Unst

Our next trick was to get from Falkirk to Unst. We drove north to Aberdeen, stopping at Stonehaven beach on the way, took the overnight ferry to Shetland, then drove and took two more inter-island ferries to reach the most northerly place in the UK. 

Stonehaven is a cute little town south of Aberdeen, home of an open air swimming pool. It's also part of string of beaches along this coast who vied for the title of "Sunniest Beach in Scotland". It wasn't actually sunny - or warm - when we were there, but still a lovely, windswept, chilly beach. 

When I say "ferry" - you might think of a passenger ferry, or a larger ro-ro (roll on, roll off) car ferry. The Northlink ferry has room for 600 passengers and maybe 100 cars or trucks. There are two ferries that trade off going north and south. We were on the Hjatland for this trip. 

This was our first time driving into the ferry with a car. It was kind of terrifying to drive into this huge maw, then drive down a narrow ramp to a lower deck to wedge our precious rental car in with maybe 15 other cars for the crossing. All of the trucks stayed on the upper deck. 

Then we climbed three flights of stairs to get to the passenger deck, and down the hall to find our cabins. 

These beds might look narrow and simple, but it was incredibly cozy to curl up in our duvets and sleep through most of the (somewhat rough) crossing. 

There's a restaurant on board, and I always order the jacket potato, a large hot plain baked potato. I get seasick, so I have to be gentle on my stomach. But they ferry doesn't care if you bring food on board, so we elevated the simple potato into a lovely meal with our own mature cheddar cheese, local butter, new greens, and salad dressing. 

Here's a view out the back of the ferry, still in the Aberdeen harbor, at sunset. 

And here I am as we leave the harbor. Unfortunately, the only outside deck that was open was the back dog/smoking deck, so we only get view behind. 

On arrival at 7:30 am the next morning, I drove off the boat and left mom to walk off as a passenger to avoid those three flights of stairs! 

After a stop at Tesco and the bank, we headed across the "mainland" of Shetland to our first inter-island ferry. 

I had cell service so we could see how close we were getting to the other side, but it also looks like we're flying across the water!

On the second ferry, we got stuck behind a huge truck. Fortunately, all of the vehicles stayed put. 

And finally - we made it to Unst

And checked into our new airbnb. It looks small, but it's like the Tardis - much larger on the inside than you'd think. Three bedrooms, one fully accessible, plus the little porch that got really warm when it was sunny. 

Edinburgh

No one can go to Scotland without going to Edinburgh - or so I've been told many times. And yet, it's taken until my fourth visit to Scotland to make it to this iconic destination. 

Driving in old towns is not fun, so we decided to take the train from Falkirk. That left us with 1/2 mile walk from our flat to the station and then a quick 1/2 hour ride into the city. 

Scotrail train arriving in Falkirk

Building across from Edinburgh Waverly main train station.

Old buildings reflected in a window.

The Royal Mile runs through the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, connecting  Edinburgh Castle, perched high on a base of volcanic rock, with the Palace of Holyroodhouse

All visits to Edinburgh need bagpipers, right?

And some armor.

Tenements towering over cobble streets.

And finally the castle, towering over all of it. 

Finding gluten-free food is sometimes a challenge ....

but this time led us to some of the best and most unique crepes I've ever had. 

Falkirk

 Apparently Falkirk is not a big tourist destination - especially in winter. For us, it was easier than staying in Edinburgh, but most importantly, it is home to the Falkirk Wheel, a big deal for engineers all around the world. More on that later. 

We stayed in a cute little 1st floor (that means up a flight of stairs) flat that overlooked the Forth and Clyde canal. We had four windows that overlooked the canal, and that first night when I couldn't sleep (thank you jet lag!), I dreamed of getting outside and walking/biking along that canal. 

View at night

View in the morning

And finally we unpacked everything and I got out my new baby bike, which survived checked luggage just fine. 

Riding on the canal paths was just as good as I hoped! 

One direction about 2 miles along the canal took me to the Kelpies. 

The other direction took me to the famed Falkirk Wheel. It was closed for renovations, but you can start to see the scale of this engineering feat. Canal boats transiting from the Union Canal (high up in the air here) to the Forth and Clyde can float into the top part of the wheel, then rotate down to the lower level. 

Falkirk Wheel Video from Dream Big, an IMAX movie. (Youtube, 2 minutes 30 sec)

Back on the Forth and Clyde, there were almost 10 small locks between us and the Falkirk Wheel. If we'd been on a canal boat, we would have opened and closed these ourselves - not like the lock and dams in Minnesota!

Pretty canal boat.

Wendy took a turn on the baby bike!

The canal was teeming with birds, including these swans. 

Incidentally, Falkirk is also a historic town. Falkirk sits on a hill/ridge, so it's no wonder the Antoine wall runs though it - the furthest extent of the Roman empire into Britain, around 140 AD. The Romans didn't hold this line very long, falling back to the Hadrian wall until they retreated from Britain altogether in 450 AD. 

There's a kirk from the 7th century, and the "current" town dates from at least the 1700s. 

Lindisfarne

We woke up late in Tadcaster after a long and luscious night sleep that followed the night of no sleep on the plane. And then we had to face the fact that we didn't have time or energy for York. Sometime we'll visit York Minister, Shambles and walk on the city walls - but not today. 

Instead, we headed north. To break up the five hour drive, we stopped at Holy Island - Lindisfarne. There was a huge Viking raid here in 793 - a splashy, dramatic raid to escalate the move from Vikings from traders to raiders. Lindisfarne was a wealthy, prominent community, so it was a big deal when it was attacked. We'd seen references to this attack in many videos about the Vikings - so it was interesting to stop and see the actual place. 

• In 793AD, Vikings attacked Lindisfarne. Here's why it was so shocking

These days, there's not much to commemorate that raid. The place is mostly known for other reasons - the birds, dunes, a castle that is not a castle, and for being an island that is not really an island. 

This causeway/road connects the island to the mainland for half of each day, when the tide is low. 

It's important to check the time tables before you go to Lindisfarne, because it's a drag to get stuck until the water goes down. But it's not hard. There are timetables posted way in advance, and there are signs reminding you when it closes. I was afraid that the road would be slimy or sandy from being covered twice a day, but it wasn't. It's just a very low road with wet/water on both sides. Neat, though. And yes, I checked the time tables before we went! 

Here's the castle - which is not actually a castle. It was first a fort around 1550, then turned into a holiday home in 1900.

We parked in the huge parking lot and followed the crowds through the town and along the path to the castle, stopping at the big bird blind to see the water birds that over winter here. 

Back over the causeway that was still safe to pass... 

and soon we got to the Scottish border!

A Month in the UK (mostly Scotland)

How much stuff do we need for a month in Scotland? A lot! But less than you think when you realize that the rectangular bag to my right is mostly full of - bicycle! 

 

This year, we're planning to rent a car in London and drive to Scotland, stopping to see stuff along the way. 

Our first stop was at the Nene Valley Railway, an old train station that is being restored by enthusiasts. Saturday was a big day at Nene, with short trips in a restored train pulled by Thomas, rides on the miniature (5" gauge) railway, and lots of other rail stuff to see. 

Tadcaster

The first day we made it to Tadcaster, near York and settled into our adorable airbnb, an apartment converted from an old barn. Tadcaster dates from Roman times, when it was resting place for travelers going from Londinium to York. It also had one of the only river crossings for miles, a big deal in those days. It's a tiny place now, but we enjoyed walking along the river and seeing the old buildings. Supposedly, it was in The Ark (see below) that the Puritans hatched the plan to migrate to the United States. 

Old bridge - though not original. 

New bridge. They've had a lot of flooding this year. 

Old stable straight ahead where we stayed. 

The part of The Ark that has survived. 

Churchyard with fantastic bells ringing.