Scotland trip
I am a bit confused with picking up the title for this post - should it be considered as the continuation of second trip? Both trips were on the same week but I did went back home between Spain and Scotland (even if it was only for an hour). Also, should it be considered as Europe trip? Scotland was a part of EU when we started - in fact the decision of Brexit was announced while we were on the way to Scotland from London. Anyway, I am confining that series to the trips that required Shenzhen visa.
Where was I after the Spain trip? - at the closed door of Heathrow train terminal, half past mid night, wondering how to reach home in 4 hours. The guard there suggested that I take the bus which I was trying to avoid - I was extremely bad with bus routes and finding bus stops. I have few contacts for airport pickup but they require prior notice, plus my cell phone ran out of battery (sometimes I feel like it got a sensor to detect when I need it the most and decide to drain itself - I don't really pamper my phone, but do I treat it that bad?). Somehow, I found out the bus stop and waited for almost an hour trying to analyze which bus to take and would it be more economical to take an airport taxi or lose the tour payment. Finally, I got into a bus to Trafalgar square, hoping that it would be easier to figure out a way from there. The bus was extremely crowded and I managed to get in first only to realize I forgot my handbag in the bench (seriously, why does bad things always happen in a sequence). By the time I retrieved the bag and re-entered the bus, there is barely any room to stand and that's almost 90 mins of trying not to fall, holding my suitcase. By the time I reached Trafalgar square, it was past 2 and I was totally exhausted. Realizing that any attempt to find another bus would mean a very good chance of me passing out before reaching home, I got into the black taxi standing at the signal - that probably is even against the rules, thankfully the driver let me in.
Black taxis have card machines, however, there was a sign showing it was not working and on reaching home, I realized I don't have any cash in pounds (Of course). It was way too late to awake my housemates, so we went to the nearest ATM and paid the cabbie. He was considerate and drove me back home and gave the bill telling me to get it reimbursed from airways - that never happened though, I don't know the process.
I had little more than an hour to start for the trip - I packed few warmer clothes in the backpack. Since I took all the breezy ones to Spain, it was easier to pick from the rest to suit the colder Scotland climate. Then I had some breakfast and started to the pick-up point. Contrary to the most comfortable travel arrangements made in the previous trip, this one happened in a mini-van (my friend even called me to ask where our coach is and she was standing right behind it).
Anyway, I am not at all in mood to bother about the vehicle condition nor to greet my friends even. I immediately drifted off to a deep sleep with no sense of comfort or surroundings. I don't exactly remember when I woke up but the very first thing I heard is that UK announced it's exit from EU. The pound value went down drastically and that became my other excuse for not saving much - that's what they call optimistic thinking 🤓.
Getting back to the trip, our first stop was Birmingham Balaji Temple - I don't even remember when was the last time I went to a Temple 😞. It was quite nice and peaceful - I prefer bigger temples to the frequency.
From there, after few hours drive, we reached the Lake district.
We went on a boat ride with amazing views. The greyish somber background was quite a contrast to the bright one in Spain. I know most people like sunny weather but I prefer chilly days. They make me feel like I am in different place 👼.
After the boat ride, we had lunch in the big grassy land on the other side of the road. While the lake is filled with sweet swans, the other part is surrounded by bullying seagulls. I always find them very aggressive and in that particular occasion, they were threatening too and I am pretty much sure it wasn't just my feeling. So we left the remains of our lunch and ran for our lives back to our tempo.
Then we drove through the famous Kirkstone pass which seemed like a stream passing in between the hills. We stopped there for a while before resuming our journey. We stopped at another lake, but that was just a photo stop for 20 mins.
Then we reached the bridge which is the entrance to Scotland.
Almost immediately after crossing the bridge, there is a famous chapel. There is a story behind it - there was a legal obligation in England to get parents' approval before they could wed. So lovers who want to get married, whose parents didn't approve of their choice, would cross the bridge to Scotland, where the rule don't apply, and get married in that chapel. Even though that rule no longer exists, many people still choose this chapel for their weddings.
By the time, we reached Glasgow it was late evening and we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. I don't want to get into the details, but it was my least favorite Indian restaurant in UK and Europe 😟.
After dinner, we went to the hotel (finally!!!). It was extremely tiring day as we were driving all day - it was the longest drive of all my trips. I was completely exhausted and slept like a log. We woke up early and, after getting ready, headed down to breakfast which thankfully wasn't so bad as the dinner - it was quite decent actually.
Around 9 we gathered with rest of the group - I don't exactly remember the order of activities that day, I hope my friends could help me out.
Views along the drive:
I think our first stop that day was a lake with this Castle view (it ideally would be other way, but that's what we got). Scotland have fantastic castles, but we didn't get to visit any from inside 😔. It is also known for haunted places which we didn't get to visit either.
Next stop is to a mountain top on cable car. Few compare Scotland to Switzerland and I could see why. If not snow covered (which was when I went to Switzerland 🤐), they both looked very similar - maybe with different scales.
The top of the hill didn't have much area - it got a slide thing from where mountain bikers started cycling down and a restaurant with a small store.
We took some pics, sat there for a while, had a quick bite, browsed the store and started back down.
From there we went to another water fall which was a bit inside.
After walking for a while, the air is filled with small insects and my friends went back. I had my scarf with me, so I managed to go in till the water fall.
I couldn't spend more time anyway and went back.
We drove for a while before stopping for a break (or was it before water fall 🤔).
One of the things I absolutely loved about UK is the access to clean washrooms everywhere. But this particular restroom took it to another level with these pretty flower decorations 😅
Then we stopped at a burger place for lunch, but instead we went to nearby super market and bought some fruits and snacks - I had the best strawberries in Scotland 😍.
In between, we were supposed to go to Loch Ness and our tour manager gave us an option to choose Shopping and some other stop instead as it is a long drive to Loch Ness. We were already tired of driving all day and gladly took the pass. The store got huge collection of Cashmere sweater and I wanted to buy one, but wasn't sure if it a smart idea to spend that much on something which might not be useful for the moderate climate back home. So I had to settle down with some short bread, which was so yummy, I got few more packets from airport when I returned from UK right before boarding the flight😤.
Our next stop was by another pass, surrounded by hills.
I climbed up the wall after a long time 😌 and went to a stream. There was a sense of familiarity with hills, rocks and streams, however, there is some uniqueness to the place.
Final stop for the day was at the city center for a change. It was almost dark by the time we reached. As beautiful as it was, continuous travelling started getting to me and I couldn't wait to turn in for the day 😥.
They have some memorial where we sat for a while chitchatting - I don't remember the names of any place we went that day 😞.
We went to the same restaurant for dinner as the day before 🤐 and went back to the hotel.
Next morning, after breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and started to Edinburgh.
First we went to a small hill - our tour manager told us it a good number of stairs up but the view of the city from the hill top was great. I was getting little restless with the pre-defined schedule and wanted to explore the place on my own. My friends and I went to check out the center. The buildings there seemed even more conventional than those in London, but the flowers added a bit of brightness to them.
We window shopped in few malls and I went ahead in search of a washroom when I found a mall. It was surprisingly deserted for a Sunday. I don't exactly remembered the name of the mall, but it is very cozy which isn't usually the feeling I get from malls. I didn't buy anything and my friends started to get worried as the the time given to us is almost over. We returned to the hill and our tour manager was extremely upset we didn't go up the hill saying he would be taking us to the center later.
Anyway, we started towards the fort, which was a bit uphill.
We were left there to roam on our own and we went to the viewing area inside the fort. It was a bit sunny and we started to feel dehydrated and exhausted from the walk up. Our ever saving ice-cream truck was there and we got a cone each - the dairy was so rich and creamy, I could have easily gotten used to it 🍦.
Later we went to explore the street before the fort which was quite cheerful in contrast to the background. There was a place growing owls where we could hold them, whisky factory where the process of preparing scotch was displayed, few painters where tourists were getting their pictures drawn.
Then we went to this structure where we spent some time taking pictures.
After noon, we went to the another high street. Our tour manager left us there to have lunch and roam around a bit. We strolled around a bit before heading to pizza hut for lunch.
Around 3 p.m. we gathered at the meeting point to start back to London. It was long drive back and end to an exhaustively packed trip.
Where was I after the Spain trip? - at the closed door of Heathrow train terminal, half past mid night, wondering how to reach home in 4 hours. The guard there suggested that I take the bus which I was trying to avoid - I was extremely bad with bus routes and finding bus stops. I have few contacts for airport pickup but they require prior notice, plus my cell phone ran out of battery (sometimes I feel like it got a sensor to detect when I need it the most and decide to drain itself - I don't really pamper my phone, but do I treat it that bad?). Somehow, I found out the bus stop and waited for almost an hour trying to analyze which bus to take and would it be more economical to take an airport taxi or lose the tour payment. Finally, I got into a bus to Trafalgar square, hoping that it would be easier to figure out a way from there. The bus was extremely crowded and I managed to get in first only to realize I forgot my handbag in the bench (seriously, why does bad things always happen in a sequence). By the time I retrieved the bag and re-entered the bus, there is barely any room to stand and that's almost 90 mins of trying not to fall, holding my suitcase. By the time I reached Trafalgar square, it was past 2 and I was totally exhausted. Realizing that any attempt to find another bus would mean a very good chance of me passing out before reaching home, I got into the black taxi standing at the signal - that probably is even against the rules, thankfully the driver let me in.
Black taxis have card machines, however, there was a sign showing it was not working and on reaching home, I realized I don't have any cash in pounds (Of course). It was way too late to awake my housemates, so we went to the nearest ATM and paid the cabbie. He was considerate and drove me back home and gave the bill telling me to get it reimbursed from airways - that never happened though, I don't know the process.
I had little more than an hour to start for the trip - I packed few warmer clothes in the backpack. Since I took all the breezy ones to Spain, it was easier to pick from the rest to suit the colder Scotland climate. Then I had some breakfast and started to the pick-up point. Contrary to the most comfortable travel arrangements made in the previous trip, this one happened in a mini-van (my friend even called me to ask where our coach is and she was standing right behind it).
Anyway, I am not at all in mood to bother about the vehicle condition nor to greet my friends even. I immediately drifted off to a deep sleep with no sense of comfort or surroundings. I don't exactly remember when I woke up but the very first thing I heard is that UK announced it's exit from EU. The pound value went down drastically and that became my other excuse for not saving much - that's what they call optimistic thinking 🤓.
Getting back to the trip, our first stop was Birmingham Balaji Temple - I don't even remember when was the last time I went to a Temple 😞. It was quite nice and peaceful - I prefer bigger temples to the frequency.
From there, after few hours drive, we reached the Lake district.
We went on a boat ride with amazing views. The greyish somber background was quite a contrast to the bright one in Spain. I know most people like sunny weather but I prefer chilly days. They make me feel like I am in different place 👼.
After the boat ride, we had lunch in the big grassy land on the other side of the road. While the lake is filled with sweet swans, the other part is surrounded by bullying seagulls. I always find them very aggressive and in that particular occasion, they were threatening too and I am pretty much sure it wasn't just my feeling. So we left the remains of our lunch and ran for our lives back to our tempo.
Then we drove through the famous Kirkstone pass which seemed like a stream passing in between the hills. We stopped there for a while before resuming our journey. We stopped at another lake, but that was just a photo stop for 20 mins.
Then we reached the bridge which is the entrance to Scotland.
Almost immediately after crossing the bridge, there is a famous chapel. There is a story behind it - there was a legal obligation in England to get parents' approval before they could wed. So lovers who want to get married, whose parents didn't approve of their choice, would cross the bridge to Scotland, where the rule don't apply, and get married in that chapel. Even though that rule no longer exists, many people still choose this chapel for their weddings.
By the time, we reached Glasgow it was late evening and we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. I don't want to get into the details, but it was my least favorite Indian restaurant in UK and Europe 😟.
After dinner, we went to the hotel (finally!!!). It was extremely tiring day as we were driving all day - it was the longest drive of all my trips. I was completely exhausted and slept like a log. We woke up early and, after getting ready, headed down to breakfast which thankfully wasn't so bad as the dinner - it was quite decent actually.
Around 9 we gathered with rest of the group - I don't exactly remember the order of activities that day, I hope my friends could help me out.
Views along the drive:
I think our first stop that day was a lake with this Castle view (it ideally would be other way, but that's what we got). Scotland have fantastic castles, but we didn't get to visit any from inside 😔. It is also known for haunted places which we didn't get to visit either.
Next stop is to a mountain top on cable car. Few compare Scotland to Switzerland and I could see why. If not snow covered (which was when I went to Switzerland 🤐), they both looked very similar - maybe with different scales.
The top of the hill didn't have much area - it got a slide thing from where mountain bikers started cycling down and a restaurant with a small store.
We took some pics, sat there for a while, had a quick bite, browsed the store and started back down.
From there we went to another water fall which was a bit inside.
After walking for a while, the air is filled with small insects and my friends went back. I had my scarf with me, so I managed to go in till the water fall.
I couldn't spend more time anyway and went back.
We drove for a while before stopping for a break (or was it before water fall 🤔).
One of the things I absolutely loved about UK is the access to clean washrooms everywhere. But this particular restroom took it to another level with these pretty flower decorations 😅
Then we stopped at a burger place for lunch, but instead we went to nearby super market and bought some fruits and snacks - I had the best strawberries in Scotland 😍.
In between, we were supposed to go to Loch Ness and our tour manager gave us an option to choose Shopping and some other stop instead as it is a long drive to Loch Ness. We were already tired of driving all day and gladly took the pass. The store got huge collection of Cashmere sweater and I wanted to buy one, but wasn't sure if it a smart idea to spend that much on something which might not be useful for the moderate climate back home. So I had to settle down with some short bread, which was so yummy, I got few more packets from airport when I returned from UK right before boarding the flight😤.
Our next stop was by another pass, surrounded by hills.
I climbed up the wall after a long time 😌 and went to a stream. There was a sense of familiarity with hills, rocks and streams, however, there is some uniqueness to the place.
Final stop for the day was at the city center for a change. It was almost dark by the time we reached. As beautiful as it was, continuous travelling started getting to me and I couldn't wait to turn in for the day 😥.
They have some memorial where we sat for a while chitchatting - I don't remember the names of any place we went that day 😞.
We went to the same restaurant for dinner as the day before 🤐 and went back to the hotel.
Next morning, after breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and started to Edinburgh.
First we went to a small hill - our tour manager told us it a good number of stairs up but the view of the city from the hill top was great. I was getting little restless with the pre-defined schedule and wanted to explore the place on my own. My friends and I went to check out the center. The buildings there seemed even more conventional than those in London, but the flowers added a bit of brightness to them.
We window shopped in few malls and I went ahead in search of a washroom when I found a mall. It was surprisingly deserted for a Sunday. I don't exactly remembered the name of the mall, but it is very cozy which isn't usually the feeling I get from malls. I didn't buy anything and my friends started to get worried as the the time given to us is almost over. We returned to the hill and our tour manager was extremely upset we didn't go up the hill saying he would be taking us to the center later.
Anyway, we started towards the fort, which was a bit uphill.
We were left there to roam on our own and we went to the viewing area inside the fort. It was a bit sunny and we started to feel dehydrated and exhausted from the walk up. Our ever saving ice-cream truck was there and we got a cone each - the dairy was so rich and creamy, I could have easily gotten used to it 🍦.
Later we went to explore the street before the fort which was quite cheerful in contrast to the background. There was a place growing owls where we could hold them, whisky factory where the process of preparing scotch was displayed, few painters where tourists were getting their pictures drawn.
Then we went to this structure where we spent some time taking pictures.
After noon, we went to the another high street. Our tour manager left us there to have lunch and roam around a bit. We strolled around a bit before heading to pizza hut for lunch.
Around 3 p.m. we gathered at the meeting point to start back to London. It was long drive back and end to an exhaustively packed trip.
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