It's
about my trip to Scotland. I went with my friend. This
time mode of travel is Train. It took about 5hrs to reach
Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The city
is quite old and it's been the capital of Scotland since
15th century. We started roaming around the city at about
1pm on 5th May 2001. Two of our TCS friends also joined
us. As one of them is working in Edinburgh, it was easy
for us to find our way.
First we had been to Arthur's seat,
which is an extinct volcano. It hasn't erupted since 300
million years and now it has become a spot for trekking
and one can get a good view of the city from the top of
the mountain. We also decided to go for trekking. We were
only halfway then and I was finding it difficult to walk
further and I was gasping for breath. So I gave up and
asked the others to continue but we all came back together.
Near Arthur's Seat is the Holyrood Palace
where the Royal family stays when they go to Edinburgh.
We walked along the streets and entered into a museum,
which was not very impressive. We could see bagpipers
almost everywhere in the streets playing the traditional
music. They wear their traditional dress called kilt.
It was nice to hear that music. We had been to St. Giles
Kirk built in 1880 then to the oldest house in Edinburgh
built in 1840. Now it's housed by painting exhibition.
The next location we visited was Camera
Obscura where the camera (should say 3 lenses), which
was invented by a lady in 18th century, takes a moving
picture of the entire city. There was a detailed explanation
of the history of the city and that of the famous monuments,
buildings... It was really nice. So many exhibitions were
also there all related to Holograms, electrical phenomenon
etc...
Then we walked along Princes Street,
which is the main street in Edinburgh with shops and gardens
on either side. By then we were all very tired and decided
to stop with that.
The next day we started at around 9.30 and
we booked in tours, which takes the tourists to the countryside
of Scotland. The first place where we stopped was Stirling
Castle, which is one and a half hours travel from
Edinburgh. The Royal Family of Scotland previously used
the castle. It's located on a hilltop -quite an old one
with huge walls, beautiful gardens... We spent an hour
there and started towards Trossachs meaning 'crossing
point', the crossing point of Highlands and Lowlands.
The population, cattle and way of living differ in Highlands
and Lowlands. We travelled thro' forests, farms and climbed
up the mountain. Thrilled to see the cattle called 'Gaur'
and it looks like a cow. Sceneries were too good and the
weather was very fine and sunny.
Then we headed to 'Loch Lomond'.
'Loch' means lake in Gylic, Scottish language and
not spoken by many. The lake was a big one surrounded
by mountains. A small waterfall was there and we enjoyed
hopping on the rocks in the water. We went for a walk
along the lake in the forest area. It was evening then
and we had to return. Again the journey started and we
reached Edinburgh around 6.30pm and by then all shops
were closed. We left for London the next day empty handed
but with a nature-filled heart.
