We stayed in Lerwick the entire week so we'll just show routes for individual road trips we did while in Lerwick. Wool week events didn't start until Saturday and we didn't have events every day throughout the week so we had some half and some whole days to do/see other things that we may not have had the opportunity to see previous visits. That was the real reason for staying a full two weeks in Lerwick.
Friday was a nice mostly clear blue sky with little wind kind of day. We started off with sausage & egg baps along with lattes at Fjara, then headed south to the
Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement site...
... On previous visits to Jarlshof it was really wet and/or windy. This time the weather was perfect so we took our time going through the site with the audio guides, listening to all of the extra dialogues etc. Excellent!
Leaving the site we stopped at the nearby Sumburgh Hotel for a nice lunch of Coronation Chicken and Prawn Marie Rose sandwiches. On the way back to Lerwick we did a little side diversion to
St Ninian's Isle to see the beautiful sandbar that connects the isle to the mainland.
Back in Lerwick, after a visit to The Mareel, for dinner we ordered takeaway from the Hong Kong Kitchen. Wonton soup was good. Rest not so much :-(
Saturday afternoon was our first Wool Week event so we lolled around in the morning before heading south to
PaparWark Furniture, for a furniture and woodworking shop tour hosted by owner Cecil Tait.
It turned out that we were the only ones to show up for Saturday afternoon's tour so we had a private visit with Cecil as he showed us his shop, talked about the history of his business and how he came to start it, etc etc etc. Very interesting! We also walked around his croft and met some of his sheep.
Returning to his shop he showed us his studio, which is full of wonderful furniture items, and fed us cake and tea. Very nice afternoon! Back in Lerwick we walked down the street to the Murray Arms for a drink then made ourselves a nice dinner of lamb shanks from Tesco.
Sunday we grabbed a couple of lattes to take away from Fjara and headed north to Ollaberry...
As usual, the Ollaberry hall was abuzz with activity with great knitting, lace and craft displays along with the huge table of tray bakes for which they are well known.
We thought we might stop at Frankies Fish and Chips, in Brae, on the way home from Ollaberry, but it was a bit too early for dinner so we opted to just head home and get a couple of cottage pies from Tesco for dinner a little later.
Monday, Kris had a morning class "Color Work Swatching", with Terry Leask, at the nearby
Islesburgh Community Centre so we went over there a little early for breakfast (poached eggs on toast for Brian and a sausage and egg bap for Kris) in their cafe before the class. After the class we stayed at the centre for lunch (a couple of Coronation Chicken salads), then home for an afternoon of rest before going out for an excellent dinner at
The Dowry, crispy pork with salad and chicken on a bed of couscous.
Tuesday was a class free day so we grabbed a couple of takeaway lattes at Fjara and headed north to the isles of Yell and Unst.
We didn't have any ferry reservations but managed to get on all ferries without a sailing wait although on the way back we were the last vehicle on the ferry from Yell back to the mainland. We arrived on Unst a little after noon so decided to head directly to
Victoria's Tea Room for some lunch. We both had a large bowl of tomato soup with a lovely cheese scone then shared a large piece of Victoria sponge cake.
After lunch we found our way to the
Unst Heritage Centre for a viewing of their ultra fine collection of Shetland lace. Wonderful! Then it was time to begin the journey back to Lerwick. We crossed Unst to Belmont for the ferry to Gutcher on Yell. Crossing Yell we stopped at the
Shetland Art Gallery, about half way across the island. This is a fantastic gallery showcasing some of the finest Shetland arts. Unfortunately wool week has not been the best for the gallery. The fellow taking care of the gallery reluctantly informed us that yesterday, Monday, there was a "group of wool weekers" in and one of them had lifted/stolen a silver ring. WTF???
Leaving the gallery we headed for the ferry at Ulsta over to Toft on the mainland. We arrived just barely in the nick of time as they waved us to "hurry on" as the last car. We drove on, the ramp went up and the ferry departed. It was that close. Whew!... although it would have only been a half hour until the next one. Once back on the mainland we headed for Brae where we topped up the gas tank, for the first time since we picked up the car a week ago, then across the street to
Frankies Fish and Chips for an excellent dinner of fish and chips each along with a shared bowl of mussels.
Back in Lerwick we hit the Murray Arms for a night cap and headed home.
Wednesday, Kris had a class "Shetland Haps", with Betsy and Elizabeth Williamson, starting at 11:30 so we had an ultra early lunch at the apartment. Large bowl of Tesco salmon chowder each. Nice. The class was at the Staney Hill hall, a new place for us, so we left a bit early to make sure we could find it. Easy peasy! Kris was super pleased with the class so after it was over we stopped at
Jamieson & Smith where she picked up a few balls of wool and a book on Shetland Lace so she can practice the art. In the afternoon we tried
Coffee Culture, just off the main downtown drag in Shetland for a couple of lattes and, what is becoming a habit, "cake". Yum. For dinner we went to
Hay's Dock, a restaurant in the Shetland Museum and Archives building with a really nice sunset view over part of the large Lerwick harbour.
Excellent dinners of pork and chicken with veggies and couscous sides along with a shared banana parfait and lime mousse for dessert. Extra yummy!
Thursday, we had a 9:30 class out in East Burra...
... where we were both signed up for "Making a Fair Isle Siver Jumper Pendant, Brooch or 3 Silver Buttons" with Mike Finnie, the owner of
Red Houss. Recall, in 2019, Brian had taken this same course (although it was only buttons then) and had made 3 buttons for Kris' button collection. We decided we would both make buttons again this time.
After a smoked salmon and salad lunch at home we decided to head over to the isle of Bressay to see the Wool Week display at the lovely little community centre and cafe, where, of course, they had tea and cake. Yum! After checking out the crafts display we decided to take a drive down the isle to the lighthouse...
Later, back in Lerwick we walked down to the Mareel bar for a glass of wine and pint ot beer, met and chatted with other wool weekers and a local fellow who is in the landscaping business. We exchanged lots of info. Nice evening then we went back up to our apartment and cooked up, well, heated up, a couple of Tesco lamb shanks for dinner.
Nice end to this week.
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