By Larry and Joan Dolinski
THIRD: RING OF BROGARThis is reminiscent of Stonehenge. It consists of a ring of 60 stones, with approximately six degrees between adjacent stones, built about the time of the pyramids. Many of the same questions which puzzle scholars about Stonehenge, persist here as well (e.g., Why did they build it? How did they build it? etc.).
The trip from the Orkneys to the Shetlands required another eight-hour voyage, further into the North Sea. The Shetlands had all of the extraordinary beauty of the Orkneys, and then some; its coast is very much more rugged. We essentially spent a day and a half on the main island, awaking to a 35 mph wind, described by an islander as "only half a gale." As on the Orkneys, the year round daily average wind speed is 40 mph. The hills are steep, many overlooking the sea, and everywhere populated with sheep. On many of the hills there are also small herds of Shetland ponies.
We climbed some cliffs which hung over the sea on the other side and came upon colonies of Puffins, handsome black birds with orange beaks. As we retreated down from the cliffs, the sight of an 80-foot long Viking Longship anchored in a nearby cove caught our attention. Upon inquiry we learned that the vessel was engaged on an historic journey with a crew of eight, attempting to replicate a voyage of Eric the Red. Its route is to be Norway to the Faroes to the Shetlands to Iceland to Greenland to Canada to Vineland (America).
The final leg of our journey to Norway took place on a 14-hour ferry trip from the Shetland Islands to Bergen, aboard a Norwegian vessel. This time our luck with respect to good weather and calm seas ran out. Immediately upon our 10:30 PM departure we entered the infamous North Sea and encountered gale force winds and heavy seas. Conditions deteriorated more as the night wore on. To make matters worse we had an inside cabin which is, by definition, claustrophobic. Need I say more ... we had world class doses of mal de mer, and a sleepless night.
Our vessel finally entered the fjord leading to Bergen and things calmed down. We passed close to a US Nuclear Submarine coming into The Bergen area on a visit; part of the crew was on deck standing at attention. Mercifully we tied up at the pier in Bergen and began our Scandinavian adventure, which we will report on in our next update.
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