Lerwick: My Edge of Britain

We walked off into a town built of grey stone and stubbornness – the harbor full of working fishing boats and the smell of tar and fish. Clickimin Broch at 9 a.m. – 2,000-year-old Iron Age tower still standing proud. We took the bus to Jarlshof – layer cake of archaeology: Bronze Age, Iron Age, Viking longhouses, medieval farmstead, all on one site exposed by a storm.

In the afternoon we went to Sumburgh Head – puffins literally at arm's length (with binoculars), diving off cliffs like clumsy arrows. We had lunch – Shetland mussels the size of fists and reestit mutton soup that tastes like the wind made food. The pros: feels like the edge of the world in the best way. The cons: weather can close in fast, but that's Shetland.