We came across one more cathedral
but there is nothing worth telling about it.
We also came across one strange vehicle in
Liverpool. The vehicle is called a DUCK -
an authentic World War II landing vehicle.
It runs normally on the road much like other
vehicles but it could run on water too. It
was an exciting sight to see the vehicle splash
down into water all of a sudden. Perhaps,
if we had known about this vehicle before,
we would have planned for a ride on one of
the ducks. After the Bus tour got over, we
spent some time at St. John's Park, which
was at the rear of St. George's Hall that
I mentioned in the beginning.
Perhaps, Canon should take
a cue for a new model from Haribaskar who
was merrily clicking photographs till this
point in time without actually loading the
film in the camera. Will they ? or Won' t
they ?? - remains to be seen!
J Just opposite to the St. John's Park is
the lovely building of Liverpool Museum. It
has a beautiful flight of stairs and the building
doubled up as a Moscow building in the film
'The hunt for Red October' where Sean Connery
ran down the steps filled with snow. We went
into the museum for some other purpose but
we got dragged in and started looking at the
exhibits. This is the first time ever in any
of our tours, we have stepped in to a museum.
After our lunch, we proceeded
towards the Port and waited for the ferry.
I was quite excited on my first trip on a
ferry. The formalities related to check-in
& even the seating arrangements were similar
to that of a flight. Unfortunately, it got
dark when we began our voyage and we couldn't
see much outside the window. We reached the
port of Douglas, the capital of Isle of Man
at around 10 P.M and proceeded straight to
the Guest House accomodation.
Saturday, 30th March 2002
Much to our delight, the weather
was very bright. Weatherman had predicted
a gloomy weather for the next day. The capital
town of Douglas is located in a hilly terrain.
While walking along the beach to the Tourist
Information Centre, we couldn't help noticing
a fortress like building that appeared to
have risen directly from the sea. That small
building is known as 'Tower of Refuge' and
its purpose was the humanitarian one of providing
shelter for the crews of the vessels wrecked
on the reef.
We got loads of information
from the Tourist office and one of the ideas
was that to hire bicycles and cycle round
the island. We raced towards the bicycle shop
but unfortunately all the bicycles were let
off by that time. Lady Luck smiled wickedly
at us as we had to walk another time uphill
to implement the next best idea we had. A
20-minute ride in the bus lead us to a small
village called Ballasalla. Asking for directions,
we proceeded towards the Silverdale Glen -
one of the beautiful, picturesque secluded
valley. It was one of the most beautiful places,
that I have ever visited. It was nothing but
greenery all around, with a stream running
nearby and a pathway leading us deeper into
the woods. There were some small, old bridges
on the way and on the other side of us were
green fields. The path was punctuated by beautiful,
country side homes and aesthetic gardens.
We walked along the twisting, leafy path down
to a sandy cove and an open, mountain track
along a babbling stream. Perhaps, this is
one of the locations that hasn't become very
popular. The path, we walked by is known as
'Millenium Path'. This might not be a single
point tourist attraction but if one wants
to take a stroll in the woods, this is the
ideal place. Words simply can't describe the
beauty of the place. I couldn't help remembering
the following lines of Robert Frost..
Woods are shallow, dark and
deep.
But there are promises to keep.
Miles to go, before I sleep!
Miles to go, before I sleep!!
Here are some photographs,
most of which are snapped with my cute, little
Canon!
(........To be continued)
