My English Summer: Day 05

My last day in Edinburgh, and I'd saved the Castle visit for this one. If nothing else, one should visit Edinburgh Castle for its views. The hill (Castle Hill) was formed millions of years ago by volcanic activity. The castle was built in - if I've got my facts right - the 12th century and went through lots of changes, tearing down, rebuilding, renovation  and all that sort of thing. It really is quite impressive, and it's interesting how whenever you look up from somewhere in the Old Town you can see it brooding high above you on that sheer cliffside.
Entry isn't cheap - tickets cost GBP 14 but if you're going you might as well go for the audio guide, so you'd pay GBP 17. The audio guide is really good, and gives you the option of listening to as much or as little of the history as you want to. I spent a long time going through each and every story and narration, a morning well spent. There are also guided tours by castle staff at fixed times if one is interested. But really, why would you want to traipse around in a huge group being shepherded by a guide when you can do it all on your own and at your own pace, pausing when and where you want to listen to more background and take some pictures?
Margaret's Chapel was stark in its simplicity; the Great Hall felt familiar - been watching too many movies of that time maybe? The war memorial was quite moving. Overall, worth the visit and gave me a much better idea of the history of the country.

Above: 1. View from the Castle. 2. The 1 o'clock gun which is fired at 1pm daily - used earlier to synchronise times with the observatory or harbour or something to that effect. Used to be fired at noon till a canny Scotsman realised that they could save ammo by firing it at one pm!!
Below: Castle as seen from Princes Street Gardens

After the Castle visit I took a bus ride out of town to the Ocean Terminal. Instead of finding a seaside promenade I found out that this was just a big mall, next to which lies the Royal Yacht Britannia. Not my cup of tea so I took another bus back, this one had a pretty nice route and went for a bit past the shore/harbour.
This evening Amanda, Melissa and I met up and went looking for somewhere nice to eat. Finally settled on a pubby kind of place called The Last Drop, in the Grassmarket area. Tried out Irn Bru, veggie haggis and sticky toffee pudding. Nice.

My English Summer: Day 04

Edinburgh rocks. Really there is so much beauty and history in this city, you can spend days getting to know your favourite parts of it. I only had three days though, so had to make the most of these.
Signed on for the free walking tour that leaves at 11am every day from the Starbucks on the Mile. It lasted for about 3 hours and the guide - Mark, a great story teller - picked up a lot of the history and legends connected to Edinburgh. Saw a number of interesting places: passed by the Writers Museum dedicated to Scott, Burns and Stevenson, St Giles church, the Mercat Cross (gory history - thieves used to get nailed to the cross by their ears we were told - ouch), the Elephant Cafe where Rowling wrote the initial Potter books, the Heriot School which is said to have been one of the inspirations behind Hogwarts - a lot of the names of her characters (such as McGonagall) can be found on the plaques around the school, Greyfriar's church and the famous dog Bobby (well we saw the dog's statue anyway), the house of Deacon Brodie (who inspired Stevenson's Jekyll/Hide character), the Princess Street gardens, etc etc. All in all a good way to get an initial idea of the city and its stories.
Did some more walking this time and found that the lower part of the Mile especially Canongate is a nicer area than the upper half, less crowded and touristy. You just have to veer off into any of the narrow lanes leading off the main road and you find yourself in beautiful little residential areas with gardens and flower-boxes in the windows and that kind of thing. As I was really walking quite randomly, didn't know for sure where I was till I found myself at the old Calton cemetery. Spooky and quiet.
At night - well it was night timewise since it was 8.30pm but really it was bright day outside - Amanda, Melissa and I headed out for a drink, before joining this so called Ghost tour. More stories and a guide who loved drama! The walk took us up past the cemetery to Calton Hill. You get some lovely views here of all sides of the town, apart from the Observatory. There is also this Parthenon-style incomplete pillared folly which is formally called the National Monument I think...abandoned after a point.

The tour was going on to a college-crowd pub after this, we figured we'd rather walk back as it was nearly 11pm and nobody was in the mood for that kind of thing particularly. Long day, but what a day!

My English Summer - Day 03

Continuing from where I left off, two posts ago. 01st of June 2010, I took the morning train out of King's Cross to Edinburgh. The journey takes about 4 hours, and the trains are very comfortable. I liked having a power point next to the seat, especially as my cell was low on battery. The train was a great way to see more of the countryside, which was really green. We passed scores and scores of sarson ke khet, which reminded me of home naturally. And yes, all the cliches are true: rolling meadows, cows in pastures, churches, picturebook cottages and houses with sloping shingled roofs...Beautiful.

I was really excited about getting to Scotland, but also just a little bit nervous. This part of the trip was truly a solo trip for me, I didn't know a single soul there and I had no idea what lay in store. So yeah, there were definitely some butterflies in my tummy as the train pulled into Waverley station, Edinburgh. It was overcast and a drizzle started up almost immediately; luckily the hostel I had booked was just a 5 minute walk away. Checked in, got up to the dorm to dump my stuff and met one of my room-mates Amanda, an American who had been studying at nearby Stirling University and was in town for a couple of days before flying back to the US.

My first evening in Edinburgh was also the day I fell in love with the city. Edinburgh's medieval Old Town and the 18th century mostly Georgian New town are both World Heritage Sites and one can spend days just exploring them. I had three days here and spent hours just walking everywhere. On this first evening I just took an exploratory walk up the Royal Mile up till the Caste.  The Royal Mile is a cobblestoned street that connects the Castle with the Holyrood Palace and actually measures about a 100 yards more than a mile. The part of the mile close to the castle is where you will find the highest concentration of souvenir shops, restaurants, T shirt sellers, and all the usual suspects one expects to find in any touristy area. But it is still an interesting walk, with medieval buildings on both sides of you and dozens of narrow alleys (called Wynds or Closes) leading off from it. Go down any of these wynds and you never know what you might find. Also, a part of the Mile is fully pedestrianised. I think I went crazy just taking pictures of everything - every building looked beautiful and there were some great views.

After this I just walked wherever I felt like, and stopped wherever something sparked my interest. Took a turn on to South Bridge road and found myself at the University. They welcome visitors into the Quad, so I went in and walked around. It was very quiet and beautiful, and at one end of the Quad I found a memorial to alumni killed during the World Wars. Then I walked across Waverley bridge to the New Town side of things, and took a look at the Monument, the Royal Academy and its adjacent building the National Gallery, the Mound etc. Old Town and New Town used to be divided by the Nor Loch - the town's water supply cum sewage dump. This was eventually drained and converted into a beautiful green area called the Princes Street Gardens. It's a great place to sit and people-watch. You also get great views of the Castle, and some decent ice cream!

By the time I finished my walk it was around 8pm, and it was still bright and sunny. To somebody used to dusk setting in by 7pm in summer, it was a little strange at first to see that it didn't get dark till past 10pm here. It was a little disorienting, especially since all shops and cafes were shut by 6pm. The only shops open till late night turned out to be stores owned by Punjabi-speaking men from Pakistan!

The first day in Scotland turned out great. I managed the connection Woking - Waterloo - King's Cross - Edinburgh safely, found myself in a beautiful city with three days to spend as I wished, and made friends.My roommates from the hostel, Amanda and Melissa, were to give me company over the next couple of days' explorations of the city. More on that, in the next post!

Happy New Year!

A new year, a new decade. Another opportunity to make fresh starts, to bring out long-abandoned plans from cold storage and give them new wings, to remind ourselves of what used to be important to us till life got in the way...

The best thing about the New Year is, well, the new-ness of it. Everything seems possible, all our mistakes are in the past and the future lies before us full of endless opportunities. I want to enjoy this feeling while it lasts!!

No resolutions this year - the best way to defeat a plan is to turn it into a New year's resolution - but yes I hope to write some more and read a lot more. Spend more time with family and friends and try to achieve that balance that has eluded me all of last year.

Happy New Year to everybody!

My English summer - Day 02

31st May'10: It felt like being in a dream, waking up and remembering where I was. After breakfast PC and I walked to the station and I learnt about Travelcards. She saw me off on the train to London Waterloo after ensuring that I was carrying water, warm outerwear and her phone card. Love you PC!

It was all happening so fast, there wasn't a lot of time to think and so a lot of it didn't sink in for days. I began my first day in London with a walk down the South Bank, from the London Eye to Waterloo bridge. Now I love walking around a new place, it is really the best way I can think of to explore the sights, so I had looked up some websites that featured interesting walks and walking tours of London. I got myself a map and well, I just walked and walked!

South Bank is a very lively, colourful side of London. You walk along the Thames, getting views of the iconic Big Ben among other things, and alongside on the promenade you can see street performers, art exhibits, tourists like you...it's a fun way to pass some time.

I crossed the river and took a bus to Hyde Park, because I wanted to join this free walking tour that starts from there every day at 1pm. I reached just in time, found the red-shirted guide and signed up. This walking tour lasted for about 2 hours, and it was a large group so sometimes one missed out on hearing what the guide had said, but it was an interesting way to get an introduction to the city. We covered quite a lot of ground - Green Park, Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square, Horseguards, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

After this tour I found I had some time so took the tube over to Tower Hill. The Tube Map is a wonder, it is so beautifully designed and makes the whole complex network so easy to understand, great job done.

Entrance fee to the Tower of London is frighfully expensive. I shelled out 17 Pounds for my ticket, and then found that I couldn't see the Crown Jewels since there was a mile-long queue and they were about close in an hour - early closing due to Bank Holiday. But walking around the Tower was interesting. I liked the Medieval Palace, saw the ravens (it is said that if the ravens leave the Tower, the English monarchy will fall, so one can imagine how well cared for these birds must be), got my picture taken with a Yeoman Warder (maybe a very touristy thing to do, but good fun anyway). Saw the place where Anne Boleyn was executed. Interestingly Tower Green where a number of executions have been held was on this day hosting a wedding reception party!



After this visit it was time to get back to Waterloo and take the train to PC's place. I'd seen so much in this first day, my head was just full and I had two weeks of my holiday to look forward to. Next stop - Edinburgh!!





My English summer - Day 01

I hate, absolutely hate, having to pack for myself. It takes me ages to decide what I want to carry, then collect it all together, and then go through the whole irritating process of getting everything to fit into the case and still remain unbroken/unbent/uncreased. The longer the trip, the more harried the packing gets. So consider that this was to be a 14 day overseas trip and one gets the idea...So yeah, the day before my departure for London was a chaotic, stressful time that I thankfully do not remember that well.

The flight to Dubai was uneventful, and I loved being able to see the desert from the plane. The T3 terminal at Dubai is great, but it's really huge which means sometimes a loooong walk to make your onward connection. When you are short of time, it can be a bit of a problem. Still, I made the connection and managed to get into Gatwick as scheduled. PC had arranged for a Woking cabbie to pick me up so it was quite easy. By the time I reached Woking it was late evening and I was too tired to think. It was awesome seeing PC after so many years, and there was lots to catch up on once I'd got some rest. I slept like the proverbial log.

My English summer

An earlier post mentioned my summer trip - the big birthday gift I gave to myself this year

http://nomadicdreamz.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-did-it.html

I have lost count of the number of times I abandoned travel plans because I couldn't get someone to travel with and didn't feel able to just go off on my own. Then this year I finally realised what a waste the waiting game was.

It began with a tiny germ of an idea - Kingfisher was launching a new Delhi - London connection and was giving a highly discounted introductory offer to travel agents. I ultimately couldn't manage the Kingfisher flights but by then the idea had taken root and I just couldn't stop my dreaming. So, long hours were spent poring over travel sites and guides till I finally picked up the courage to go ahead and book my Emirates flight to London.

Having a friend who stayed just a 30 minute train ride from London was a safety net - so it was a solo trip but there was someone I had, to stay with for some days and to lean on when..if...the solo-ness got too much for me. And gradually as I surfed and read, my plans took shape and widened in scope. I finally ended up spending a week around London and a week in Scotland. Loved it to bits, came back with a camera full of pictures and of course loads of memories. My next few posts are going to try and put in words the wonder of this trip, and just how special it was for me. So much that one of my favourite pastimes these days is to research other places to travel to. Bitten, well and truly!

So, as usual, I've managed to neglect my blog for months on end. No matter what I tell myself, I don't seem to have the patience or the discipline to do this regularly any more. I know I want to, but I can't seem to put down in words the millions of thoughts messing around in my head at any point of time...

Of course the last two months have probably been some of the toughest in my professional life; the big exodus of people from the organisation and then those of us who stayed back trying to get things back on track. There have been 16 hour work days seven days a week, there have been sleepless nights and missed meals, and a lot of bull from a lot of sources. But the worst seems over now, and I am looking forward to the challenges posed by my new role now.

Christmas is a lull as far as work is concerned, so after a long time I actually have time to sit down at home and do something other than work. I intend to use this time to do what I've been planning to do for the last six months - write about some of the trips I've taken over the last couple of years. Let's see if I can stick to it this time!!

Commonwealth: The hottest topic of discussion these days everywhere.
CWG: The guys we all hate, for making a laughing stock of us around the world.
Rs 70,000 Crores: The estimated cost of this fiasco.
Games Village: A "luxurious residence" for games athletes - where the roofs leak, toilets are jammed up, light fittings are missing, and stray dogs abound - not to mention the stagnant water capable of being a dengue/malaria source. Where so far only half the towers are complete and where many of the completed towers don't even have furniture installed yet.
Lalit Bhanot - A man with questionable standards of hygiene!!
Suresh Kalmadi - The master of the 3 ring circus, whose tall claims and empty promises have given the press plenty of material to rip apart...
Lackadaisical: The attitude of the government so far
Corrupt: A word we need to find an alternative to - it doesn't even begin to describe the crooks running the CWG operation. So many personal fortunes made out of "common wealth"
Chaos: What to expect when the CWG-exclusive traffic lanes become operational
Shame: What Indians the world over seem to be feeling at the current situation, since we all seem to have been tarred with one brush.
Apprehension: What next??

I want my money back!!!!

Had to move back to stay with my folks for a bit, because of a mild case of typhoid. Not the horrible typhoid of last year that I'd suffered through ; I didn't even need to take more than a couple of days off from work. I must say, no matter how independent one gets, there are times in life when one needs someone to fall back on. For me, that's my parents - I come to stay with them every time I'm sick, and it really makes a difference.

The one night that I was alone at my own home, with temperature crossing 102 and nobody around to even put a cold compress, sticks in my mind though. I can't remember a time when I felt more alone and depressed, and it makes me realise how important a support structure is - and that means not just parents but others. The way things are right now, I don't think I have that. You kill yourself working, so much that you neglect all or most of your friendships and relationships, and at the end of the day this is where you end up. Alone!

Laut ke buddhu...

Three years ago when I left my previous organisation, I had loudly declared to anyone who cared to listen that commuting to Gurgaon every day was not for me and that I'd rather not work than be in a place where I spent three to five hours just travelling to and from work. Well, things have now come circle and my current organisation has - after months of waffling - finally shifted their office. Where to? Gurgaon, of course. I'm back to my early morning wake up calls, long commutes, and insane traffic. As they say, never say never....

I did it!

The highlight of this year for me has been a two week solo trip to England and Scotland that I did on my own this summer. After years of waiting for "the right time", for someone to maybe go with, for the requisite "bank balance" and a lot of other things, I finally managed to screw up the courage and go off on my own. My first ever long haul trip, and yes my first solo vacation. It was even better than I had thought it would be, and I came back with lots of pictures and memories as well as a new-found confidence in myself. I wonder now why I didn't do this earlier! Parts of this trip will be coming up on this blog soon. I'm now looking at ideas and options for my next trip, since I've promised myself to do this on a regular basis now. No cure for the travel bug!

Back...again

I've been meaning to get back to blogging actively for a long time now, but something or the other kept making me put it off. Apart from my innate laidback-ness, I think there is this odd fear that I might not have anything to write about, or even that I mightn't remember how to! Only one way to find out. So here's looking at me, and yet another shot at doing something I used to love to do but gave up along the way...

Apology to my blog

For being away for a year, almost exactly to the day...For letting work and family and friends and Facebook and books and everything else take up so much of my time, that blogging took a backseat...For not having the discipline to take out time regularly and post, even though I know that I need to.
No matter how often I go away, or for how long, I always return.

Talking to myself

The gift of the gab. You either have it, or you don't. If (like me) you don't have it, you (like me) can't stop wishing you did. Every time you're in a conversation with someone and are left with nothing to say. Every time you think of a brilliant observation to make - hours after the opportunity is past. Each time someone with a quicksilver tongue manages to get attention in a way you can only dream of. Each time you are left feeling a little foolish and a little dull, and come back home to talk to your blog...