June 25 - Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland

Welcome to Shetland, close enough to Norway geographically and historically to make nationality an ambiguous concept. The Shetland islands are Britain’s most northerly outpost. There’s a Scandinavian lilt to the local accent, and streets named King Hakkon or St. Olaf are reminders that Shetland was under Norse rule until 1469, when it was gifted to Scotland in lieu of the dowry of a Danish princess. Built on the herring trade & modernized by the oil trade, Lerwick is Shetland’s only real town, home to a third of the islands population of 7,000. The towering walls of Fort Charlotte, built in 1665, was intended to House a garrison & defend the port from any enemy, however it was burned by the Dutch in 1673 and lay ruined for 109 years before being rebuilt in 1782.

Debb defending Fort Charlotte, a fortress named for the King Charles II’s wife, Charlotte

The Garrison building at Fort Charlotte

Welcome to the Shetland Islands, Scotland

WWII ruins of a German Torpedo boat defence pill box