LONDON and CAMBRIDGE

25^th – 26^th June 2005

The weekend of June 25/26 was a very very tired one but enjoyable and memorable. On 24th evening I reached London from Reading and went directly to Alperton. Meera was supposed to leave for India on 25th and so we had all (Samir, Asmita, Aarti, Meera and yours truly) planned to go out for dinner. Went to the nearby Saraswathy Bhavan where we had good (well, fairly) Indian food. Then left for Rayner's Lane to Rax's (Rakesh, a friend since 8th standard) house. We were up till around 2:00 AM talking about good old times !!!

    25th early morning was up by 05:15(ugh!!!) as I had to go to Heathrow to see Meera off. Well, at Heathrow, everything that could possibly go wrong at an airport during departure went wrong. Meera had lost her tickets, there was a lot of excess check-in luggage, excess cabin luggage etc etc. Finally she was able to go in at around 10:10 for her 10:50 departure flight. Returned back to Rax's place and then we both left for the tour of Lord's Cricket Ground. 2 of the 6 major underground lines in London were out of service due to engineering work and so we took longer time than it usually takes to reach Maryleborne. Then we took a tour of Lords seeing the prudential cup, into the Natwest Gallery, into the long room et all. Then, after having pizza we headed towards the Tower Bridge. As we approached the tower bridge, we notice there is quite a considerable traffic congestion at the bridge. To our pleasant surprise, we saw that the bridge is opening up to allow a big steamer to pass through Thames. Rax has been in London now for 3 yrs but its the first time that he saw it !!! So I considered myself pretty lucky ;-) After the London Bridge we went to Picadilly Circus and loafed around for a while and then returned home - tired but contended. 

    26th morning bade Rax goodbye as he had to report to work and left for Liverpool station where I met Yash, Sapna and Smita (my pals from Reading). We then took the one railway to the University town of Cambridge. As soon as we reached we hopped on to a hop-on-hop-off bus which takes a tour of the city. First stop we got off near the Scudamore Punting Company in order to try our hand at punting. A punt is a square-ended boat which has a flat bottom with no keel and is usually propelled using a long pole. The method of propelling the boat forward like this is known as Punting. We took a self-hire boat and set off. Initially it was pretty difficult to steer but ultimately we managed to steer it albeit for a short distance !!! We passed through two bridges - a normal one and another one known as Mathematical Bridge. This bridge was built in 1749 by James Essex the Younger (1722-1784) to the design of William Etheridge (1707-1776). It has subsequently been rebuilt to the same design in 1866 and 1905. The guides do say a story that 'Isaac Newton built this bridge without nuts and bolts but the students and fellows of  Cambridge unfastened it and could not put it back again. Hence the version now contains nuts and bolts !!!'. This seems to be baseless as Isaac Newton died in 1727 and therefore cannot possibly have had anything to do with this Bridge, much before this bridge was first built. Well, after the punting expedition we headed to the American Cemetery. Graves all around gives me a real eerie feeling but then I always wanted to visit a war grave. Then had a submarine at a Subway and went around seeing some colleges. Most of the colleges at Cambridge and at Oxford have same names - Kings College, Queens College, St Johns College, Magadelene College, Trinity College. Once through with all the colleges, had a look at the souvenirs shop and the senate hall before calling it a day. The journey back to Reading from Cambridge was long - around 3.5 Hrs but then once in UK a visit to Cambridge is a must and of course - Everyone should try punting at least once in their life !!! Any Cambridge student will vouch for that ...

Weekend among blue waters - ISLE OF WIGHT

11^th – 12^th June 2005

The air shines with a mild magnificence…

Leaves, voices, glitterings… And there is also water

Winding in easy ways among much green expanse,

Or lying flat, in small floods, on the grass;

Water which in its widespread crystal holds the whole soft song

Of this swift tremulous instant of rebirth and peace.

Tremulous - yet beneath, how deep its root!

Timelessness of an afternoon! Air’s gems, the walls’ bland grey,

Slim spires, hope-coloured fields: these belong to no date.

                                                                               A Spring Day © David Gascoyne 1941

David G could not have been more correct about the Isle of Wight(IoW) when he wrote this poem in 1941. Even to this day it holds very true - "these belong to no date" !!!  Saturday the 11th June we (Smitha, Sapna, Ritu, Shrikant, Yash, Kunal and me) started off early in the morning at around 07:00 from Reading towards Isle of Wight. The journey to this island was partially by train and partially by ferry. Had to changeover a train at Guildford to reach Portsmouth Harbour at about 10:00. From Portsmouth took the Wightlink ferry to reach Ryde - the entrance of the Isle of Wight. On the train to Portsmouth we also met our friends from London - Meera and Aarti. The day was sunny and right from the entrance to Ryde the beach was along with us. Losing no time, we went off to the beach at Ryde. After a round of photographs and splashing of water we headed KFC for a lunch(Roaming around is quite an appetizer - u see ). Immediately after lunch took the bus to Newport. Newport is the biggest town of IoW. 

    The bus journey to Newport was rather quite as most of us were sleeping (Getting up at around 0600 Hrs on a Saturday had to take its toll!!!) Our accommodation was at a place known as Brighstone (www.brighstone-holidays.co.uk) which is further away from Newport. From Newport we took another bus to a place known as Brighstone Three Bishops. This place - Three Bishops - is a very very small place where there is a church and a small shop apart from a couple of houses. The holiday centre was around 20 mins walk from here through green fields and the church. The resort is absolutely fabulous and situated right on the beach. Checked in and immediately left for Sandown. Sandown is another beach town in IoW and so it was beach time again. On a shack on the beach we had fish & chips, splashed around on the beach and just plain freaked out with the Frisbee. At around 1830 we returned back to Newport from Sandown where we just lazily walked around for some time. The last bus to Three Bishops from Newport was at around 2230 and we had decided to take that bus back home. Had a lovely dinner comprising of Pizzas at Pizza Hut and then caught the bus to Three Bishops. Enroute suddenly one of us remembered that the walk to our holiday centre is not going to be easy as there were no street lights !!! Unfortunately I too remembered seeing a graveyard around the church through which we were to pass. The drive from Newport to Three Bishops was probably the quietest time of our entire trip where each one of us had the same thoughts - How were we going to cover the distance in pitch darkness among the forest and the graveyard !!! Each of our face was worth seeing in anticipation of the task ahead of us. But then all our fears were unfound - by some stroke of luck our bus driver offered to drop us off at the resort as we were the last commuters of the bus. We thanked him endlessly and said a small prayer of thanks as we zoomed past the church and the graveyard. The relief on our faces made for a happy picture but I still feel that had we taken that walk, it would have been a night to remember for each and every one of us.

   The next day began early enough with Meera, Aarti, Yash, Kunal and me going for an early morning coastal walk. It was absolutely refreshing and we were looking forward for a busy day at some of the most beautiful places in IoW. We had a heavy breakfast of fried eggs, hash browns, vegetarian sausages and orange juice and left for the needles point at Alum Bay. It was a very short drive to the Alum Bay. We took the chair lift from here to reach the base of the bay from where we had to take a ferry to the needles and the light house. This ferry, unlike our previous one, was an open ferry and the ride was absolutely exhilarating with splashes of water on our faces and cameras. Had a good look of the needles which are pretty blunt now (pun intended ;-) ) due to the force of the water beating against it. Then did some shopping and then left for Ryde. Reached Ryde at around 1400 and all of us were pretty much hungry. Saw a Chinese restaurant where we had sumptuous fried rice. After catering to our gastronomic juices, we explore Ryde a bit. As the sun set on the horizon beyond the huge expanse of water, we walked down the bridge back to Ryde Esplanade railway station to catch the train back home tired but satisfied, taking in the view that nature has offered.

Over to the land of ghosts, ghouls & bagpipers - SCOTLAND

May 28^th – 30^th 2005

The weekend of 28th, 29th and 30th of May 2005 was a bank holiday weekend and no one here stays at home on a long weekend. We people were also no exception and planned for a trip to the northern part of United Kingdom, the place of highlands, the place of haunted vaults and the place of bagpipers – Scotland. A very huge group – 15 in all !!! My friends from Pune – Meera , Aarti and their friends along with we people from Reading made up for the huge numbers. Shrikant had done a lot of research and found an accommodation in Edinburgh. So there we were all set to go to the land of Bagpipers.

We left Reading on Friday evening to London Paddington. Got the 2104 fast to London Paddington and from Paddington took the circle line on the tube (the underground metro in London is called Tube) to Victoria. We were planning to meet the other people in the Victoria station and just as we came out they too were there. I was meeting Aarti after a period of around 5 yrs !!! Well time flies …. And we gotta fly along with it I presume !! Once introductions were through we walked over to the Victoria Coach station from where we had booked the bus to Glasgow. The bus was at 2355 and we reached the place in good time to catch the bus. It was a double decker bus and it started off exactly at the time promised. Drudging along through the scenic beauty ( which came to light only post 06:00 AM ) we reached the city of Glasgow at 0900 on Saturday. As we came out of the Buchanan Bus Station, it started drizzling. The drizzle was too light to dampen our spirits and we marched along. After ‘saying CHEESE’ near the Glasgow Concert Hall (we could not go inside as the hall was booked by the University for its Graduation Day Ceremony) we walked down to the Glasgow Cathedral. Enroute we stopped at the Glasgow city chambers and again clicked a few snaps at the St.George square. The Glasgow Cathedral is a huge cathedral with a scenic beauty around it and this cathedral holds many a secret of yesteryears. The rose windows of the cathedral, the chapel and the aisles are worth seeing. The cathedral took a pretty long time and by the time we came out we were famished. Walking down to the city centre we located a pizzeria where we had a sumptuous lunch of hand made pizzas with coke. Then we went back to the bus station from where we were to catch the bus to Edinburgh.

            When we reached Edinburgh at around 1630 Hrs, the sun was shining down at us in full gleam (Talk about the unpredictable English weather!!)  The flat which Shrikant had found was bang in the centre of the city – had around 5 bedrooms, 2 kitchens and 2 bathrooms apart from a big hall. Soon we all got freshened up and were on our feet again towards the majestic Edinburgh Castle. The castle was closed for the day (People here don’t work after 5:00 no matter what!! Sometimes I wonder even beggars close shop at 5:00 and don’t accept pennies later!!!!) so we just walked through the Princes Street – the main shopping are of Edinburgh. Luckily for us some of the souvenir shops were open. Did some amount of shopping, had a look at the Princes Mall (From outside…it was also closed.)  When we returned home it was almost 2130 Hrs and the wind was blowing like one possessed !!! Being a hilly country, Scotland is very very windy and it increases as one goes up north – towards the highlands. Once we reached home, we cooked dinner and had it. Then we were up till around 01:30 AM playing cards, dancing to the music and having fun.

            On Sunday, one by one we got up lazily, freshened up and then headed towards the Edinburgh castle. This castle, situated on a hillock just off the princes street is a huge one and has got 3 war museums. On the top of the castle is a cannon which shoots off at 1 PM everyday. There is a very interesting story behind this cannon firing – In the earlier days when people used to use sundials for checking out the time, it was very difficult to synchronize the timing between Glasgow and Edinburgh as the sundials used to give a 6 minutes difference.  Hence it was decided to fire the gun everyday at 1300 Hrs in Edinburgh in order to announce the exact time to the people. Nice way eh??? By the time we had a look at the entire castle it was around 1400 Hrs. We grabbed a quick bite at Subway and headed towards the Scottish Parliament. Enroute again saw some objects of interest and purchased it. Enroute we saw that there are some guided tours of Haunted Vaults. Scotland, from centuries, is known for its ghosts, ghouls, black magic and occult. So we thought that it would be a good idea to have a first hand experience of these things. The tour of the “Unexplained Haunted Vaults” was supposed to start at 1800 Hrs and we had some time to kill. Decided that we will dump all the shopping that we did at our room and then head to see ghosts. After a cup of tea we reached our pick up point where our tour guide Mr.Roger was waiting for us. After some story-telling about Edinburgh and the existence of the haunted vaults we were led to the 3 most haunted and active vaults.  Fortunately or unfortunately, we were unable to either see or feel any sort of unexplained phenomenon. So in all we just heard stories of Mr.Boots (he was supposed to be a cobbler of yesterday and to this day tries to feel around the ankles of people who don’t wear leather shoes) , the kid (who tries to hold hand of any kid in the group and pull him to play) and the lady who always attacks other ladies due to reason best known to herself. After the rather quiet tour we saw the Scottish parliament house and then after a long walk came back home. Again played games and gossiped till around 12:00 PM before retiring.

            Monday was a day of journey. Early morning at around 05:30 left Edinburgh to reach Glasgow at around 08:00 . At 08:30 had the bus from Glasgow to London back. The bus journey was rather quiet with all of us just soaking in the countryside scenic beauties on the way and reflecting on how the past 2 days just flew off. Also, we all made a quiet resolution that one more weekend is a must in Scotland – this time to the highlands comprising of Lochness & Inverness.