Saturday, July 30, 2022
The menu tonight was okay. We both had the beef with black olives. I do not usually choose the beef option, but I was glad I did tonight. It was very tender.
We listened to the first set of the Ocean Bar band and then went to the main stage for tonight’s show – “Silent Magician”. He did his whole magic act with only mime and sound effects. I thought it was a cute show. Chuck was not impressed and left early.
One last set of the Ocean Bar band and the evening was done.
In 2019, when we visited this port, we took a HAL tour to a distillery and to John O’Groats, the northern-most part of Scotland. Today we had no specific plans.
There is very little around the port to see. We took the free shuttle to the nearby town of Thurso. We could have walked the 2 to 3 miles, but the weather was ever-changing, so I was not ready to be caught in pouring rain.
Thurso was a lovely little town. We strolled around the town and over to the shore. Kids were playing in the surf. Brrr.
We admired the cute houses and talked to a resident planting her flowers.
We went to the museum. Quite a collection of Viking artifacts.
We walked the path along the river. People were friendly and one guy let us play with his cute dog.
We spent a couple of hours there and then got back in line for the return shuttle. There had been two shuttles running but one of them must have gone on a lunch break because it took a long time for the shuttle to get back from the ship. We should have walked. However, it was a nice day in town.
Once we got back to the ship, it was low tide, so the gangplank was very steep. They had to let people off the ship one at a time so they could go slowly down the ramp. Then we were allowed to go up and it was like climbing a hill.
We got back for a late lunch and then a lazy afternoon watching the scenery from the balcony. Had to be cold out there paddle boarding. I have to keep reminding myself that it is Summer here.
FLOWERS from THURSO
Travel Trivia
Scrabster/Thurso, Scotland
Situated within walking distance from the port of Scrabster, Thurso is the northernmost town on the British mainland, and the second largest town in the Scottish Highlands.
Scotland Scrabster’s/Thurso’s history stretches back to at least the era of Norse Orcadian rule in Caithness, which ended in 1266.
In 1649, the Irish, led by Donald Macalister Mullach, attacked Thurso and were chased off by the residents, headed by Sir James Sinclair. One of the locals, a servant of Sinclair was said to have killed Mullach by “cutting a button from his master’s coat and firing it from a musket”.
Such is the character of the waves here in Scrabster that surfing is a popular pastime among the locals. Competitions held at Thurso East, one of the beaches in the region, have attracted some of the best surfers in the world.
Fondest Travel Memories 