North Atlantic Cruise
Edinburgh, Scotland to Montreal Canada 2003

SHETLAND ISLANDS

Leaving Edinburgh, Scotland, we had not been sailing long, when the ship pulled into the harbor at Scallway, in the Shetland Islands.

The Shetland Islands do not form a separate country, but belong to Scotland.  The harbor at Scallway is so picturesque, and the weather was so idyllic we decided to go ashore, even though the stopover would be brief. Glad we did, too, because we had such a great time there. We simply must share a little of the story.

We were driving down the road, just a wee bit outside the harbor at Scallway, when we spotted some of the famous Shetland ponies grazing in the hills. We pulled over and as we did , the ponies began coming over to “check us out”.

These cute little guys are barely 3 feet tall, and very friendly. There were perhaps 35 or 40 of them. They do not walk with the same gait as normal size horses; I suppose the shortness of their legs is responsible for that.

There was some dried grass by the side of the road, so I got out of the car and pulled a little of the grass to feed one of the ponies who had come closest to me.

The rest came over in short order. "We want some, too", they said.

Meanwhile, Nancy could see what was going on. She just loves animals, any kind, any size, and she wanted to join in the fun. I pulled up some grass and gave it to her so she could feed the ponies, too.

I wasn’t sure who enjoyed themselves more- Nancy and I- or the ponies. I suppose it really doesn't matter. What's important is that we had a ball!