Journey to Shetland

I've been in Shetland for less than 12 hours, and I already love it.

I got an early train to Aberdeen yesterday and spent the day wandering around the area immediately around the train station and ferry terminal.  A good part of that was at a mall.  I ate lunch, saw a movie (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World), and discovered that cross-stitching supplies are WAY more expensive in the UK than they are in the US.

Then I got on the ferry, which left Aberdeen at 7pm.  I dropped my stuff in my shared cabin and spent the next few hours eating dinner, watching the Scottish mainland shrink up on deck, and reading academic papers.  I had a less-than-restful night in the cabin.  Toward dawn, as we got closer to Shetland, I could feel the waves getting bigger.  My body still thinks it's on the boat at the moment.  The ferry arrived in Lerwick at about 7:30 this morning, and I walked from the ferry terminal to my hostel.  I got acquainted with the guy at the front desk, and then wandered off in search of an ATM and breakfast.

If I had to describe Shetland in one phrase, it would be "almost Scandinavian but not quite."  The houses are almost Nordic-looking but not quite.  The Islanders' speech is almost Scandinavian (and I swear I've heard some pseudo-Dutch phrases used in greeting) but not quite.  The atmosphere is lighter than on the mainland.  The air is cleaner.  I've seen more sun today than I have in the last two weeks put together.  There's an air of small-town neighborliness.  This afternoon I was hanging out by the harbor, near the dock for the Bressay ferry.  (Bressay is the island just across the harbor from Lerwick.)  The ferry had just pulled away when a kid came running up, trying to catch it, and the ferry actually reversed direction and came back for him.

I wandered down Commercial Street in the town center, before many of the shops had opened for the day.  Having found an ATM, I came back to the hostel and had a nap, a shower, and a change of clothes.  Then I went back into town.  I had intended to just do some browsing, but I ended up buying 2 CDs of Shetland fiddle music, and three bars of locally-made soap.

I love this place already, and I can't wait to see more of it in the coming days.

Cheers, y'all.