Scotland-I Believe I Have Roots Here.

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Geo: 60.1556, -1.15004

The Shetland Islands are a part of Scotland and I understand that I have some Scottish heritage in my family history along with English and Swedish. Today we have a Shetland Island private tour with David Malcolm. I signed up with him back in February along with another couple from San Leandro. He's a retired doctor living in Scalloway for over 30 years. He emailed us a week ago saying he will be on the dock at 9am looking for us and holding a sign with a puffin on it. I sent him an email last night with the schedule for disembarking the ship this morning so he knows that we might be a little late.

Britain has asked for a face to face passport identification process and our deck 6 is scheduled for 8:30-8:50am. After that we will be issued our tender tickets, allowing us to board one of the ship's tenders for transport to the pier in Lerwick. We have breakfast upstairs until 8:30am when, per the schedule, we meet on deck 5 for immigration clearance. Next we're issued our tender tickets, #26. We wait for about 20 minutes and then board our boat for the dock. As we exit the tender dock, I recognize David and his puffer sign and introduce ourselves. The other couple is there already since they're 4 Star Mariners and used their priority status to get off the ship early.

We walk a couple of blocks to David's car as he gives us some history of Lerwick. Then off we go to the town of Scalloway, David's home town. We drive through the countryside as he explains that the main industry in the Shetland islands is fishing. We see mussel and salmon farms. Next we stop at a farm where we watch sheep being shorn. David tells us that real Shetland sheep don't need sheering. You rue the sheep by just pulling off their wool at the right time of the year. David invites us to an English coffee and tea house for some tea and scones along with a potty stop. It makes for a nice break. We stop several times to see real Shetland ponies and Karen likes the animals. Shetland's world-famous small ponies can be seen throughout the islands - grazing by the roadside, on the beaches or on the heathery hills. Appearing to roam wild, the ponies are, in fact, all owned and tended to by local crofters.

These captivating creatures stand up to 42 inches high at four years old or over. For at least 4000 years, in comparative isolation, these fascinating small ponies have roamed the exposed hills and moors of Shetland. From the 1840s, Shetland ponies began to be used in British coal mines as new laws forbade the employment of women, girls and, later, boys. Hardy, resilient and very strong for their size, the ponies made ideal substitutes as they were able to pass through low underground tunnels hauling truckloads of coal. At home, Shetland ponies were used as workhorses - cultivating the land and transporting peat from hills - an essential addition to crofting families. Around 1,500 Shetland ponies live here.

We visit an authentic old stone home that was lived in as recently as 60 years ago. We can see seals on the beach below. While riding in the car, I check my Sony camera to view progress on the pictures I've taken. I find none. My memory card was dislodged a bit and failed to record my pictures on that camera. Just the movies and the red camera were operating correctly. This pisses me off.

This next drive takes us to the puffins. The road crosses the Sumburgh Airport. It's one of only two International Airports in Europe where a road actually crosses an active runway. He jokes with us by telling us to watch for any planes but actually the airport has signal lights that inform drivers of approaching aircraft. We make it safely across, park and walk along the cliff side to see the puffins at their nesting sites. Now Mom likes boats and puffins.

It's 2pm and David drives us back to town. Stopping at an ATM, I get £150 for David's tour plus $20 tip. He thanks us and we wander about the town of Lerwick on our own for awhile but the rain, which has been holding off all day, finally lets loose and we make a run for the ship. Returning to our stateroom, we take a break, then go to dinner. We get a table for two tonight so no visiting with passengers this evening. I have a tuna salad and Mom has chicken. We take in the 8pm show for the day, Tempei, a Japanese juggler and magician. He's just a young man but he's very entertaining.

Returning to our room, it's a little TV and some blogging and that's it. Tomorrow's a sea day and time to relax.

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