Thurs June 5, 2025
Hi Folks! We made it to the Shetland Islands! Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands, is the northernmost settlement in the United Kingdom. It has a population of about 7,000 (not counting all the sheep!) and lies about 123 miles north of mainland Scotland and 222 miles west of Bergen, Norway. It’s located further north than St Petersburg, Russia and on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska so it’s up there! And it has those cute Shetland ponies!
This is a tender stop so we anchored in the bay and took the tender boat over. Our tour started at 11:15 so we went over early to explore the town and do some shopping. I’m looking at you grandkids!
We then took a tour called “Northernmost Scotland”. To get there we had to cross Mavis Grind Isthmus which is 32 yards wide at its narrowest point. One one side of the isthmus is the North Sea and on the other side is the Atlantic Ocean. So of course it’s super windy and wild!
We stopped for refreshments at the Braewick Cafe. The views of the famous Drongs sea stacks were amazing! We then went to the Eshaness Lighthouse, designed in 1929 by David and Charles Stevenson, uncles of author Robert Louis Stevenson.
This was the last of the Stevenson lighthouses to be built in Shetland. Few places in Britain rival Eshaness’ scenery. The ferocity of the Atlantic has contributed to the spectacular geological formations found here such as sea stacks, natural arches and caves.
We then stopped at the Museum of Tangwick Haa which was built in the 1500’s. It had some interesting history about the area and also sold some beautiful hand woven items. They also had some cute sheep grazing out back!
We then drove back to the ship and got ready for dinner. We did see some Shetland ponies on the way back but I could only snap a blurry picture of one from the bus! Lol. I’ll send another update tonight. Happy Thursday to all!
The Wandering Italian 