Shetland-Orkney

Those are nice places to get this blog started off with.

On the last weekend of March, me and Lena, a german friend of mine, went off to visit those islands. We started early on Saturday by train to Aberdeen, then took the overnight ferry to Lerwick. The weather was quite nice and the sea not to rough, so that we could catch some sleep, after being able to observe a nice sunset.

In Lerwick we just rented a car and headed south, in hope to see some whales or puffins. Unlucky as we were, we couldn't spot any, not even making it to the cliffs, as it was stormy as hell... Nevertheless it was a nice day; we saw the whole south of the Main Island, and scouted loads of beaches and beautiful landscapes.Abandoned Cottage

Way to the beach

I can't remember the name - Sorry!

Scousburgh Beach

On the next day we started off to explore the northern part. This time with much better weather, that allowed us to get to the edges of the cliffs. The weather (especially the overnight snow) resulted in terrific views: waves breaking on the rocks, a wonderful, endless grassy landscape, and snowy hills in the background. Unbelievable beautiful images!

A little waterfall at the cliff.

Unfortunately it was already time to say goodbye to Shetland for us. On the next morning we flew to the Orkney Islands.
Once landed in Kirkwall, we just stored our stuff in the hostel, and then made our way to Stromness to go to the island of Hoy. A very funny trip, as it was no tourist season, we had to take the cargo ferry. Finally arrived in Hoy we went for a long walk to the other side of the island. The landscape on Orkney is totally different from the Shetland Islands, much more populated and for some reason more brown and green, while Shetland was more green-yellowish.
The walk led us trough a wonderful U-shaped valley, formed by former glaciation.

U-shaped Valley

A nice surprise was a Hamish standing next to the unfenced street; we could almost touch it (though it may have been a bit dangerous...).The Hamish

For the last day we rented a car again, to check out the main island. But it was not just us two on that day, aboard was also Mike, a Canadian geographer (it's a small world, isn't it), we met at the hostel. The weather was unbelievable windy and with high percipitation (rainy, haily, etc.) on this day, horizontal snow, so hard it hurt in the face. That's why we reduced sightseeing to the Japanese style (no offence intended), getting out of the car, taking pictures, and off we were. On Orkney itself are interesting things to see, as it was already home to a culture 5000 years ago. A very nice sight was the 'Ring o Brodgar'.Ring of Brodgar

A stone circle, which also brought shelter, as presented by Lena and Mike.Where are they?

Other things worth seeing on Orkney are chamber tombs and old settlements. Due to the horrible weather (at least for sightseeing) we decided to end the day with some beer and whisky in the pub. After a nice walk through Kirkwall it was time to go back to Edinburgh on Thursday.

St. Magnus Cathedral

The Orkney and Shetland islands are definitley places I would recommend to visit, if one is interested in beautiful landscapes, a bit of loneliness and you don't care about unpredictable weather.