Monday 26
September 2005
Rain Day I've done well--I've seen just about everything I wanted to
in Shetland, save for a ruined broch here or there, and so when today turns out
rainy and miserable, I am able to take a town day without regret. I spend most
of the morning at the tourist office online, posting my pearls to the whisky
forum. I also manage to get laundry done for an exorbitant fee (worth it to
me--few things I hate more than hanging around a laundromat). In the afternoon,
I shop up and down the twisting main street of Lerwick, poking into virtually
every shop; it doesn't take all that long. I buy some Shetland knitwear for Mom
for Christmas, but the one souvenir I want is not to be found--a small
Shetland flag, a white Scandinavian-style cross on an azure field.
The island of Bressay protects Lerwick's harbor and is a seven-minute ferry ride
from the pier. At the other end, the tiny Maryfield House Hotel stands but yards
from the landing. I've been planning to get over here all week, and this is my
last chance. I'm a bit worried at the small and empty lounge bar when I arrive,
but it's early, and the place livens up a bit later. The hotel is run by an
expatriate South African, and my dinner of scallops is maybe the best one I've
had in Shetland. The Pulteney that follows is smoky and sweet and just the thing
after seafood. I fall in with a couple of lads, one local, the other a displaced
Londoner, for several games of pool, under the peculiar local rules. Not having
played in ages, I quite naturally shoot very well at first, but the more I think
about what I'm doing, the more my play deteriorates. It's a fun evening
nevertheless; I wish I'd thought to come over here on Saturday to escape the
madness. Of course, the place may have been filled with crazed Bressay youth, as
well.
Reluctantly, I catch the 9:30 ferry back to Lerwick, standing on
the car deck, watching the lights of the town grow larger. A nightcap in the
Lounge Bar caps off my Shetland sojourn.
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