It was a Saturday morning ( 02 July 2005). I am still in St.Leonards, not able to find any apartment still ! Anyway, the real estate agents will not work on weekends( some work till noon on Saturday). So why not start enjoying the place. This place I stay is anyway very near to the city centre, only 3-4 stations away. Again, the train crosses the Harbour bridge everyday on its way to Parramatta, and we can see Opera House at a distance.
We started around 10:30. Train to get down at Milson’s Point, which is just before the bridge. Walked to the end of the platform and there was a spectacular view of the bridge which was taking a right turn in front of me. The bridge was huge than I have thought even while crossing it in train, containing a 6 line highway, two rail lines, and foot paths at two ends( the one on the right side is dedicated to cyclists, and the left one for pedestrians) ! It grows high to the middle and comes down like a trajectory of a body in projectile J. At the top in the middle, two Australian flags flying gloriously ! Took some snaps, we walked down and climbed the steps for the pedestrian footpath for the bridge( first with climbed the cyclist one, which was not steps, and then saw it was only for cycles).
The bridge seem to be too long. Checked the actuals to see I was true, it is something around 3900 feet (1.1Kms) ! It was a fantastic view of the Opera house and land part surrounding the waters with an island in between ! This experience was almost same as the one I had, when I first got out of Westminster station and saw Big Ben just in front. From each step I walk and look back, I feel that is the best spot to take a snap, and across Thames, seeing the big picture with house of parliament included, you feel that is the best and by that time you would have blinked your lens eye for at least 5-6 times L ! The same was here with the sights I got about Opera house. It was getting closer and closer, and at distance some Yatches became visible. Each beam I cross, I get a new view, a new look, of the waters below !
I finished some 8-10 snaps there itself! Walked down some steps in the direction of Opera House. It was still far away! But, these are some times we really loose the sense of time. I don’t have an idea how long we were there, watching the ferries coming and leaving 6 jetties in Circular Quay, licking a cone with chocolate and raspberry flavours reluctant to melt even with afternoon Sun directly falling on it, watching the Seagulls. Then, we slowly started walking to the Opera house. It was much massive than we thought, took some snaps around, and went in till the area where we could go without a ticket. The souvenirs seemed much costly than those in UK, and anyway, it is too early to buy them.
The time was around 3. We tried the local McDonalds for ‘lunch’J. I would say, I have never expected McD to be this bad – they still got the crowd, but they don’t have a veggie burger, and their finger chips are stupid! But anyway, we were enough hungry to eat a so called veggie pesto, and chips with coffee spending some 8 AU$ each for that stupid meal.
It was raining, all of a sudden, when we finished our ‘lunch’ and came out. We just waited for the rain to finish off and then slowly walked towards the nearest station. That was the end of the day for us. During the walk around, we have collected some information brochures for Sydney site seeing trips, harbour trips and some maps which could give us an insight of what all to see, and where !
The walk was tiring for Krithi, she was looking at me pathetically and then I let out the secret, anyone walks with me ends up in the same state :D.
Tail piece :- As if now, I have got a place to stay and have almost settled down. The rest of the renting home story, I will send sometime in the middle of next week. I have given my magic castle's address below. Why 'Magic castle' ? Wait. I will tell you in a couple of days.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Friday, July 15, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 2
Looking for a house never was so tough during anytime in my life. I had a couple of constraints with me – mainly it was financial, and then, locality. Normally a decent place will start with AU$ 200 per week, and it can be AU$400 also if it is a double bed room apartment. I am talking about the unfurnished apartments only. If you are looking for a furnished one, you are looking at paying around AU$ 475 and above.
As for locality, we prefer to stay near the office, and at the same time stay around the railway station.
Again, normal bond (deposit ) is 4 weeks rent and you have to pay two weeks advance. Most of the apartments are leased through agents( brokers) only. They say leasing for renting here ! Crazy people !
The process starts with you searching the net in some sites and giving them a call, or you just walking in to their office. Again, you can also call the number seeing any board in front of an apartment saying ‘For Lease’.
The problem starts slowly. You find a place which suits you - by net, by seeing the board or seeing in their office – you give them your contact details, and they will say they will get back to you. This getting back will take 24 hours, just to check whether it is still available ! Again, if you act smart by telling 3-4 options in the list so that you have got more chances of getting one, then they will outsmart you by being silent, as they get confused :). This is common for all real estate agents in Australia ( they are just like our brokers, they got their level and speak in that language only), I have tried most of them by now. For the net queries, normally it takes a fortnight for you to get a response. I responded for some 20 apartments in net to different agents, all the responses I got was 2 ! I am not sure where they are having the problem, in finding someone who could read and write, in browsing net or just a problem to work !
There is another point here. You don’t have to pay anything to the agents. They will take you to the apartment, and show it. If all goes fine, and once you have signed the lease agreement ( it is normally 6 months to 1 year), you pay the first two weeks in advance along with the deposit( that is normally 4 weeks, and is paid to the Rental bond board). So, this first two weeks rent is the brokerage for them. After that only you start paying to the landlord !
All I had was a map of my area and was clear of my boundaries – that is from where walking is feasible to get to office and railway station by walk.
I applied all three ways for finding a house, but this fast and smart real estate agents kept me searching, checking and following up for a week ! I think, that is a big period because there is demand and there is supply too. Then, I have no clue why these stupid, lazy anti-catalysts are slowing down the process in the middle !
As for locality, we prefer to stay near the office, and at the same time stay around the railway station.
Again, normal bond (deposit ) is 4 weeks rent and you have to pay two weeks advance. Most of the apartments are leased through agents( brokers) only. They say leasing for renting here ! Crazy people !
The process starts with you searching the net in some sites and giving them a call, or you just walking in to their office. Again, you can also call the number seeing any board in front of an apartment saying ‘For Lease’.
The problem starts slowly. You find a place which suits you - by net, by seeing the board or seeing in their office – you give them your contact details, and they will say they will get back to you. This getting back will take 24 hours, just to check whether it is still available ! Again, if you act smart by telling 3-4 options in the list so that you have got more chances of getting one, then they will outsmart you by being silent, as they get confused :). This is common for all real estate agents in Australia ( they are just like our brokers, they got their level and speak in that language only), I have tried most of them by now. For the net queries, normally it takes a fortnight for you to get a response. I responded for some 20 apartments in net to different agents, all the responses I got was 2 ! I am not sure where they are having the problem, in finding someone who could read and write, in browsing net or just a problem to work !
There is another point here. You don’t have to pay anything to the agents. They will take you to the apartment, and show it. If all goes fine, and once you have signed the lease agreement ( it is normally 6 months to 1 year), you pay the first two weeks in advance along with the deposit( that is normally 4 weeks, and is paid to the Rental bond board). So, this first two weeks rent is the brokerage for them. After that only you start paying to the landlord !
All I had was a map of my area and was clear of my boundaries – that is from where walking is feasible to get to office and railway station by walk.
I applied all three ways for finding a house, but this fast and smart real estate agents kept me searching, checking and following up for a week ! I think, that is a big period because there is demand and there is supply too. Then, I have no clue why these stupid, lazy anti-catalysts are slowing down the process in the middle !
Friday, July 08, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 1
It is another morning. The temperature outside is 8 degrees. It is 7:40, still the Sun is sleeping !
We both started to walk from our hotel - or will call a Studio Apartment with breakfast served - to the local station, St.Leonards. Krithi had covered herself with all she got, and still feeling the chill. A ten minutes walk, collected the tickets to Parramatta. Return for two people cost A$17.60( around 600 INR), down the escalator to the platform to board the train going south. A huge two storied train arrived in no time, with body looking like a rolling shutter's. You board in the middle and can decide to go down to the basement or upstairs or stand in the boarding floor( let us call ground floor). There is just a little space for the people to stand, in the ground floor. The basement and first floor are full of seats like or buses (3+2 configuration).
It started moving slowly, and the whole journey to Parramatta was literally slow ! It took almost 1 hour, which I would expect a tube to cover in 30mins ! So my estimate to reach the destination by 8:30 went wrong, and reached there by 9. Then, I found it was not stopping in all stops, skipping some stations in the city. If you want to go there, you have to change in some major city stations. After all this, it took an hour plus !!!
My first day in office, in Sydney after landing here yesterday night. My brain is still sleeping for two reasons: it is only 9 even in Sydney, and in India it is worser, only 3:30 am.
This time, unlike my adventurous evening in London, TCS had arranged a place for accommodation, in another suburb on the opposite side of the city ! What a favour ! Still, just paying A$105 per day for that. I think, it was better in London where I paid only 40 pounds per day for a B&B in the middle of the city. Again, please note that, it takes only one hour for a slow train to go across the suburbs crossing the city. So, I won’t say Sydney is a big city. It is green, and peaceful except for the centre part. That is yet to be seen.
I see a bit a South Africa here with the colour standards of the name boards, and greenery. But, I am yet to see an African here( But this was on week days, week ends they are available in plenty! I have no clue what it means) !
* * * * * *
The flight was cool. Singapore flight took off from Chennai by 12:00 midnight and reached 6:30 AM local time. Again, 9:30 AM flight to Sydney took a long time to drop us at the destination by 6:50 PM local time. Singapore Airport window shopping was good. It is bigger than Dubai Airport, the shopping area is also more. As hubs, these airports (Dubai and Changi) sees a lot of transit passengers and so, the shopping area really does matter.
Again, Sydney airport was friendly. Just took red channel as the checking's were heard to be more than in any other place, for the preserved food and all. They are heard to not allow even medicines sometimes. But, all went fine. They just had a glance at the packs, and once it is sealed and manufacturing date given, there was no issue to let it through. But, there was a police dog at the airport checking for drugs and all, it barks at an aunty who came with us. It was barking staring at her hair. It was because she had put flowers in the hair the previous night while leaving Chennai and the smell was still there !
I hired a cab to the hotel and to pay him I had only 50$ notes. His charge came to 50.10 . The Punjabi driver, Gurcharan, was OK with 50, but just for my comfort found a 10 cents coin and gave him. Later, I was just wondering where I got a 10c coin when I have done no transaction in Australia at all. It was actually Singaporean 10 cents, which I had converted there for a coffee :) !
The sleep, the tiredness, all make you do funny things. The taxi was a bit rash like all taxis here, and the place at night looked like Jo'burg to me - all those ups and downs, single Villas, greenery and breeze. Again, I saw a lot of people crossing the road just by a dash which was again similar to Jo'burg !
We both started to walk from our hotel - or will call a Studio Apartment with breakfast served - to the local station, St.Leonards. Krithi had covered herself with all she got, and still feeling the chill. A ten minutes walk, collected the tickets to Parramatta. Return for two people cost A$17.60( around 600 INR), down the escalator to the platform to board the train going south. A huge two storied train arrived in no time, with body looking like a rolling shutter's. You board in the middle and can decide to go down to the basement or upstairs or stand in the boarding floor( let us call ground floor). There is just a little space for the people to stand, in the ground floor. The basement and first floor are full of seats like or buses (3+2 configuration).
It started moving slowly, and the whole journey to Parramatta was literally slow ! It took almost 1 hour, which I would expect a tube to cover in 30mins ! So my estimate to reach the destination by 8:30 went wrong, and reached there by 9. Then, I found it was not stopping in all stops, skipping some stations in the city. If you want to go there, you have to change in some major city stations. After all this, it took an hour plus !!!
My first day in office, in Sydney after landing here yesterday night. My brain is still sleeping for two reasons: it is only 9 even in Sydney, and in India it is worser, only 3:30 am.
This time, unlike my adventurous evening in London, TCS had arranged a place for accommodation, in another suburb on the opposite side of the city ! What a favour ! Still, just paying A$105 per day for that. I think, it was better in London where I paid only 40 pounds per day for a B&B in the middle of the city. Again, please note that, it takes only one hour for a slow train to go across the suburbs crossing the city. So, I won’t say Sydney is a big city. It is green, and peaceful except for the centre part. That is yet to be seen.
I see a bit a South Africa here with the colour standards of the name boards, and greenery. But, I am yet to see an African here( But this was on week days, week ends they are available in plenty! I have no clue what it means) !
* * * * * *
The flight was cool. Singapore flight took off from Chennai by 12:00 midnight and reached 6:30 AM local time. Again, 9:30 AM flight to Sydney took a long time to drop us at the destination by 6:50 PM local time. Singapore Airport window shopping was good. It is bigger than Dubai Airport, the shopping area is also more. As hubs, these airports (Dubai and Changi) sees a lot of transit passengers and so, the shopping area really does matter.
Again, Sydney airport was friendly. Just took red channel as the checking's were heard to be more than in any other place, for the preserved food and all. They are heard to not allow even medicines sometimes. But, all went fine. They just had a glance at the packs, and once it is sealed and manufacturing date given, there was no issue to let it through. But, there was a police dog at the airport checking for drugs and all, it barks at an aunty who came with us. It was barking staring at her hair. It was because she had put flowers in the hair the previous night while leaving Chennai and the smell was still there !
I hired a cab to the hotel and to pay him I had only 50$ notes. His charge came to 50.10 . The Punjabi driver, Gurcharan, was OK with 50, but just for my comfort found a 10 cents coin and gave him. Later, I was just wondering where I got a 10c coin when I have done no transaction in Australia at all. It was actually Singaporean 10 cents, which I had converted there for a coffee :) !
The sleep, the tiredness, all make you do funny things. The taxi was a bit rash like all taxis here, and the place at night looked like Jo'burg to me - all those ups and downs, single Villas, greenery and breeze. Again, I saw a lot of people crossing the road just by a dash which was again similar to Jo'burg !
Friday, July 01, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER Introduction
It is again a chance for me to get a feel of another continent, another country, another city, and another culture, all at the same time!
I am in Sydney now, sitting in a time zone +10 GMT, somewhere in the east coast of Australian continent ( I will accept my geography is bad, so you can shout if I am wrong). As usual, I am trying to give you a feel of the country, through the eyes of an ignorant traveller, who just wanders around without any knowledge of where he is in or what is the importance of the place. But that doesn’t stop me from giving my personal comments, observations and throwing you some open questions when I am stuck!
It may be just a personal comment, and none of my observations need to be fully correct. All I know till now about this place is, it is situated somewhere South to Singapore and all (that is, if gravity was acting from North to South, you just need to sit in Singapore and you can skid down to Australia). Then, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide etc. I know because they have cricket stadiums. I know the seasons are opposite to that in India, because Australia falls in the Southern hemisphere. This wonderful piece of knowledge also, I knew only after being to South Africa. Now, I am in there, and having committed to write about it, I have no choice than finding something interesting to write about.
I am not sure what will be the time when I can send it through, Friday morning looks still the best, as none will be in a good mood to read this on Monday morning :).
But I would love to hear from you, good or bad. Silence means ignorance :(, anything else is better.
I am in Sydney now, sitting in a time zone +10 GMT, somewhere in the east coast of Australian continent ( I will accept my geography is bad, so you can shout if I am wrong). As usual, I am trying to give you a feel of the country, through the eyes of an ignorant traveller, who just wanders around without any knowledge of where he is in or what is the importance of the place. But that doesn’t stop me from giving my personal comments, observations and throwing you some open questions when I am stuck!
It may be just a personal comment, and none of my observations need to be fully correct. All I know till now about this place is, it is situated somewhere South to Singapore and all (that is, if gravity was acting from North to South, you just need to sit in Singapore and you can skid down to Australia). Then, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide etc. I know because they have cricket stadiums. I know the seasons are opposite to that in India, because Australia falls in the Southern hemisphere. This wonderful piece of knowledge also, I knew only after being to South Africa. Now, I am in there, and having committed to write about it, I have no choice than finding something interesting to write about.
I am not sure what will be the time when I can send it through, Friday morning looks still the best, as none will be in a good mood to read this on Monday morning :).
But I would love to hear from you, good or bad. Silence means ignorance :(, anything else is better.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
LONDON WEEKENDER 10
I think my countdown has begun. 6 more days to go and I will be back in Chennai, from fridge to oven with a sort of defrosting in Dubai ! London is becoming warmer, and days are becoming lengthy and I look like a fool came here to enjoy the winter !
The last weekend is also over. Finished almost all places I planned to visit in the city. Had a visit to The National Gallery, British Library, a ride in the Millennium Wheel - London Eye to take an aerial picture of London, and visited the last, Leeds Castle - a beautiful castle in the middle of a lake, surrounded by a golf course and gardens ! The main cancelled item will be the Wax museum as I couldn't find anything to motivate me to pay £20 for that and stand in a long queue.
I will be taking a handful of memories and souvenirs to treasure and another handful of experiences I want to forget. May be the souvenir list looks like the Tom Soyer's gifts: some weekend passes and tube tickets, the admission counterfoils for castle entry, newspaper copy of the yearly budget and Madrid tragedy, and a lot of such small things. But there are things I proudly will treasure, like a print of the Magna carta ! Then I have 11 rolls of photos waiting to be processed. This thrill I swear, you will never get in digital photos.
But I think I have a lot of pending things to write, so hopefully I will be able to carry on with my weekenders for another one month atleast !
The image of my England has not changed much. The Astrix theory of Caesar's tactics to defeat the British still holds: fight after 5pm and full day on weekends ! English still work 8-5 and no weekends !
The other thing of Astrix that holds, is the coffee. It is hot water with a spot of milk, still ! They will faint if you say you drink black coffee or coffee fully made of milk. I have no idea what difference this spot of milk makes !
I will be landing in Chennai on Monday morning. But hopefully I will be able to keep writing for another 3-4 weeks.
The last weekend is also over. Finished almost all places I planned to visit in the city. Had a visit to The National Gallery, British Library, a ride in the Millennium Wheel - London Eye to take an aerial picture of London, and visited the last, Leeds Castle - a beautiful castle in the middle of a lake, surrounded by a golf course and gardens ! The main cancelled item will be the Wax museum as I couldn't find anything to motivate me to pay £20 for that and stand in a long queue.
I will be taking a handful of memories and souvenirs to treasure and another handful of experiences I want to forget. May be the souvenir list looks like the Tom Soyer's gifts: some weekend passes and tube tickets, the admission counterfoils for castle entry, newspaper copy of the yearly budget and Madrid tragedy, and a lot of such small things. But there are things I proudly will treasure, like a print of the Magna carta ! Then I have 11 rolls of photos waiting to be processed. This thrill I swear, you will never get in digital photos.
But I think I have a lot of pending things to write, so hopefully I will be able to carry on with my weekenders for another one month atleast !
The image of my England has not changed much. The Astrix theory of Caesar's tactics to defeat the British still holds: fight after 5pm and full day on weekends ! English still work 8-5 and no weekends !
The other thing of Astrix that holds, is the coffee. It is hot water with a spot of milk, still ! They will faint if you say you drink black coffee or coffee fully made of milk. I have no idea what difference this spot of milk makes !
I will be landing in Chennai on Monday morning. But hopefully I will be able to keep writing for another 3-4 weeks.
Monday, March 15, 2004
LONDON WEEKENDER 9
This week was spent on having a Roman experience in Bath on Saturday, and Lord's and Wimbledon on Sunday. But let me finish what I have left incomplete.
So it was my second day in Edinburgh ! After a tired day's sleep with no supper, I got up by 7. A very good, and filling breakfast - cornflakes+muesli and bread with baked beans and half done egg- at the hotel which comes along with the rent( it is B&B-Bed and Breakfast). Started my day out by 10. I had to vacate my room and placed my luggage with the reception so that I could pick it up later. The normal check out time is 11am.
It was a sunny day. Again, an hour long walk to the centre, crossed the Bridge to the new Town, walked to Calton hill which has some construct like Roman circus and a tall Nelson monument. Climbed the steep roads and steps to reach the top of the hill by 10. It was perfect silence ! One side of the hill has nothing but some hills at distance and greenery in between, and the other three sides are occupied by the township with sea at one end. I don't know how long I stood there alone with the water on the rock in small pits have become ice, no intention to melt even with the Sun shining on it. I woke up from my dreams when a bell rang in some church below. It was 11 ! I agree to the fact that to experience this peace, for getting a feel of being a part of the Universe, you don't need to come this long. But what I wanted to say was, this is what you find common in any part of the World. You don't need language to experience it, rather language can't convey this experience !
Climbed down and walked to the next bus stop and my aim was to see the seashore. Took bus 22 and with a day pass again, reached the shore area. There was an old luxury Royal ship parked namely, Royal Yacht Britannia - used by the Royal family for cruises. Again, an entry fee of £7 feels not worth it ! The shopping complex from where you get the view of the sea, the ship, was constructed like a ship. A lot of kids playing around, full of joy and fun ! And there was a kid sitting on the 'bishop' of a giant chess board thinking where to move it to, playing with her sister :) !
Back in bus on my way back, again kids were ruling the World. Landed back in the town by 1. Walked around the new part of the town, went down the gardens which come just below the Castle on the other side. Again, back to Royal Mile after a lunch at McD. I have really fallen love with this place - the pipes, the smiles, the hills.......
Visited the Whisky heritage centre. I told the salesman,' I don't drink. So I need a souvenir, it should have whisky, but a memorable piece of something to remember'. He showed me a small barrel, with a small bottle inside with 14 years old Whisky ! It looks a piece worth a souvenir for £10.
Winded up my walks, took a bus back to B& B and took my bag and back in Royal mile again by 4:45. Walked through it for the last time ! I have to leave it. Back to the station by 5:15. And the return journey started by 5:30. Again, the same phases, the sea along with us, snow appears after 20mins, and it is dark by 6:30. The train leaves me at Kings X by 10:20 and am walking back home at 11:30 getting down from the tube at East ham.
It was a good trip with lot of memories. I think the Scots resemble me of the Sikhs. They love to enjoy, they are proud and famous being brave, and they keep their tradition and make their mark. Seeing the cartoon postcards of Scotts in Edinburgh confirmed the last one too, they make good jokes out themselves !I think I will have to write for one more month after coming back to India, to finish off my backlog
So it was my second day in Edinburgh ! After a tired day's sleep with no supper, I got up by 7. A very good, and filling breakfast - cornflakes+muesli and bread with baked beans and half done egg- at the hotel which comes along with the rent( it is B&B-Bed and Breakfast). Started my day out by 10. I had to vacate my room and placed my luggage with the reception so that I could pick it up later. The normal check out time is 11am.
It was a sunny day. Again, an hour long walk to the centre, crossed the Bridge to the new Town, walked to Calton hill which has some construct like Roman circus and a tall Nelson monument. Climbed the steep roads and steps to reach the top of the hill by 10. It was perfect silence ! One side of the hill has nothing but some hills at distance and greenery in between, and the other three sides are occupied by the township with sea at one end. I don't know how long I stood there alone with the water on the rock in small pits have become ice, no intention to melt even with the Sun shining on it. I woke up from my dreams when a bell rang in some church below. It was 11 ! I agree to the fact that to experience this peace, for getting a feel of being a part of the Universe, you don't need to come this long. But what I wanted to say was, this is what you find common in any part of the World. You don't need language to experience it, rather language can't convey this experience !
Climbed down and walked to the next bus stop and my aim was to see the seashore. Took bus 22 and with a day pass again, reached the shore area. There was an old luxury Royal ship parked namely, Royal Yacht Britannia - used by the Royal family for cruises. Again, an entry fee of £7 feels not worth it ! The shopping complex from where you get the view of the sea, the ship, was constructed like a ship. A lot of kids playing around, full of joy and fun ! And there was a kid sitting on the 'bishop' of a giant chess board thinking where to move it to, playing with her sister :) !
Back in bus on my way back, again kids were ruling the World. Landed back in the town by 1. Walked around the new part of the town, went down the gardens which come just below the Castle on the other side. Again, back to Royal Mile after a lunch at McD. I have really fallen love with this place - the pipes, the smiles, the hills.......
Visited the Whisky heritage centre. I told the salesman,' I don't drink. So I need a souvenir, it should have whisky, but a memorable piece of something to remember'. He showed me a small barrel, with a small bottle inside with 14 years old Whisky ! It looks a piece worth a souvenir for £10.
Winded up my walks, took a bus back to B& B and took my bag and back in Royal mile again by 4:45. Walked through it for the last time ! I have to leave it. Back to the station by 5:15. And the return journey started by 5:30. Again, the same phases, the sea along with us, snow appears after 20mins, and it is dark by 6:30. The train leaves me at Kings X by 10:20 and am walking back home at 11:30 getting down from the tube at East ham.
It was a good trip with lot of memories. I think the Scots resemble me of the Sikhs. They love to enjoy, they are proud and famous being brave, and they keep their tradition and make their mark. Seeing the cartoon postcards of Scotts in Edinburgh confirmed the last one too, they make good jokes out themselves !I think I will have to write for one more month after coming back to India, to finish off my backlog
Monday, March 08, 2004
LONDON WEEKENDER 8
Scotland - the land of Bagpipes, and Scotch Whisky ! The land of Scottish the Braves ! The birthplace of Golf ! The land of castles ! But I had no idea where to start and what problem are waiting for me when I landed in Edinburgh at 11:33. Just went to the information centre in the rail station and asked for anything can be done for getting an accommodation. they should me to another counter open for accommodation. They charge you £5 ( I am sorry for using £ sometimes and saying 'pounds' sometimes. My funny keyboard doesn't show up £ sometimes.) for each booking you make from the counter. But luckily, they had only hi-fi hotel infos and my budget can't exceed £30. As already lost £46.10( for missing the train), I have to compensate it somewhere else. Here again, I took my trump card, the printout from net and showed them and asked them where this Mayfield gardens is.I had taken some 6 addresses and 3 of them were in Mayfield Gardens. So I was sure that this place is full of B&Bs. The first half of the answer was disappointing, but the second half was good. They said, "it is out of the town, about 30mins walk from here" !!! So I am in the heart of the Town and the town ends in 30mins walk :)) ! Good for me ! She tried two three places with the number I gave, but none had vacancies( I know I will burn my hands if I do make a call). She, then, gave me a rough map. Came out of the station, through a wrong exit and asked the first person I met, the nearest bus stop which can take me to Mayfield gardens. It was amazing ! The place was lonely and this guy was painting a wall standing on a ladder.He came down and came to show me the way to the bus stand and he walked until the stop was in sight and then, went back ! Now, it looks like you are not in a strange place ! See the people ! The whole perspective changes ! I walked to the bus stop and there were two people, asked one of them. He explained, " You can get in to 5 or 33. Better take a day pass, it will cost you £1.80 and keep the change and the machine in the bus will not give back change if you put £2 or something like that !" The other guy added, "just count for some 3-4 stops and you will reach a place where the bus will take a turn, if it is 33. Get down there. I think we have a 33 now." I am talking about a bus stop in the middle of the Town, Capital of Scotland ! Unbelievable ! If you have landed in another European country's capital and you feel so homely, like you are in Thrissur or Kozhikode, it is incredible ! Took 33, took a day pass, and got down at the place where the bus took a deviation from main road. Just walked a bit forward and the next junction glanced at the left side cut road and saw a B&B board. Just gave a try. They had vacancies, and got single rooms and for rent £29. I really got it right when the room was attached and had coffee kettle and other accessories like cups and saucers other than the basic heaters, towels, soaps, shampoo and all. The time was 12:50 by then. Left the luggage and started immediately.Walked back to the Royal Mile. Royal Mile is the main road in Edinburgh old town. Old Town and new town is separated by a bridge with the rail line making the partition. The Royal Mile starts from the Castle and ends in the Palace. It looks it is a mile in length. My road from the hotel cuts the Royal Mile in the middle and it goes on to the bridge and to the new town. On my left side, I have to walk up to the Castle and if I go down the road on my right side, it will take my to the Palace. It was 1:15 when I entered the Royal Mile - a road made of stone, gives you a feeling that you have gone back a century ! Except for the taxis passing thru the road rarely, the road is full of pedestrians, and the air, air is full of music of bagpipe ! May be because Bagpipe has been one of my favorite instruments, I am biased ! But I will really call it an experience ! With both sides on the roads, either souvenir shops or restaurants, passed the Cathedral, and walked to the Castle. The air was full of the bag pipe music due to the piper here and there standing on the corner playing it with the box open for donations. Anyway, you get the music free and it is worth putting 20p or 50p in ! A queue for some 15 mins to enter the Castle. The view of the city from the castle was good, with the sea on one side and snow-filled hills on the other, both at distance. The war museum inside the castle conveyed me the message that the Scotts are proud for being brave and they boast a lot of their military history. I was amazed to find Haider Ali's sword in Castle of Edinburgh. The Scotts also were so much excited about their victory over Tippu. This is the only person I see, featured as a brave man in Windsor castle, British museum and now, here in Edinburgh also ! In Windsor castle, his small machine of a tiger killing an English man , his golden tiger head, and clothes were on display. I have seen his sword and helmets in British museum ! Bought some mementos and done with the castle by 4. One of the main things I bought was a CD of the pipe band. As usual, things are unnecessarily costly. Walked down the Royal Mile to the other end getting in to almost all souvenir shops and mostly coming out empty-handed after using my 80's table !
Reached the other end of the road, the palace- the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Walked past it to the right, I had no idea what is there. I ended up in an open area with the freeway passing through. On my left was a golf course, and in front a hill which has some pedestrian steep path to climb. Climbed half way, and looked back ! The evening Sun shining with his golden cloth and the meadow of the golf course, the houses, and the sea, all looks like a beautiful girl dressed up for a party :) ! Just stood there till the Sun vanished. Then climbed down, walked back to my hotel, had my missed lunch by 7pm - a falafel from a Syrian shop on the way.
I realised how tired I am once back in my room. Just fell flat to wake up only on next morning 7 ! I think I have one more day to go, but don't want to be lengthier than this.
Reached the other end of the road, the palace- the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Walked past it to the right, I had no idea what is there. I ended up in an open area with the freeway passing through. On my left was a golf course, and in front a hill which has some pedestrian steep path to climb. Climbed half way, and looked back ! The evening Sun shining with his golden cloth and the meadow of the golf course, the houses, and the sea, all looks like a beautiful girl dressed up for a party :) ! Just stood there till the Sun vanished. Then climbed down, walked back to my hotel, had my missed lunch by 7pm - a falafel from a Syrian shop on the way.
I realised how tired I am once back in my room. Just fell flat to wake up only on next morning 7 ! I think I have one more day to go, but don't want to be lengthier than this.
Monday, March 01, 2004
LONDON WEEKENDER 7
Destination : Edinburgh, Capital of Scotland
Onward trip : 28-Feb-2004, Saturday ; 5:55 AM from London Kings X (read as Kings Cross)
Return trip : 01-Mar-2004, Sunday ; 9AM arriving from Edinburgh Waverly
So the plan was to reach the city by 11 and then, finish the visits and stay there for the night( as there was no night trains)
You notice something wrong with the plan? Unfortunately, I didn't. I didn't see that March 1st is Monday and this year Feb. has 29! I realised it on Thursday night! Got a permission from the office comfortably to come late to office on Monday. The problem now is that, I am already lost. I have two choices: Either to cancel the reservations and change the plan, or stay there for two nights instead of one. Anyway I will loose money! If I cancel, I have to pay almost the same amount extra! That is the rule with railways here.
But my sleep took care of making the choice! I slept till 5 and literally ran to get hold of all the buses and tubes I could get, to catch the train. But tubes behave funny on weekends. They cut down the service, close stations, and all that sort of funny things happens! So not to tell more, I missed the train and it was 6:15 by the time I reach the station! I went to the reservation counter to ask what next. The clerk advised me that I can carry on with the journey paying 46 pounds more! So I ended up paying 46 pounds extra for over the original 53 pounds! The only advantage was, I can go in any train and come back in any train. The start was not good, not good at all!
6:45AM: The train for Glasgow via Edinburgh starts with me in coach F, in a left side seat with no one in my aisle seat( till the end of the journey). There is no crowd as usual. The reservation only saves you money, it has nothing to do with availability during these times. This train is supposed to be faster than the one I missed and is expected to reach my destination by 11:33, calling at Peterborough, Durham, York, Newcastle, Berwick-Upon-Tweed etc.( 'calling at' means 'stopping at'). Nearly an hour after the journey started, I could see snowflakes on the way and it starts increasing and when we reached Newcastle, it was some 5-6 inches of snow! The journey has started badly, and now snow is going to complete the episode! But from inside the train, it is a dream scenery with both sides full of snow and snowfall still continuing! You could see all in black and white( because roads are still black and all the rest is white :) ) !
To my surprise, the snow started decreasing and by the time I reached Berwick-upon-Tweed, it was a new Earth and new Sky! I have North sea on my right, and road with meadows and rocks in between the rail and the sea, it was another phase of the beautiful journey, and the sky is clear and it is sunny! The sea continues to be there till Edinburgh.
I was making my plans for making up my loss in the morning. The journey was worth spending that money, but still I need some more to make sure it happened for good. So decided to change my plan. I will start the return journey by Sunday evening, will take train at 5:30 and will be back in London by 10:20. That will save me one day's rent in B&B (Bed & Breakfast). Also, I will be fresh to be back in office after a good sleep than peeping in after a long journey in the middle of the day. The balance sheet matches with the saving in B&B itself will be 30 pound and for the rest 16, I got a memorable journey and with a good sunny day, I can write it off as a bad debt!
The train reached Edinburgh in time. I landed in Edinburgh, no idea what it looks like, how the people will be, where to stay..... the list of issues are still in front of me. All I had was a list of places to be visited, taken from net and some hotels listed in net. The weather forecast report taken from net was positive with sunny days, but may be the temperature will drop to negatives at night. But no snow was predicted.
With all those issues in front of me, I will stop for this week.
Onward trip : 28-Feb-2004, Saturday ; 5:55 AM from London Kings X (read as Kings Cross)
Return trip : 01-Mar-2004, Sunday ; 9AM arriving from Edinburgh Waverly
So the plan was to reach the city by 11 and then, finish the visits and stay there for the night( as there was no night trains)
You notice something wrong with the plan? Unfortunately, I didn't. I didn't see that March 1st is Monday and this year Feb. has 29! I realised it on Thursday night! Got a permission from the office comfortably to come late to office on Monday. The problem now is that, I am already lost. I have two choices: Either to cancel the reservations and change the plan, or stay there for two nights instead of one. Anyway I will loose money! If I cancel, I have to pay almost the same amount extra! That is the rule with railways here.
But my sleep took care of making the choice! I slept till 5 and literally ran to get hold of all the buses and tubes I could get, to catch the train. But tubes behave funny on weekends. They cut down the service, close stations, and all that sort of funny things happens! So not to tell more, I missed the train and it was 6:15 by the time I reach the station! I went to the reservation counter to ask what next. The clerk advised me that I can carry on with the journey paying 46 pounds more! So I ended up paying 46 pounds extra for over the original 53 pounds! The only advantage was, I can go in any train and come back in any train. The start was not good, not good at all!
6:45AM: The train for Glasgow via Edinburgh starts with me in coach F, in a left side seat with no one in my aisle seat( till the end of the journey). There is no crowd as usual. The reservation only saves you money, it has nothing to do with availability during these times. This train is supposed to be faster than the one I missed and is expected to reach my destination by 11:33, calling at Peterborough, Durham, York, Newcastle, Berwick-Upon-Tweed etc.( 'calling at' means 'stopping at'). Nearly an hour after the journey started, I could see snowflakes on the way and it starts increasing and when we reached Newcastle, it was some 5-6 inches of snow! The journey has started badly, and now snow is going to complete the episode! But from inside the train, it is a dream scenery with both sides full of snow and snowfall still continuing! You could see all in black and white( because roads are still black and all the rest is white :) ) !
To my surprise, the snow started decreasing and by the time I reached Berwick-upon-Tweed, it was a new Earth and new Sky! I have North sea on my right, and road with meadows and rocks in between the rail and the sea, it was another phase of the beautiful journey, and the sky is clear and it is sunny! The sea continues to be there till Edinburgh.
I was making my plans for making up my loss in the morning. The journey was worth spending that money, but still I need some more to make sure it happened for good. So decided to change my plan. I will start the return journey by Sunday evening, will take train at 5:30 and will be back in London by 10:20. That will save me one day's rent in B&B (Bed & Breakfast). Also, I will be fresh to be back in office after a good sleep than peeping in after a long journey in the middle of the day. The balance sheet matches with the saving in B&B itself will be 30 pound and for the rest 16, I got a memorable journey and with a good sunny day, I can write it off as a bad debt!
The train reached Edinburgh in time. I landed in Edinburgh, no idea what it looks like, how the people will be, where to stay..... the list of issues are still in front of me. All I had was a list of places to be visited, taken from net and some hotels listed in net. The weather forecast report taken from net was positive with sunny days, but may be the temperature will drop to negatives at night. But no snow was predicted.
With all those issues in front of me, I will stop for this week.
Monday, February 23, 2004
LONDON WEEKENDER 6
London is getting more cooler and life is getting more tougher, I mean the weekends.
But now, let me finish my Stratford trip before speaking about theRoyal castle of Windsor.
14-Feb-2003. 2:46PM - The train arrived. A diesel engine train with 3-4 coaches. This is another fact I noticed with surprise. Most of the places the lines are not electrified. The trains are not more than 8 coaches long, that too very long distance express trains. The goods services, even though, are lengthy as in India, with 30-40 wagons attached. So the platforms of most small stations are very short.
3:18 PM : Got down at Warwick station. Just imagine you get down at a small station like the Malgudi described by R K Narayan. It has a posture of the Warwick castle in the public notice board and there is one more notice board which says about all the trains stopping in the station with timings.
The weather which was becoming cloudy when I started from Stratford, is slowly progressing to light drizzle ! Had a tough time walking to the castle up the hill in rain, with a three-fold St. George umbrella which is protesting against the wind. Reached the hill top, saw the castle from outside, I felt it was a glorification to show about the castle as this and that. Entry fee of 12.50 pound seems a bit high for me, and photography was prohibited in the inner areas of the castle and it was raining in the open areas. So I had no second thoughts. Walked back to the station to get the next train to Leamington Spa and then get a connection to Oxford.
4:29 PM : Even though I reached the station by 4, I had to wait half an hour to get the next train. It dropped me in Leamington within 10 mins. And luckily got a connection also immediately. Reached Oxford at 5:30. It was dark already and so I lost all the chance to take some snaps unless the university is lighted properly. I walked to the University
centre. It is a university campus, the whole town. Imagine we had arailways station and bus stand with all super markets, pubs, and traffic in a college campus, that is Oxford ! The rash road crossers, the unpredictable cyclists, a huge cycle stand in the railway station, groups of young people standing here and there, I think we can call it a campus Town !
I found the University memento store also closed ! So bad luck ! Found a store where I bought some postcards of the picture of the University and some popular photos of the town.
6:45 PM: Got a direct train to London Paddington station, took Hammersmith tube home by 9:30. The day was tiring and the weather conditions have made it worse. I cancelled the plan to visit Windsor on Sunday.
The trip was memorable in the sense I was feeling like a dream when the train passed through the routes which I had seen in TV when they show Tour de France. The beautiful houses in between the greenery, the small townships with rows of houses passing like an army parade, the chapel like a flag man, a small stream, a wooden bow bridge across it, every single sight is a postcard !
But now, let me finish my Stratford trip before speaking about theRoyal castle of Windsor.
14-Feb-2003. 2:46PM - The train arrived. A diesel engine train with 3-4 coaches. This is another fact I noticed with surprise. Most of the places the lines are not electrified. The trains are not more than 8 coaches long, that too very long distance express trains. The goods services, even though, are lengthy as in India, with 30-40 wagons attached. So the platforms of most small stations are very short.
3:18 PM : Got down at Warwick station. Just imagine you get down at a small station like the Malgudi described by R K Narayan. It has a posture of the Warwick castle in the public notice board and there is one more notice board which says about all the trains stopping in the station with timings.
The weather which was becoming cloudy when I started from Stratford, is slowly progressing to light drizzle ! Had a tough time walking to the castle up the hill in rain, with a three-fold St. George umbrella which is protesting against the wind. Reached the hill top, saw the castle from outside, I felt it was a glorification to show about the castle as this and that. Entry fee of 12.50 pound seems a bit high for me, and photography was prohibited in the inner areas of the castle and it was raining in the open areas. So I had no second thoughts. Walked back to the station to get the next train to Leamington Spa and then get a connection to Oxford.
4:29 PM : Even though I reached the station by 4, I had to wait half an hour to get the next train. It dropped me in Leamington within 10 mins. And luckily got a connection also immediately. Reached Oxford at 5:30. It was dark already and so I lost all the chance to take some snaps unless the university is lighted properly. I walked to the University
centre. It is a university campus, the whole town. Imagine we had arailways station and bus stand with all super markets, pubs, and traffic in a college campus, that is Oxford ! The rash road crossers, the unpredictable cyclists, a huge cycle stand in the railway station, groups of young people standing here and there, I think we can call it a campus Town !
I found the University memento store also closed ! So bad luck ! Found a store where I bought some postcards of the picture of the University and some popular photos of the town.
6:45 PM: Got a direct train to London Paddington station, took Hammersmith tube home by 9:30. The day was tiring and the weather conditions have made it worse. I cancelled the plan to visit Windsor on Sunday.
The trip was memorable in the sense I was feeling like a dream when the train passed through the routes which I had seen in TV when they show Tour de France. The beautiful houses in between the greenery, the small townships with rows of houses passing like an army parade, the chapel like a flag man, a small stream, a wooden bow bridge across it, every single sight is a postcard !
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
LONDON WEEKENDER 5
I know I am skipping some weekends' description to the ones which are more eventful and recent.
Date : 14-Feb-2004
Plan : To start from home by 5, catch Thames Rail train at 6:18 to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. Go around there till afternoon, start back and get down at Oxford by evening 4 and just visit the University and campus. Start back by 7 and reach London by 8:30.
Team : Me and my favourite Nikon.
All plans end when the war begins. And when I plan to start from home at 5, I think the plan has already failed !
5:10am : Got up ! Realised that I have to make it today. Got ready and started by 6 after a bread toast for breakfast. Got a bus from White horse junction, to East Ham tube station and waited for a tube till 6:25which dropped me at Paddington by 7.
7:10am : I got through the counter to get an offpeak-standard return ticket to Stratford for 23pounds. The person at the counter informed me that I have to wait till 9:18 for the next train even if I am ready to change the trains.
7:13am : Went to the information counter with my print out of the plans taken from net and there was a working plan with a train at 7:15. The person at the counter said it is possible and asked me to run to the train going to Temple from Platform no. 3. Just made it. And thus started my trip.
The train was more luxurious than the ones I have seen before in UK. It was running at a very speed, with not a small shake inside. I was supposed to get down at 'Reading'. According to the plan on my print out, it reached Reading by 7:40. Now my next train will take me to Birmingham. Waited for it in the same Platform till 8:05. The platform was clean and tidy with lot of cigarette bits, empty cups etc. The only thing missing was the litter. I also contributed to it by throwing my cup after having a coffee from the automatic coffee machine. I swear, I looked for dustbins before doing that !
8:05 am : My train to Birmingham arrived. It is going to Glasgow, the biggest city in Scotland. It was more luxurious than my previous one, with a small snack and publications shop with a cafeteria. It had personal music points like in the flight
and above all, a small panel on the top where it was displayed whether the seat is
reserved , and if reserved from what place till what place ! I had not noticed it till
the announcement came to look at it before you sit and sat on a window seat which was reserved from Oxford. My aisle seat was unreserved. Placed my jacket there. Till Oxford I can enjoy the country side scene from the window seat.
The journey started with an apology for being 5 mins late ! The daylight is on. The
beautiful countryside in front of me ! Like there is no ugly mother, there is no country
side in the World which is not beautiful. It was fully green, with a small settlement in
the middle dominated by a Chapel, and again it is vacant beautiful land. Then, you
find here and there, some huge farm house or ware houses, and you can see sheep or horses near them.
8:30am : It reached the first stop, Oxford. I just waited for someone to come and ask me to leave his seat. A young man came and saw the panel above me, I was about to stand. He told me he doesn't like window seats and so better he will seat in my aisle seat ! He thanked me too for that ! He is doing his Ph.D in Maths at Oxford and is going back to his home in Coventry.He sat back with some papers on Fourier coefficients.The train stopped at Banbury and Leamington Spa. The gentleman next to me got down saying Bye at Coventry. The journey is on with beautiful scene on your window passing by.
9:45am : Train reached Birmingham. I got down and looked at my print out plan. Next stage is a walk to the Snow hill station from the main station from where I will get a train to my destination at 10:25. I had no idea where this Snow Hill station is. Asked some two three people, all showed some directions and I couldn't understand anything in their local accent. Some protesters were shouting slogans and shouting at people getting into the station. There were a handful of police officers accompanying them. I just took my camera out and hung it in my shoulder and that did the trick. They just gave a smile to me and gave a 'Hi'. Asking someone outside the station, he told me to follow the protesters and they are going to the Snow hill station. I blindly walked with them. Took sometime in between to stop at a place where I think it is the town centre, to take a snap of the main Cathedral and the meadow in front. Reached the station by 10:05.
10:25am: It was a local train to pick me from Birmingham to Stratford. It stopped in all the stops every 2mins and dropped me at Stratford by 11:35. A small station like the local stations in India. Walked out, saw the map, took notes and walked towards the birthplace of Shakespeare. Just happened to pass through a village market, got in and took some snaps of the sellers which are really unique with their costume and appearance. People are more happy, wishing each other, and a smile on everyone's
face. You will, in no time, fall in love with the place.
Walked to the house where Shakespeare was born. Took some snaps, bought some
souvenirs, walked to the river Avon's banks. It was a beautiful sight, no words can
express it completely ! Walked through the banks of the river for more than an hour and
I am done. I felt my money is paid off. I can now go back home and sit at home for the
whole weekend ! The peace which Big Ben or Trafalgar can't give, this peaceful, merry
place gives you ! You have crowd here also. But this crowd has time, it has all the time
in the World to help you, to tell you about the places.
I met an old lady at a signal struggling to cross the road. I just stopped to offer her a
helping hand and we parted. Later she found me in front of a village map, she stopped
and taught me all the places to see ! A sudden change of atmosphere !
Again, I looked for a McD for my lunch, had it and walked back to the station by 2:30.
Surprises waits for the fools, always ! And the good thing is, sometimes they are pleasant! I was just checking the route I have to go back through. I was to take a train to Leamington Spa checking the stations in between, I saw the station Warwick ! The place where is situated the castle which is voted by BBC as the best in UK !
Just confirmed with the officer in the station that I can take enough breaks on the journey and get down at Warwick. May be that will delay my visit at Oxford, but it is worth. The next fear was whether I will get the connection trains properly as these
are all villages and you may not be lucky enough on a weekend to find enough trains !
I will stop at this point. Will continue next week as it is getting too long. I know I will
lag a little more, with my next week plans to Windsor and Leeds may have to wait for
some more days to be written down.
It is 8:30 here now. I am the only person sitting in the office writing this mail. This is
because I am fully busy till 7 everyday. It will a great pleasure for me if I can get some comments on the above, if not at least please don't ask me have you got no work to do.
Date : 14-Feb-2004
Plan : To start from home by 5, catch Thames Rail train at 6:18 to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. Go around there till afternoon, start back and get down at Oxford by evening 4 and just visit the University and campus. Start back by 7 and reach London by 8:30.
Team : Me and my favourite Nikon.
All plans end when the war begins. And when I plan to start from home at 5, I think the plan has already failed !
5:10am : Got up ! Realised that I have to make it today. Got ready and started by 6 after a bread toast for breakfast. Got a bus from White horse junction, to East Ham tube station and waited for a tube till 6:25which dropped me at Paddington by 7.
7:10am : I got through the counter to get an offpeak-standard return ticket to Stratford for 23pounds. The person at the counter informed me that I have to wait till 9:18 for the next train even if I am ready to change the trains.
7:13am : Went to the information counter with my print out of the plans taken from net and there was a working plan with a train at 7:15. The person at the counter said it is possible and asked me to run to the train going to Temple from Platform no. 3. Just made it. And thus started my trip.
The train was more luxurious than the ones I have seen before in UK. It was running at a very speed, with not a small shake inside. I was supposed to get down at 'Reading'. According to the plan on my print out, it reached Reading by 7:40. Now my next train will take me to Birmingham. Waited for it in the same Platform till 8:05. The platform was clean and tidy with lot of cigarette bits, empty cups etc. The only thing missing was the litter. I also contributed to it by throwing my cup after having a coffee from the automatic coffee machine. I swear, I looked for dustbins before doing that !
8:05 am : My train to Birmingham arrived. It is going to Glasgow, the biggest city in Scotland. It was more luxurious than my previous one, with a small snack and publications shop with a cafeteria. It had personal music points like in the flight
and above all, a small panel on the top where it was displayed whether the seat is
reserved , and if reserved from what place till what place ! I had not noticed it till
the announcement came to look at it before you sit and sat on a window seat which was reserved from Oxford. My aisle seat was unreserved. Placed my jacket there. Till Oxford I can enjoy the country side scene from the window seat.
The journey started with an apology for being 5 mins late ! The daylight is on. The
beautiful countryside in front of me ! Like there is no ugly mother, there is no country
side in the World which is not beautiful. It was fully green, with a small settlement in
the middle dominated by a Chapel, and again it is vacant beautiful land. Then, you
find here and there, some huge farm house or ware houses, and you can see sheep or horses near them.
8:30am : It reached the first stop, Oxford. I just waited for someone to come and ask me to leave his seat. A young man came and saw the panel above me, I was about to stand. He told me he doesn't like window seats and so better he will seat in my aisle seat ! He thanked me too for that ! He is doing his Ph.D in Maths at Oxford and is going back to his home in Coventry.He sat back with some papers on Fourier coefficients.The train stopped at Banbury and Leamington Spa. The gentleman next to me got down saying Bye at Coventry. The journey is on with beautiful scene on your window passing by.
9:45am : Train reached Birmingham. I got down and looked at my print out plan. Next stage is a walk to the Snow hill station from the main station from where I will get a train to my destination at 10:25. I had no idea where this Snow Hill station is. Asked some two three people, all showed some directions and I couldn't understand anything in their local accent. Some protesters were shouting slogans and shouting at people getting into the station. There were a handful of police officers accompanying them. I just took my camera out and hung it in my shoulder and that did the trick. They just gave a smile to me and gave a 'Hi'. Asking someone outside the station, he told me to follow the protesters and they are going to the Snow hill station. I blindly walked with them. Took sometime in between to stop at a place where I think it is the town centre, to take a snap of the main Cathedral and the meadow in front. Reached the station by 10:05.
10:25am: It was a local train to pick me from Birmingham to Stratford. It stopped in all the stops every 2mins and dropped me at Stratford by 11:35. A small station like the local stations in India. Walked out, saw the map, took notes and walked towards the birthplace of Shakespeare. Just happened to pass through a village market, got in and took some snaps of the sellers which are really unique with their costume and appearance. People are more happy, wishing each other, and a smile on everyone's
face. You will, in no time, fall in love with the place.
Walked to the house where Shakespeare was born. Took some snaps, bought some
souvenirs, walked to the river Avon's banks. It was a beautiful sight, no words can
express it completely ! Walked through the banks of the river for more than an hour and
I am done. I felt my money is paid off. I can now go back home and sit at home for the
whole weekend ! The peace which Big Ben or Trafalgar can't give, this peaceful, merry
place gives you ! You have crowd here also. But this crowd has time, it has all the time
in the World to help you, to tell you about the places.
I met an old lady at a signal struggling to cross the road. I just stopped to offer her a
helping hand and we parted. Later she found me in front of a village map, she stopped
and taught me all the places to see ! A sudden change of atmosphere !
Again, I looked for a McD for my lunch, had it and walked back to the station by 2:30.
Surprises waits for the fools, always ! And the good thing is, sometimes they are pleasant! I was just checking the route I have to go back through. I was to take a train to Leamington Spa checking the stations in between, I saw the station Warwick ! The place where is situated the castle which is voted by BBC as the best in UK !
Just confirmed with the officer in the station that I can take enough breaks on the journey and get down at Warwick. May be that will delay my visit at Oxford, but it is worth. The next fear was whether I will get the connection trains properly as these
are all villages and you may not be lucky enough on a weekend to find enough trains !
I will stop at this point. Will continue next week as it is getting too long. I know I will
lag a little more, with my next week plans to Windsor and Leeds may have to wait for
some more days to be written down.
It is 8:30 here now. I am the only person sitting in the office writing this mail. This is
because I am fully busy till 7 everyday. It will a great pleasure for me if I can get some comments on the above, if not at least please don't ask me have you got no work to do.
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