Jan 19 – The Executive Hotel in the newer part of the city has everything we could want, including a swimming pool and a generous breakfast buffet. But silver skyscrapers are not our thing. Jim said the city bears no resemblance to the Panama City he visited back in the 70s.
Cool buildings
This morning we set out to conquer the Metro station and find our way to the Old Town, Casco Viejo. The Metro was modern and clean, with a helpful attendant in a glass booth who sold us a reloadable metro card and did her best with gestures and no English to let us know that we had to load the card with funds at a nearby machine. There is no English signage here. We stood dumbly in front of the machine trying to figure out what to do, when a woman strode up, inserted our card, pushed some buttons and showed us where to insert our dollar coin. Nice Person of Panama!
Wall art!
We got on a clean, shiny train, not too crowded, and, three stops later, we emerged in a grittier part of the city. Google said we had a 20 minute walk to Casco Viejo. Now, I know we’re here to warm our bones, but it is HOT and humid here. It may take me a few days to adjust.
We reached the Plaza de Independencia, which has the Palacio Municipal one one side, and the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria the Ancient on the other.
Palacio Municipal The Cathedral
Inside the Cathedral it was nice and cool, so we took our time looking around.
Lovely main altar
There is a reliquary and a wax statue of San Joselito here, a 14 year old Mexican boy who was tortured and murdered for his faith in 1928 and became a saint in 2016. First saint we’ve seen in blue jeans.
San JoselitoLife sized statues – looks like Jesus is in trouble againPretty Madonna, funny looking baby
Around the corner was the Church of St Joseph with a very gold altar.
Now, am I wrong, or is this a holy person taking a selfie?
Saint Selfie?
We walked around the Old Town and admired the colorful buildings:
Locks of Love, and a view across the bridge to the modern city
Arrived back home for an afternoon swim and a lovely dinner. An excellent first day.
Jan 18, 2023 – Want to warm your bones in the middle of the winter? Come with us to Panama!
What do we know about the Republic of Panama? It’s a really narrow little country in Central America, tucked between Costa Rica and Colombia, with the Caribbean Sea (leading to the Atlantic) to the north, and the Bay of Panama (leading to the Pacific) to the south.
Colonized by the Spanish in the 1500s, it became part of Colombia in 1831. The US got access to the special area in 1904 to build the you-know-what (remember A man, a plan, a canal, Panama? Best palindrome ever!)
The official language is Spanish, with enough local eccentricities to make it hard for us to understand. The official currency is the balboa, but they don’t actually print any, using US dollars instead. No conversion math – yay! Weather = tropical, with temps in the high 80s – 90s expected every day. This season is called the dry, and the summer months are the wet.
We got up early and Lyfted over to the airport. When we walked in, I thought we must have missed the Rapture – a totally empty check-in area, and a totally empty TSA screening area! We talked with the screeners, who are usually too busy to chat, and a good time was had by all.
Unfortunately, our flight was to Newark, which is an hour and a half in the wrong direction, but that’s where United sent us.
Isn’t that New Yawk City?
Then a five hour flight straight south to Panama City. Good news: Panama is in our same Eastern time zone, so no jet lag or resetting our watches! More good news: tap water here is totally drinkable, at least in the city.
Jorge, the Uber driver, was happy to drive us the half hour to our downtown hotel, where we collapsed gratefully into a very comfy bed. More tomorrow!
August 23 – This morning, after another lovely breakfast, we put our big packs on our backs and walked to the Inverness bus station. Our arranged tour is over and no one will be transporting our packs for us anymore. Rather than spend a long travel day getting back to Edinburgh, Jim booked us one night each in two small towns on the way.
Aviemore Railway
Aviemore is in Cairngorms National Park, best known for winter skiing, but also for biking, climbing and hiking the Speyside Way, which runs parallel to the Great Glen Way.
Our guesthouse is right across the street from the local Church of Scotland, with the cross of St. Andrew in the window. The cross looks like the letter X because that was the shape of the cross that Andrew was crucified on. Andrew never visited Scotland, and I was unable to find why he is the patron saint of this country. This is the view from our window. See the rainbow?
We took a short walk down part of the Speyside Way. We met some horses disguised as zebras.
A different kind of trail marker
Back in our room, we spied another rainbow!
I liked the architecture and stone walls:
Ravenscraig- some of the house names sound like they should be in Harry Potter
Aviemore also has its very own standing stone circle, over 4000 years old, right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The stones have been mostly buried to protect them.
Do you hear the stones singing?Jamie, here I come!
In one of our hotels, I found a copy of a Diana Gabaldon book I had never seen. Hadn’t I read them all? Turns out that Cross Stitch was the original name of the first book in the UK, before it was changed to Outlander. Now you know.
Original title of OutlanderAviemore has nattily attired train conductors……and helpful bus drivers – this is our double decker bus
You won’t believe this, but as we were leaving for supper, a third rainbow!
August 24 – Back on the bus this morning for the 75 minute ride to Pitlochry. Seen from the bus window:
Pretty mountains I wonder what castle that is?
Pitlochry has several golf courses – an important sport here – a hydroelectric dam, and is home to Blair Castle. I got excited when I found out about the castle, as my family is connected to Clan Blair. Too bad for me, the castle has been owned by the Atholl family for 750 years. Blár is the Gaelic word for meadow, so I guess it just means the castle on the meadow. It was a ways out of town, and we did not visit.
More pretty buildings:
Pitlochry Church
There are lots of shops and restaurants in town, and tons of visitors. We did our souvenir shopping today – a plate for our wall and trinkets for the grands. The older they get, the harder it is to find something we think they will like.
Pretty Main Street A hairy coo bakery
In the evening, we walked to the hydroelectric dam., which is a tourist spot with a visitor center and a lively bar. The dam was not spewing (do they turn it off in the evening?), but we got to see the fish ladder and a stunning sunset.
Suspension bridge Look Lexi – a horse sculpture!Some locks of love on this boatFish ladder – no fish jumping at the moment Gorgeous sunset
August 25 – After breakfast, we walked through town one more time. Saw a sculpture that made us cross the street to get a closer look. Obviously a woman, but what is she doing? Hitting her children with a stick? Playing an invisible violin? Turns out she is holding a golf club – worst stance ever.
Then back on the bus to Edinburgh, with one transfer that got us to within a block of our hotel. Kudos once again to a transportation system that gets you where you want to go!
August 26 – Up at 3:15am to get to the airport for our 6am flight to Amsterdam. Layover at Schiphol Airport is always a pleasure, including a mini Rijks Museum display and shop.
Porcelain elephants for sale at the Rijks Museum shop
Then on to Atlanta, and by 11pm we are home. Up for 26 hours – who can sleep on a plane anymore – all in the same day. A little worse for wear, but very happy to be here. ‘Til next time!
August 22 – Now that our hike is over, we are taking it easy today, strolling slowly and seeing the sights of Inverness. Lots of beautiful architecture.
Leakey’s Book Shop, opened in 1979 in an old Gaelic church, is the largest second hand bookstore in Scotland. It is packed full of old paperbacks, hardcovers, maps and prints, and you can still see some of the stained glass windows.
We visited the Inverness Cathedral dedicated to St. Andrew, which felt more like a cozy parish church. It is the northernmost Scottish Episcopal Cathedral in Great Britain., built in 1866.
For Eliese and Janice, the Quilting Kieglers, below is a quilt fashioned in 2020 of scraps left over from making masks during the early days of Covid. Affixed are butterflies honoring parish family members lost to Covid.
Butterfly remembrance quiltQuilt with squares of the churches in the diocese
I especially liked the crocheted church mice placed all over the church. So cute!
We checked out the Victorian Covered Market, originally built in 1870, burned down, then rebuilt in 1890. It has historical photos down each side.
We ate lunch at the riverside, then walked south to visit the Inverness Botanic Gardens. Lots of gorgeous blooms packed in a small space!
River Ness IslandsA koi pond with some big mean-looking fish
August 20 – Today is our penultimate hiking day. It was pouring down rain when we woke up, but within the hour, the sun broke through. We have had such great weather on this trip.
At breakfast this morning we met Philip and Roger, who are bagging the Munros – climbing to the summit of each of the 282 Scottish mountains over 3000 feet tall. Today, Roger is bagging his 282nd Munro! Congratulations Roger! 🥳
Philip and Roger
We had to walk a mile along a busy highway, which was no fun but still provided some pastoral views.
Then we started to climb again, for much longer than I like to climb. Today is our highest elevation day.
See Urquhart Castle in the distance?We climbed all morningFinally, Loch Ness from above!
Then we were out on the moors, with purple heather all around:
When the mist is in the gloamin’, and all the clouds are holdin’ still. Take my hand and let’s go roamin’ through the heather on the hill. – from BrigadoonThere was a café in the middle of nowhere Then, back onto the moors Straightest path ever
As we just don’t walk 20 miles a day, our tour operator split the day for us. We reached our rendezvous spot out in the middle of nowhere, where a taxi was supposed to pick us up, but the taxi driver could not find us. An amusing hour on the phone ensued, (what landmarks do you see? Trees.) until he eventually showed up to take us to our guesthouse in Inverness. We are staying in the Fraser Room (no relation to Jamie.) Tomorrow is our final day!
August 21 – Another beautiful, sunny morning. We enjoyed our last hiker’s breakfast, got into our taxi – this driver knew exactly where to take us – and got back on the trail.
Back into sparse woodsWe followed a stone wall for a long timeLast mossy mossThe River Ness, which flows from the Loch into the city Our first view of Inverness The Great Glen House, ecologically sustainable building We walked through the suburbs Watched boys practicing football The end of the Caledonian Canal A bridge over River NessWe walked through several parksA wooden NessieThe city war memorial …with several more MacLennansWe’ve arrived!
A plaque marked the official end of the Great Glen Way. Unlike the previous hike, there were no other walkers to celebrate with. As we struggled to take a selfie to commemorate the day, a couple at the restaurant across the street stood up and applauded us. We did it!
August 18 – After another fine smoked salmon and egg breakfast, we set out onto a trail that immediately went uphill, and kept going uphill much longer than I wanted it to. See the town down below?
The day is gray.
We got to the woods, and they looked really, really dark. The tall pine trees blot out any light. Careful, Jim!
Jim found a pine cone heart on the pathLittle stone caveFinally, the Loch!Heather lined both sides of the trail Then, the sun came out!Now it’s a lovely day
Because there was no lodging at the end point of our walk, our tour operator arranged for a taxi to pick us up and take us back to last night’s guesthouse. I like it when we can stay more than one night in the same place.
Tomorrow’s hike is all road walk into Drumnadrochit (Drum-na-DROCHHH-it), so, with the help of the taxi driver, we planned an alternate adventure. Can’t wait!
August 19 – Our taxi driver picked us up at the guesthouse and took us two miles past the town of Drumnadrochit to Urquhart (IRK-hart) Castle, the second most visited castle in Scotland.
Urquhart Castle
The castle was built around 1250, and passed through many hands before being blown up by the occupying English in 1690 to prevent the Jacobites from using it. It has been falling to ruin ever since. That does not stop a half a million tourists a year from coming to see it.
There were signs indicating that archeologists surmise that one area must have been the kitchen and another the stables, but you really had to use your imagination.
The towerThis must have been the prison!
The trebuchet below was built in 1997 for an American documentary that was filmed here. There is no indication that trebuchets were ever actually used to hurl big stones in a battle here.
Wildlife in the gift shop The tourists!
Then we visited the Loch Ness Centre to see all the ways folks have been looking for the monster.
Diving bellYellow submarine
They haven’t found him yet. A few weeks ago there was an article about a local Nessie sighting. It turned out to be a swimming alpaca.
Then we walked into Drumnadrochit for a scrumptious meal, and to provision for tomorrow’s hike.
A piperA floral reproduction of Urquhart Castle
We are staying at Drumbuie Farm, which raises the famous Highland cattle – beef cows of a gorgeous color that look like they need a haircut.
Highland cow cupcakes at the marketA Highland bulland a Highland cow
August 17 – a chilly but sunny forecast for today. The temp was in the 40s this morning, so I wore my sweatshirt and fleece jacket. We headed into the woods, and stayed there most of the morning, occasionally glimpsing Loch Ness through the trees.
Then we got to a clearing, and there it was!
No monster sightings today. We read that the last Nessie sighting was in 1985, so we don’t hold out much hope for one, but we’ll keep looking!
We amused ourselves at a traffic reflector in the middle of the woods:
Pretty soon we came to Invermoriston, which has one hotel, a collection of guesthouses, and no other services. They have a very welcoming sign:
They have an old bridge, one of over a thousand built by Thomas Telford in the early 1800s to improve communication and transportation in the Highlands.
They have a waterfall:
They have standing stones:
They have a memorial to the fallen of the great wars. The WWI memorial contained two soldiers that share Jim’s surname! We look for the names of our forebears in every town, but these are the first we’ve found. Like so many names in America, Jim’s was changed many generations ago from MacLennan to McClenon. We count it as a match.
The memorial contains two MacLennans
There is also St. Columba’s well. St. Columba was an Irish evangelist who came to Scotland in the year 563 to convert the Picts to Christianity. In 565, when a sea monster in Loch Ness (first Nessie sighting ever!) attacked his traveling companions, he banished it to the bottom of the Loch. So, this well used to have toxic water that made people break out in boils and die, but after St. Columba blessed it, the water was pure and cured people of their ills. The well is blocked off so you can’t get to the water.
St.Columba’s well
So, now we are in another lovely guesthouse. We are full of lasagna and planning tomorrow’s hike. Good night!
August 15 – The forecast today was for rain, so we got an early start for the 11 miles to Fort Augustus, which is the midpoint of this hike. We walked past the Eagle Barge, the only restaurant in Laggan. When we saw it online we didn’t realize it was actually a barge.
The Eagle BargeInto the woods
Today we are walking beside Loch Oich. I hope you’re keeping track of all these lochs.
We pass by the old Invergarry station:
There’ll be no trains running from here!A chimney without a house Walking through the old train tunnelI hope no bicycles fall on me!
We watched the barge below pass through the lock, then discharge its passengers. They were retirees from Sweden, taking a three day cruise up the Caledonian Canal.
We stopped to see the famous Bridge of Oich, built in 1854 after the old stone bridge crumbled. It used a double cantilevered design so that even if the bridge broke in the middle, the sides would not fall down. We hikers learn stuff!
Bridge of OichBoats waiting to go through the lockThe lock keeper’s cottageClose to Fort Augustus Here we are!Can you guess who this is?Our first view of Loch Ness
And, although it was a little misty from time to time, it never rained on us. Another good day.
August 16 – We are taking a rest day today, at the midpoint of our hike. The village of Fort Augustus (population 600) is a one block cluster of restaurants and guesthouses catering to tourists who want to see Loch Ness and any monsters dwelling therein.
Delightfulness – one of many Nessy gift shops
There are no remains of the actual fort, built by the British after the 1715 Jacobite uprising and named for Prince William Augustus, who was instrumental in the slaughter of the Scots.
After the completion of the Caledonian Canal, Queen Victoria took a ride down it in a paddle steamer in 1873. She wrote in her journal, “The Caledonian Canal is a very wonderful thing, but rather tedious.” Her journey started a tourist trend, and steaming down the canal was dubbed ‘the Royal route.’ Shops and cafes popped up to give the tourists something to do while their boats negotiated the locks.
Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee fountain So many locks!
Happy to report another culinary first for us today. Jim had the gammon steak, which turned out to be ham, and I had the ‘neeps and tatties’ – turnips and potatoes. I found the turnips altogether palatable when mashed together with potatoes and carrots. On their own: no thanks.
Gammon steakNeeps and tatties
We visited the Caledonian Canal information center, which consisted of the signboard below in a cafe. The black dot in the middle is our location. The white body to the northeast is all Loch Ness. It’s a big one.
We sat down for an ice cream and watched the crowds waiting for their Loch Ness boat tours or queuing up to get into the restaurants. I still can’t get used to folks in down jackets and woolly hats and scarves in the middle of August.
We bought a cold supper and carried it back to our room so we wouldn’t have to make the long trip uphill twice in one day. On the path up to our guesthouse is a respite for the weary traveler:
Our dinner included a selection of local brewery offerings:
August 14 – Following a lovely breakfast of salmon and scrambled eggs, we returned to the trail. We are still following alongside the Caledonian Canal, which has locks between the lochs. Today we leave the shore and move up into the hills along – wait for it – Loch Lochy. I am shaking my old gray locks at that one…
Another sunny morning!Loch Lochy seen through the trees
We contemplate our mortality:
Scottish signs do not mince words
There is logging in this area, and the construction of a hydroelectric project that necessitated rerouting of the trail.
Not the prettiest path today
We see two kayaks through a break in the trees:
We continue to climb – can you still see the kayak in the pic below?
Jim talks to Joshua, a traveler from Manchester who moved to Scotland and bought a hotel
Here is the brand new trail, paid for by the hydroelectric company.
A little waterfall
The day started to turn gray. We sat down to eat our lunch and were immediately beset by midges. We put on our head nets and brought our sandwiches under the nets so we could eat.
Walking down to Laggan Locks
As we resumed our walk it started to rain – the first rain we’ve seen in weeks, so no complaints. We found our way down to Laggan locks, and called our guesthouse hosts who came right down to pick us up.
Lorraine and Laura are from England, and have owned their guesthouse for five years. They love what they do, and made us feel so welcome; fixing us dinner and even running our laundry through the washer and dryer. We had a wonderful evening.
August 13 – This morning we bid adieu to Fort William, and set off to follow the Great Glen Way, which runs northeast for 78 miles to Inverness.
The beginning of the trail
The trail starts at the ruins of old Fort William, built in 1690:
The fort protected Loch Linnhe and the River Nevis
We looked down on the ruins of Inverlochy Castle in the distance.
Old Inverlochy Castle
We walked for a while through the suburbs of Fort William, until we reached the Caledonian Canal. The canal takes advantage of the geological fault that runs across the country up to Inverness. It was built in 1803, and has 29 locks. The first eight locks are called Neptune’s Staircase.
Neptune’s Staircase
We continued to walk for the rest of the day on the canal towpath – perfectly flat. How nice to have no mountains to worry about!
We watched big boatsAnd small boatsAnd tiny boatsLots of bikes, and a retired racehorse named Clive
We only met one other walking couple today. Quite a change from the busy West Highland Way!
Pretty thistles Cows on the hillside
Before we knew it, we arrived at the bottom lock at Gairlochy, our end point for the day. There is no place to stay here, so our guesthouse host Cameron picked us up and drove us to Spean Bridge, four miles from the trail, where we will be returned after breakfast.
We had dinner at a local restaurant. I was happy to see chicken on the menu – we’ve been eating mostly fish or beef. Chicken Balmoral turned out to be a chicken breast stuffed with – you guessed it – haggis! Very tasty, in a spicy pepper sauce with plenty of veg.
The Scottish food we’ve tried so far has been much spicier overall than we expected; a pleasant surprise. Glad to find so many surprises here.
Taking Our Time 