Days 7 and 8: Simply monstrous. I mean marvelous: Loch Ness and Beyond

Day 7: For my first full day truly solo, I had booked a small-group tour of Loch Ness, which included many stops for photo ops, commentary from our lovely driver from Glasgow, a walk about Urquhart Castle, and a journey around the full coastline, mostly via our small shuttle bus but a segment by boat. The beautiful weather had returned — glorious!! It was a wonderful day. (Photos below.)

I also made the acquaintance of a few women traveling solo or in pairs, much younger than I. I invited them to join me later at a pub that was recommended by locals, despite the non-Scottish name, Hootenanny. One of them did, and we enjoyed some live music, a walk around the town center, and later some Scottish Mexican food.

Day 8: Next morning brought back clouds and ultimately rain, but I have been mostly dry and cozy inside a taxi, on a 40-minute coach ride to the town of Aviemore, and at a coffee shop while I await a steam train tour of the Cairngorms, a large national park slightly southeast of Inverness. I have checked into a lovely guesthouse here in Aviemore, my home for two nights.

Loch Ness is the largest lake in the United Kingdom, and the Cairngorms is the largest national park. That’s as monstrous as it has gotten so far. No Nessie. I do hope to see reindeer tomorrow here in the Cairngorms. I’m told they ARE real.

Random observation: Now that I am on my own and taking more time to people-watch, I am seeing, or maybe just noticing, more single women traveling alone. I see in them myself from 35 years ago. Or from 2 years ago! A young woman at the restaurant tonight, directly across the room from me, was clearly alone, clearly in her early 20s. Not clearly American; I had a debate with myself about her nationality. But she was hunched over her phone the entire time. I was seated at a high-top table for 4, and I thought that if I could catch her eye, I might invite her to join me. But she didn’t look up. 

Traveling alone, pre-smartphone, I would bring a physical book and a physical journal and pen, and I would make myself look busy if I was self-conscious about eating alone. Nowadays I do sometimes hunch over my phone, though often I am still reading or journal writing, but just making use of phone apps. I like to think I look up. Tonight at the restaurant, I wasn’t self-conscious about sitting alone at all, but I would have liked to have a conversation with a random stranger, just for fun. I find that the pubs in Britain generally don’t have stools at the bar, so I order a pint and stand awkwardly until I can find a table. And then I sit alone and watch people.

Were we friendlier before smartphones? Did we look around more often, make eye contact, and strike up conversations? I really don’t know.

And now, photos (click to enlarge):

Crazy people taking a morning swim in Loch Ness

Cricket! At St. Augustine at the southernmost point of Loch Ness, where we stopped for lunch.

Urquhart Castle, from above, from within, and from the boat.

Inverness (meaning the mouth of the River Ness), just as the sun is setting — at 9:00 at night! The sun doesn’t set until nearly 10:00, and it’s up again before 5:00!

”High Tea” on the Strathspey Railway, a 2-hour round trip along the edge of the Cairngorms by stream engine.

Views from the train. The rain had cleared before we started, and the sun started to poke out during the journey, giving glimpses of the mountains within the park.