Whalsay day trip

Home chores done and off we (my friend and I) drove to Laxo – the pier for the ferry to Whalsay.

We hadn’t booked the car on and had decided to risk it.  Luckily there was room for us – though I am always nervous sitting in the “unbooked car” lane wondering if there will be space.

And so to Whalsay – a 30 minute sea journey.  It was calm.

My friend had to pop into “the office” and once the job was done, the rest of the day was our’s.

As this was her first trip, I decided to drive around and show her Whalsay.

Bremen böd or Pier House, a 17th Century Hanseatic Trading Booth belonging to German merchants

– “The böd (booth) belonged to German merchants belonging to the Hanseatic League. The Hanseatic League was a mercantile league of medieval N German towns. It came into existence gradually as the Hansas-companies of merchants dealing with foreign lands-and the cities from which they operated drew closer together as a way of protecting themselves from foreign competition and piracy. In the 13th cent. more than 70 German cities joined in treaties of mutual protection. The Hanseatic League was formally organized in 1358, and in 1370 it won a trade monopoly in all of Scandinavia. The league prospered in the following centuries but went out of existence in the 17th cent. BREMEN, HAMBURG, and LUBECK are still known as Hanseatic cities.”- Canmore.org

The Charisma, a 75m midwater trawler, is in the background – more information

Whalsay is Shetland’s sixth largest island.

It is also known as “The Bonnie Isle” and we could see why. The heather was sumptious and the smell….. like honey.

The drive was not arduous as the island is only 7.6 square miles.

No ferry so we sat for two hours again in the unbooked car lane (must book next time). This merited a quick trip for pies and other chocolatey-cakey-type provisions from the one and only shop. The ferry appeared and then they squished the cars in to take us back to what we call “the mainland”, leaving two large lorries behind.  No space.

6 thoughts on “Whalsay day trip

  1. Diane Phillips

    Thank you , that was so interesting. I’d no idea that merchants were so organised all those entries ago!

    Reply
  2. Sam

    What fun to see another island in Shetland. I vote for more road trips to sight see thru your lovely new camera. What was the chocolate yummy you ate?

    Reply
  3. diane in northern wis

    Looks like it was a very fun day. I’m glad there was room for you on the Ferry. Oh heck….no pictures of the pies and other chocolatey-cakey-type stuff that you bought? Did you eat it on the way home or bring it home to share? Glad you both had a good day! Loved the pic of the heather….could almost smell it from here!

    Reply
  4. Amy

    So interesting about the Whalsay and the Hanseatic League. I learned all about the League when we visited Bergen. I had no idea. Learning “world” history in US schools is a joke!

    And this post brought back so many happy memories of the tiny but efficient Shetland ferries. Although we always had a booking! 🙂 Sadly we didn’t get to Whalsay in our short two weeks there. Next time!

    Reply

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