I returned home last night after a week's holiday in Shetland, where the weather was a delightfully consistent 14-15 degrees, the views were dramatic, and the ocean was a restorative and constant presence. Thank you to all who offered advice a few posts back — between your tips and our own research, Matthias and I enjoyed a trip that was a perfect mix of outdoorsy walking and views, museums and learning, and good food and serendipitous wandering.

I did journal a little bit while I was there, so if you want more details of what the trip involved, click behind the cut to see the transcript.

( The girl and the sea )

I would highly, highly recommend Shetland as a place to spend some time, especially if you live in the UK, and will happily expand on any of what I've written above in the comments, if you're interested. I've also got a lot of photos up over at ronnidolorosa — it's a very photogenic place!