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Sunday Chillin' in Scalloway Castle

web dsc_0747 2 scalloway castleYes, your dutiful and hardworking captains do have a day off every now and then!

Sunday was our first proper day off since we joined Polar Bear and we made the most of it...a bit of a sleep in, a leisurely brunch on board and then we decided to go and explore, hop on a buss and maybe go to Scalloway...

Wrong. No bus to Scalloway on Sunday. We decided to live large and hop on a taxi instead...guess what? £10 got the 3 of us (Boogie, Luke and myself) over in Scalloway in no time, right in front of the local Scalloway Hotel with outside seats in the sun and the local pub. Bingo!

Not before we went and did some proper tourist exploring though, so we walked up to the Scalloway Castle, or what is left of it. Beautiful setting and you know what, just the right size for me! Not too big (you don’t want to have to employ too many people to keep your castle clean), not too small (you want to be able to have some friends over to stay) and plenty of fire places...one slight minus: no roof...guess we’ll have to keep on looking!

web dsc_0754 scalloway colourful villageScalloway Castle was built in 1600 by Earl Patrick Stewart to tighten his grip on Shetland. Its site in Shetland's then capital, Scalloway, was surrounded by the sea on three sides. And it was strategically placed to control the main access to Tingwall, the site since Norse times of the Parliament for Orkney and Shetland.

The Stewart family, as Earls of Orkney and Shetland, had a dramatic impact on both groups of islands. Robert Stewart was the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland and one of his mistresses, Euphemia Elphinstone. He was born in 1533, and in 1564 he was given the Earldom of Orkney and Shetland and the position of the Sheriff of Orkney.

Our trip to Scalloway was brilliant in more than one way: on the way over and back, we finally got the see the famous Shetland Ponies!I had started to think they were just a myth, and that their name had nothing to do with their origin, as sofar, we hadn't spotus ted one single pony! Plenty of ponies on this trip though, hippy hair with big fringe and all! Maybe I should consider a change in my own hairdo!

The village of Scalloway and surroundings is beautiful and reminds me of some Scandinavian or Nordic settlement, with plenty of colourful wooden houses around. Quiet, stunning scenery, inviting houses and friendly people. Sitting in the sun in front of the Scalloway Hotel with a nice Bellhaven, we could but come to one conclusion: life is good...

A note to all the gangsta rappers in ‘da city’: you’ve all been plagiarising! Nothing ‘gangsta’ about ‘da’, they’ve had for ever here in the Shetlands with ‘Da store’ on ‘Da waterfront’!web dsc_0764 - da storeweb dsc_0765 - da waterfront

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Star Chaser Sailing Ltd - Trading as Sail Blue Planet and
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Phone: +44 7795 566 277
info@sailblueplanet.com