Fàilte gu Alba - Welcome to Scotland

It was in the month of December I set out myself for Southampton. It was my first abroad journey alone. I had just recovered from a surgery of my left arm which was held 3-4 months back. I had to seek help to lift my luggage whenever required, because I wasn’t recovered fully from the injury. But still I was excited of my journey by self. I had a mobile phone & an adequate Wi-Fi connection throughout the journey to keep posted. I wondered how people used to travel alone when there were no mobile phones & plastic money cards. 

My flight landed at Heathrow Airport around noon. After finishing the immigration formalities, I came out in an hour. Southampton is 61 miles from Heathrow airport which will take you around 2 hours to reach by National Express Coach. My coach would start at 3.00 PM. Since it was very cold outside, I decided to wait in the airport lounge which also had display boards for the status of National Express Coaches. I stepped out & boarded the coach when it arrived and got seated myself comfortably. The bus was driven by a lady who aged around 50’s. Dileep had an exam the same day and had told he would come to the coach station to pick me up. The coach had stopped at 2 places and I was enjoying the view outside. The bus passed through narrow roads, freeways, towns & villages. Apart from very few speed breakers, the roads were very smooth that anybody can sleep like a baby. It was around 5 when I reached Southampton, but it looked dark as though it was 7.00 PM. Even though I have read & heard about early sunset & shorter days, I got to experience it there. I was excited the moment I saw Dileep, when my bus turned towards the coach station. He had finished his exam early & came to receive me. And what surprised me more was the fact that, the lady driver herself was lifting all the baggage’s of the passengers whoever alighted from the coach. She greeted each & every passenger happily while handing over our bags. I was shivering like a leaf and my winter jacket was somewhere deep inside my luggage. We reached our house (where Dileep has been staying for past few months) and received a warm welcome from his friends.

I was very tired even though there were few more hours to bed. I got myself fresh and had some dinner for namesake and then off to sleep allowing Dileep to prepare for his next day’s exam. Next day morning when I woke up, I was all alone in that house as Dileep & his friends had already left for their last exam. After breakfast & bath, I slept again & was woken up by Dileep when he was back. We had lunch outside and walked around. It was very cold & a big relief when we walked along the Sun. The roads were all crowded and Christmas sale was on everywhere. The streets were full of lights & filled with temporary shops which served Christmas decoration items, varieties of food and handcrafted gifts. In some restaurants, loud music played and, in some places, local artists performed. This went on for whole night even after the mall & local shops were closed. It was fun to walk around and you never felt it was midnight. One realised it is dark only when you moved out of that happening place.

For next 3 days we were busy exploring Southampton. Dileep was busy showing me all the hang out places, shops & eateries. And I was as excited as him, because everything was a new experience for me. We also engrossed in shopping especially food & water as we were going for a road trip in 3 days.

Day 1                        Southampton -> Burnley                                       264 miles, 4 hr 38 min

We packed & kept our things ready the previous day itself and woke up early in the morning and went to Europcar to get our car. It took almost half an hour to finish the procedures & to get our car even though we had made an early online booking days before. Finally, we were off for our road trip after lunch. It was almost dark when we reached Burnley. Burnley was just a stopover.

Day 2        Burnley -> Lake District National Park                               64.2 miles, 1 hr 5 min

                  Lake District National Park -> Bowness-on-Windermere        13.7 miles, 23 min

                  Bowness-on-Windermere -> Edinburgh                        160 miles, 3 hours 13 min

On the way to Edinburgh, we stopped at Lake District National Park. It is the largest among national parks in England. The park is famous for its landscape and is protected by restricting the industrial or commercial development. The lakes, forests, mountains & its association with William Wordsworth & other lake poets make it famous. We spent around 2-3 hours trekking & learning about the place and then moved to next destination, Bowness-on-Windermere.

Bowness was a civil parish town & one of the officials stop off points for the Olympic torch before it made its way to the Olympic Games opening ceremony. This small village lies on the shore of England’s largest lake. This place is ideal for hill walkers, cyclists & water sports enthusiasts or even for those who are ready to explore the village by foot. After lunch & tea, we left the village as we had to reach Edinburgh before it was too dark. It was around 8 when we checked in at hotel. After dinner, we headed to the Princess Street. Even though it was close to 9, the streets were lighted so well that, it was brighter than a sunny day. The whole street was ready to welcome Christmas & New Year. The view was even more stunning from the giant wheel at the Christmas fair. Next day morning too, we had crossed the street, but the view at night was spectacular. 

Day 3                   Edinburgh -> Dirleton Castle                                           22.3 miles, 40 min

                             Dirleton Castle -> Tantallon Castle                                    5.6 miles, 15 min

                              Tantallon Castle -> Rosslyn Chapel                                 32.1 miles, 46 min

                            Rosslyn Chapel -> Edinburgh                                           14.5 miles, 33 min

The Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia also known as Royal Yacht Britannia is the former royal yacht of the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. She was in service from 1954 until 1997. Now retired from royal service, Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh which was just 5 min walk from our hotel. It took 3 hours to complete the museum tour.

After lunch, we proceeded to Dirleton Castle, a medieval fortress in the village of Dirleton, East Lothian, Scotland. This stone castle has very well-maintained garden. The castle is in ruins, but you can wander into some of the chambers and read about life in bygone days. This is a self-guiding tour, so one can take your own time. There are comprehensive information boards, which gives you the information about the history & purpose of the rooms.

Our next destination was Tantallon Castle which was very close to Dirleton Castle. Tantallon comprises a single wall blocking off the headland, with the other three sides naturally protected by sea cliffs. The castle was once home to the powerful Red Douglas dynasty. When we were paying for the entry ticket, the staff asked us where were we from. When we said, we are from India, he told ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’ was shot here. Few shots for the title song were shot here. The thing which I think should have special mention about is the hospitality you get from the staff. They are very welcoming & they share whatever information they know irrespective of who visits. They never get tired of that.  

After these two places, we decided to go to Rosslyn Chapel since we had time. But it was very dark by the time we reached and so visitors weren’t allowed. This chapel was made famous by Dan Brown & featured in the movie adaptation of the novel “The Da Vinci Code”, the location of which is on a small hill. It is drawn by the unique & mysterious carvings. When we returned it was already dark and we were tired after so much of hiking and so we called it a day.

Day 4  

Next day morning after breakfast, we decided to explore Edinburgh. It included Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh Castle, St Giles Cathedral etc. The Holyrood Palace is the Queen’s official residence at Edinburgh. The Palace is open to public to explore throughout the year except when members of the Royal Family are in Residence.

Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh which stands on Castle Rock. At present it is the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The walk up is little bit steep & it takes atleast 2-3 hours to complete the tour.

St Giles' Cathedral is one of Scotland's most important medieval parish church buildings. The cathedral has stunning architecture & stained glassworks.

Scotland is famous for highlands, mountains, lakes, Hebrides and many more. It is also known for its rich varieties of whiskies. So how can Scotland trip just come to an end without visiting a distillery? The fantastic way to taste the national drink is by visiting one of the distilleries. Then, one of our cousins told us Glenkinchie would be the perfect option as its not much far (16 miles) from our place of stay as well as won’t be much crowded. These distilleries conduct a tour just like tea factory tour in our country. In this, they show the entire process of distillation & making whiskies. To participate in this tour, we have to book tickets in advance because this is conducted only certain number of times in a day.  Click here to grab your tickets. One of the employees would accompany us and show us the factory & explain each of the process. And at the end of the tour there would be free tasting during which we can select from their library. I would recommend this place for even a teetotaller. 

Day 5                                        Edinburgh -> Manchester                            224 miles, 4 hours

A day we bid a bye to Scotland after our breakfast and were headed to Manchester, the land of Football. On the way we were misguided by google maps because of lack of network. But we enjoyed the trip because of the views we got and roads weren’t bad either even though there were some narrow stretches. Occasionally we stopped for some snaps in the beautiful background. We reached the hotel very early before the scheduled time for Stadium tour. So instead of going to the stadium, after checking in to the hotel, we decided to go to a mall nearby which was also at walkable distance. But it was when we decided to start for the Old Trafford, we realized that we were on the other side of the river which had only few bridges across it so that we could reach out for Stadium. The walk along the river to bridge took quite long time and so we reached for the stadium tour exactly on time. Had we reached a little bit early, we could have got time to take few extra snaps at the gallery where the trophies, momentos etc were showcased.   

We had booked for Manchester United Football Club(MUFC) stadium tour for the evening. Click here to book your tickets. Dileep is a fan of MUFC & I never watched a football match till the tour. He was very much excited and so I was busy clicking pictures of his special moments some secretly & some candid ones. But it is an experience which has to be felt. After the tour, I too started watching matches of his favourite club along with him even though I’m still not a great fan. The stadium tour covers in 2-3 hours after which we can exit through their souvenir shop. We were busy checking things when there was some cheers & rush. Its then we saw the MUFC player Juan Mata. Actually, Dileep saw him & ran & I just followed Dileep because I didn’t know who Juan Mata was. Dileep was on cloud 9 and I got to click 2 pictures of Dileep with him. I would have experienced the same feeling, had I come across Hrithik Roshan. Finally, after some purchases from the store and clicking few more pictures from outside of the stadium, we left for dinner. Since we were tired by then, we directly headed back to our hotel.

      

Day 6

We were busy exploring the city and enjoying the Christmas vibes which was all around us. The city was full busy with people running around & checking out each & every sale.

Day 7                             Manchester -> Southampton                                  230 miles, 4 hours

Finally, our road trip was commencing to an end. We drove from Manchester back to Edinburgh on Christmas eve carrying home a lot of beautiful memories for our life ahead.

But things changed after New Year. All the temporary shops were removed and that’s exactly when I realized that how big the roads were. The crowds were replaced by moving vehicles. Now people were back to work. 

Scotland & Sri Lanka are the places where I would love to go back again. There are lot more places to explore which hopefully will be covered in our next trip to Scotland.   

Note : You can visit all the places or many more even if you choose not to drive yourself, because the public transportation is very convenient & well connected in UK.

Shhhhhh!!! Speak with Caution

Few days back, I had been for a get together. From past few years, I have been avoiding these types of get togethers or functions due to some personal reasons which you would come to know in the upcoming paragraphs. And I was lucky enough that I got a very big reason to avoid these functions – COVID. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t meet people. Yes, I do but only those who I think would leave a positive effect or have already left a positive imprint in the past. Your words are sharper than swords. So, the selection of words is important and be careful when using on someone. Because your wrong selection of words can kill someone's happiness.

When reading the prologue, many would come up with so called solutions such as

1)     God has given two ears. Listen through one and leave it through the other.

2)     We are all family/well-wishers. So, when we say something about/against you, its because we care for you.

To these I have only one reply. Kindly refrain from your advices/suggestions. If we really need one, we would ask without any hesitation to someone we think would give us right solution or lead us through the right path. If you want to say something, why don’t you leave a positive comment? 

People come to you and give you some random feedback/suggestions which would leave people like me in a dilemma. Recently I got such a comment. For following 2-3 days I kept on thinking about it and I was not able to think anything apart from it. Suddenly I came across a small article about spitting out words carefully. After reading that I started thinking about that person and her words. Why do I care so much? Does that person play any significant role in your life/heart? Was this person present to comfort/help you, when there were setbacks?

The article goes like this. A friend of a new mom visited her at hospital, immediately after the delivery. In midst of their conversation, she randomly asked what did your husband gift you on your delivery? The friend left in a while, but the question was haunting the new mom and there was a fight between her husband and herself which ended up in a divorce.

Another incident from that article goes like this. A well-wisher met Ramesh and he asked about where was Ramesh working & how much does he earn? On learning the salary Ramesh earns, the well-wisher asked him how does Ramesh meet the necessities with this mere salary? Then Ramesh said, there is no other way than this. The so-called well-wisher went leaving a spark in Ramesh’s mind. Ramesh started creating problems when his employer declined of salary hike and ended up losing his job. Now Ramesh was jobless.

After reading this, at least some of you will think why do we have to listen to people like this. It is easy to say. But haven’t we not done the same when some friend or some relative commented on something happening in our life? Haven’t we lost something precious, when we reacted to the situation on which they commented?

I too learnt from that article. Let them think whatever they want to. If she really cared for me, then she would have presented it in a nicer way and that too during some private moment, or may be pull me towards some corner and share her concern, not in public so as to make me feel guilty or wrong in others eyes. Words once said, cannot be taken back. That’s why people say we should never speak when we are angry or elated or at the peak of any kind of emotion.   

Remember that words from us might bring a significant change in others. When we go to the roots of the fights between friends or relationships, the reason might be the words from a third person who may not be aware that he is the reason for the spark. We never know what impact our words create on others. Even though this might not be true for all fights, but this is a reason for at least few. Words are to be wisely used and they should be used in such a way that, they create or build a strong relation, not to even make a small mental stress.