British Isles Explorer Ocean Cruise

Day 17: Thursday, April 23, 2026 - Shetland Islands, Scotland

The day's statistics:
⛅ Weather: upper 40s, overcast
👟 Steps: Linda 2,748; Steve 9,074

Oh boy, ponies! Not yet, later...
Upon waking, I took a look out the veranda.

Linda still wasn't feeling great, so I did breakfast on my own, and brought back her usual too.
While I was eating in the World Café, we got closer to port.

After embarking, while waiting for the bus, I got a long shot of the ship.

Today's excursion was "Shetland Panorama & Ponies", our guide was Denise, and our driver was Savon.
The main port on the island is Lenwick - where the ship was moored - and it has the same parallel as Anchorage, Alaska. The Shetland Islands are an archipelago of 100 islands, of which only 16 are populated with a total of about 22,000 - all living within 10 miles of Lenwick. Two-thirds of the population - or about 16,000 - live on the main island, and one-third - about 8,000 - live in Lenwick itself.
Norway is only 200 miles away.
We boarded and headed into the countryside, passing through the little town of Lenwick first.
A couple of the sights - mostly structures - that we passed were highlighted because they were featured in the BBC crime drama TV series Shetland.






It was early morning rush hour, with a school across the street too.


Continuing on.





There was an overlook of the town of Scalloway (the East part as the main town is on the other side of the hill) that we paused at for a few minutes while we waited for the first bus that was at the horses to finish up. It overlooked the Bay of the Hall.





I was able to do a short countryside pan as well.

As we continued on, we saw 35 turbines of a 103 turbine project that is now nearly complete, and will generate 460 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 500,000 (yes, a half-million) homes. So they will be connecting their power grid to the main land Scotland, much like Orkney Island is.

We finally arrived at the Shetland Pony farm. Carol was the breeder and talked about the ponies. There are three sizes: mini, which are up to 34 inches tall; midi, which are 34 to 38 inches tall; and regular, which are up 38 to 42 inches tall. The horses are outside all the time, and each has a name (one is actually called Taylor Swift - the dark brown one below). Though they are small, they are actually stronger than regular horses. Horses can pull up to about half their weight, while Shetlands can pull more than two times their weight. On average, the average standard horse can pull 550 pounds. A Shetland can pull the same - or a slight bit more depending on their size. When combined with the fact that a Shetland is smaller, it can do work in areas where space is an issue, such as in a mine.
Carol knew the name of every one in her flock, and told us that they were each GPS tagged to discourage theft. There are also more Shetland Ponies outside the Shetland islands than inside (think zoos).







I took another short video - this one of one of the ponies.

It was a brief visit with the ponies, especially since another Viking bus was right behind ours waiting to visit.
On the way back, we passed a couple towns, some baby lambs (they were so cute), and either the exact same 35 turbines from earlier, a subset thereof plus more, or 35 new ones.








Mussel and salmon farming. Incidentally, there is about a $500 fee to fish in a loch.

There are 3 golf courses on Shetland Island. And anyone living on Shetland is less than 3 miles from the sea.

More sheep. Incidentally, there are 11 official native sheep colors.

Continuing on.







This is a water flow power generator.

These small houses are public housing.

Continuing on.




We were finally getting close to port. And the ship was off to the left.


The bus arrived in the port, we debussed, and I spent a few minutes chatting with Denise, mostly about the healthcare system and tax structure on the island. Once again, Universal Healthcare is the norm, and basic taxes, depending on the income level, were in the 18% to 20% range.
She had to leave to escort another Viking group, and, as it was so early, I headed to the shuttle to run into town for some supplies.
The shuttle ride was only a couple miles, and it dropped us off on a corner near the post office.
I only walked a handful of blocks to get what was needed before I headed back to the shuttle and on to the ship.


By the time I embarked, it was pretty much lunch time.

After lunch in the World Café, it was another afternoon of relaxing and cards.

Before dinner - a little after 5:00 - the ship was underway again, on the way to our final port of call.





From this vantage point, there are 44 turbines visible (meaning the 35 visible in the other two shots are either a subset of these, or in addition to these).

A bit before 6:00, a dozen of us gathered near Guest Services for our evening excursion.
We were participating in The Kitchen Table, which is a cooking class event where we work with a Viking chef - tonight it was Dinah Mandal - how he demonstrated how to prepare a gourmet three course meal.
The group arrived at the cooking room.

The island / workspace had conduction burners in it. And there were three cameras with monitors to help show the demonstration.
Each place setting had an apron - that we got to keep - a recipe - that we also got to keep - a knife, and a cutting board. Each participant prepared an ingredient for the first course: Marmite Diepopoise, a cream based seafood stew. Linda had parsley, and I had leeks.


The Chef's assistant took a number of pictures with various phones for us before we got down to business.

I took advantage of the situation and got a selfie too.

Everyone finished chopping their ingredients, including us.

Chef Dinah demonstrated how to make mousse, using a double-boiler, slowly melting the chocolate while constantly moving the chocolate the entire time, being careful not to "over-melt" it as that would cause the chocolate to separate and or seize. Then he added the freshly whipped heavy cream, in batches, by folding it into the chocolate.

The mousse was made and assembled ahead of time so it could chill while we made, and consumed, the other two courses.
Chef Dinah demonstrated how to pipe the chocolate mousse into small glass cups, which we each did. Then we put spoons of Bailey's Irish Cream® in the middle and on top, and lastly, sprinkled crushed pralines on top to our liking.
The Chef's assistant put the mousse cups into the fridge.
Some of us had the opportunity to volunteer to do some of the cooking. I sautéed the onions and leeks a little.

Chef Dinah took a video of me as well.

After creating the broth, Chef put the fish filets, prawns, mussels, and scallops on top, and covered it. After a few minutes of simmering - most fish doesn't need to be cooked too long - it was ready for plating.


The Marmite was paired with a Chardonnay (Frontera, a brand we buy inexpensively in Delaware).


While we ate, Chef Dinah prepared the next course: steak with chorizo ragu.





After the searing, the steaks were put into the oven to finish cooking medium-rare.
Then everything was plated and served.

Lastly, it was time for the desserts we each assembled.

We took a selfie with Chef Dinah on the way out.

The only drawback to this whole event was that we were eating dinner - a fairly hefty dinner - starting just before 8:00, and finishing after 9:00.
But it was an enjoyable experience and we certainly would consider doing it again.
We could - should - have walked a couple laps before going back to the cabin to aide in digestion...

Included with the Daily was a note card indicating that our clocks had to be turned back an hour.
Since our phones were on airplane mode - and thus not synching to a cell network - this was a necessity to make sure we awoke at the right time.
Before going to bed, we did a little packing and organizing to ease the effort a tad for tomorrow night.

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