird refuge and lighthouse, Fair Isle is off in the distance. It is sunny and should be sunny tomorrow too. Yay. How civilized.
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| Sumbergh Head and lighthouse from the hotel |
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