Edinburgh always shines as a destination .

Easily walkable, the central area is full of interesting historic buildings, and the magnificent castle overlooks it all. This visit was very short, arriving quite late by train the night before, then some exploring time until late afternoon, before joining our fellow passengers at a pre-arranged meeting place to be taken by bus to our ship.

 
The MS Expedition is the same vessel we travelled on in 2010 to Antarctica. It is owned by G Adventures (formerly GAP Adventures) and spends 1/2 the year in each polar region. This two week trip was part of the re-positioning of the ship up to the Arctic. This appealed to us because the itinerary included the Orkneys, Shetlands, seven stops along the Norway coast and fjords and four days spent exploring above the Arctic circle. Transport to and from the ship is by zodiac and sightseeing excursions in the Arctic are also by zodiac. Rubber boots are the norm, as many landings involve a small wade through shallows .

 
An itinerary change close to our departure saw the Orkney Islands visit exchanged for sailing to the Northernmost point of UK and visiting Mey Castle. This was due to a scheduled Royal visit to the Orkneys the same day we were to visit. Consequently G Adventures were advised they could not dock. We were disappointed as the Orkneys has a UNESCO World Heritage site we had been looking forward to visiting.   

 
On a cold blustery day we docked at the port village of Scrabster in the far north of Scotland and busses took us on our tour to Dunnett Heads (the official most northerly point of UK - although many say it is John O'Groats) .A very busy bird cliff could be seen, but for us no shy puffins were sighted even though this area is noted for them.

 
Our visit to the castle of Mey, whilst feeling a little like a consolation prize, due to our itinerary change, was in fact quite an interesting stop. The Queen Mother bought the castle in 1952 in a very run down state, with no electricity or running water. She renovated it and bought some adjoining farm lands and became quite the farmer, winning awards at the local shows for her cattle and sheep. An immaculate and charming walled garden and various barns and animal enclosures formed part of the grounds. We were able to wander through the castle which included many of the Queen Mum's personal collections of family photos. She often spoke about this as being her favourite residence.

 
An interesting first day with a sample of how cold a Scottish wind can be in Summer.