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Clockwise from above: Scalloway town and its picturesque harbour; Fi's childhood pony, Hamish, is on the far right northern cousin, Orkney is a low-lying riot of wild flowers, wide open spaces and greenery. So lushly, verdantly green, the landscape is enhanced by the soft rolling curves of gentle hills. In July the fields were filled with softly waving ancient grains, bere barley should you be interested, which has been grown there since the original Vikings first paid a visit. I'm not sure that I have ever been more aware of being surrounded by thousands of years of history than I was during my brief time in Orkney. Within a few miles of each other are Skara Brae (a perfectly preserved Neolithic settlement built 5,000 years ago), the scuttled WWI German High Seas Fleet rusting below the waters of Scapa Flow, the four WWII causeways known as the Churchill Barriers, and an exquisite chapel built by Italian prisoners of war. Meanwhile, the standing stones of the Ring of Brodgar made me stop in my tracks and weep at their simplicity and allmighty presence. ere's something unique about Orkney itself that helps you sense the humans who made and lived all this history – it's not just a collection of old or even ancient things, everything carried something of its creators, tens, hundreds or thousands of years in a future they couldn't possibly begin to imagine. And there's more, at the very heart of Kirkwall, there is the mighty St. Magnus, Britain's most northerly cathedral. Whatever your relationship with God please pay a visit. Building began in 1137 and finished 300 years later. It is as humbling now as it must have been then. I got the sense that while Orkney is rightly proud of its history, it has its eyes very much on the future, and perhaps that self-reliance is the secret of its continuing evolution. Today, it leads the UK's drive to a carbon-free future, and is developing clean energy technology that will harness the power of the wind and the surrounding seas. GETTING THERE: The 15-day Into the Midnight Sun voyage starts from Bergen to London. From $9,595pp in a Veranda stateroom. viking.com 31