I walked the 4 miles into Aviemore along the grass verge of the road. I have been there many times in the past (one February staying in a static with a bunch of mountaineers including Alan Hinks - now a world famous mountaineer) and the place never fails to disappoint me. What a waste of potential. It could be Scotland's version of an Alpine village. Instead we have monstrous concrete carbuncles towering over a high street that has rows of illuminated shop signs like any other town in Britain.
Whilst there, however, I did enjoy a bacon, Brie and cranberry baguette outside a cafe that had free WiFi.
I left Aviemore on the National Cycle Network route 7, which is becoming an old friend. After a while a passed a golf tournament which looked strange with the Cairngorms looming in the background.
Shortly afterwards I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to photograph this steam train.
I followed NCN 7, which had now been joined by the Speyside Way all the way to Boat of Garten.
Although Gyp was not allowed in The Boat the staff were very amenable and let us sit in the foyer, where I ate my salmon dinner, washed down with real ale from Cairngorm brewery. The only distractions were from a back room, where apparently some football match was on tv, which culminated in a huge whoop when USA scored. To compound my feelings of being "the foreigner" a coach load of Germans arrived to join in the fun.
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