Scotland 4: Day 16
4.12.11 | Aberdeen > Lerwick | 06:12
Just before bed last night I was able to meet my other roommates. One’s name is
Duncan, he’s probably in his mid 50’s or so. Duncan is traveling to
some of the northern islands for work. He works in the hotel industry. The 4th roommate is a guy called Calum. Calum attends a university in Scotland (not sure
which one though) and even though he grew up around Glasgow, his
parents and sister live on Shetland now, so he goes back and forth
whenever he can. He dreams of being a swim coach in the U.S. someday.
He’s tall and skinny, just like a swimmer should be.
Thankfully, I didn’t get sick on my first cruise ever. I was a bit
worried because Terry told me that one of his friends who worked for
30+ years on ships in the South Pacific had never once got seasick
until he sailed across the North Sea. The current is quite different here,
I’m told, especially where the Atlantic touches the North Sea. Anyway-
other than lack of sleep, I’m surviving. I did get a wee bit, but
between Terry and Duncan’s loud snoring and the fact that the cabin
moved all night, I probably only got a few hours worth.
Early Morning on the North Sea
Lerwick Hostel | 15:54
This is by far the nicest of the hostels I have stayed at so far. The
staff here is very friendly, too. I found out as I was about to leave
the ferry that my roommate Terry was staying at the same hostel.
We walked about a mile, maybe a little less, with our packs. We got
to the hostel about 45 minutes before the desk clerk showed up to check
us in. Thankfully, there was a covered area they had built onto the
side of the hostel so we could wait out of the rain. The weather in
Scotland is crazy!
The desk clerk checked us in at about 09:00 and after a quick tour of
the place, I took a two-hour nap. Making up for lack of sleep on the
ferry- it didn’t take me long to be out cold. When I woke up, I headed
into town to find someplace to eat. I had in mind an inexpensive chippy
somewhere but ended up at the first restaurant I came to. I had a
burger.
After lunch, I wandered for a bit and stopped in the local tourist
information place. I looked for things to do around Lerwick, and other
than a few things to walk around and see locally, and a pub that has
live music, I may be out of luck here. Not that nature walks aren’t
great, but sometimes it’s nice to go find a place to chat with people
at night.
The lady at the tourist place gave me a local map and explained how I
find the local cemetery so that I could take a look. It was a very
beautiful walk. On the way, it started raining for all of 10 minutes,
then cleared up. It is very, very windy in Lerwick today. My walk was
right by the water, and I had to keep my hand on my head the entire
time so that my hat wouldn’t blow off into the deep.
Word of caution: If you ever visit Shetland in April, bring a bit more than a
windbreaker jacket. You’re going to get some rain and it’s going to
be cold. This is by far the coldest wind I’ve ever felt. I had to keep moving so I wouldn’t freeze to death.
After a bit, the wind died down a little and I found a nice, grassy
spot next to the water and kicked back. If the wind had stopped, I
could have easily fallen asleep there, especially since my body was
trying to digest a big ole hamburger. I got some beautiful pictures on
my walk!
Back to Scotland 4: Day 3 | Forward to Scotland 4: Day 17
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