England/Scotland - Stockton on Tees

Stockton - On - Tees 7 - 9 June

Reached Stockton on time. Had to call Gaurav to let him know I was there - he was about 5 mins away.

I had a good stay at their house though. Kids are good, stayed in their room mostly.  

On Saturday afternoon Gaurav took me to see Saltburn. Nice little town on the coast. The interesting thing was the ocean and how it just appears to be going up as we were walking down. And the cliffs were amazing. The beach was nice; we did not go in the water but just walked around. There were colorful small rooms available for rent. Most could hold only two people, had a small kitchen with a little outer area. Very nice for a weekend.

On Sunday, Shivangi decided to join us to go to the Abbey. It was a nice trip. The Abbey was wonderful khandhar, perfect for shooting a vampire movie (as they did there). When it rained, we went to the café and had some tea and cakes. Really good cakes. We went to look for Dracula’s coffin but could not find it. Bummer!

Monday afternoon, Gaurav wanted me to visit the Naval Museum but none of us bothered to check the opening times, and it was closed! So I ended up sitting in the hospital tea shop for about three hours until Gaurav finished his rounds. 

Overall it was a great trip. I enjoyed talking to Gaurav and Shivangi. Very easy going and comfortable to talk to. Hopefully we will meet again.

England/Scotland - Edinburgh

Wednesday - 4 June – To Edinburgh

Today I got on the bus from Inverness to Edinburgh. It was a double decker bus and of course I sat on the top in the front. It was a wonderful 4 hour ride. So much beautiful scenery, waterfalls, mountains, flowers etc.  Just beautiful. I had not heard from Jennifer about my hotel code. I had also sent multiple messages to Smith Place hotel on whatsapp but did not hear back from them. Hunted for another email from their website and emailed them. Got a reply in a few minutes about the code. Thank goodness! I was really worried. They have a different whatsapp number than given on the website.

Got into Edinburgh around 2 pm. Got into the tram to go to Smith Place Hotel. It was easy to find and easy to check in. It is a little far from the bus stop also. Anyway….lesson learned (I hope). I will book more carefully next time.

Had a cup of tea and then went to Deans Village. Took bus number 36 to Deans Gate and walked around for about an hour or so. It was quite scenic. 

Deans Gate

From there I started walking towards Ross fountain, but came across a pizza place, Pizza Express, and I had a margarita pizza. $15 and a small pizza. A bit expensive.

Then on to Ross Fountain. It is a beautiful fountain, and the view of the castle is great from there. Spent a some time around there and walked the garden to Scott Monument. Went to the Waverly market and then it is time to go home. I am beat. Walked towards the tram station and got back to the hotel.

Thursday - 5 June – Second Day in Edinburgh – the Royal Mile

Today was a free tour day and then on my own. I have to be at the tour location by 10 am so got up in good time to get ready. The tram is wonderful. I know where to go. The only thing is that I have to climb sooo many steps to get to the Giles Cathedral on Royal Mile. I finally got there. The Royal Mile is about one mile of distance between the castle and the palace. In between is the historical Edinburg. 

The tour guide, Ross, started the tour promptly at 10 am. We started with the Giles Cathedral, went to the old Parliament building which is now the Supreme Court. From there it was towards the Writers Museum, then castle, and then down to Grass market. Then to the Greyfriars Kirkyard Cemetery. 

Giles Cathedral

The Hub

The city started with the castle on the huge volcanic rock. The Giles Cathedral is the oldest building in the area. Around there was all the life, the court, the prison, the market and of course hangings!  There were very few houses on this rock. A lot of the houses were vertical, meaning 4-8 stories tall. The rich would live on 2nd or 3rd floor while poor would live on the ground floor or top floor. There was no sewer system and it was just gross living. The castle had its own history. I did not visit. 

Grass market was because it was a vegetable and live stock market and only grass remained at the end. This is also the place where criminals were hanged later on after moving from the cathedral. Ross shared some nice stories. Then it was on to the Greyfriars cemetery. It is quite historic and big. Strangely it is a nice peaceful place. Now the main attraction is Tom Riddle’s grave (from Harry Potter novels). Ross told us how Edinburgh protected their gravers from grave diggers when they were stealing bodies for medical research. There is also the story of Bobby, the dog who stayed on the grave of his partner, John Gray for years after John’s death. Interesting story. There are more statues of Bobby than John.

That was the end of the tour. Now I was on my own. I was hungry also, but I needed to see stuff as well. First, since I am already in the cemetery, I stopped by to see Tom Riddle’s grave. So underwhelming. Walked around a bit, then walked out to the left of the cemetery. Had to ask someone how to get to the Royal Mile. They should post a sign there! 

There was a road going down from the Grass Market, so I decided to walk it. Good thing I did! It was the Victorian market/street with colorful shops and some Harry Potter shops. Elephant house is there – this is where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. Apparently, Victoria street is also the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies. Scotland is full of Harry Potter references. 

I then came back up again to go towards the Royal Mile. Kept walking until I got to the Writer’s Museum. But in the middle, I went into the public library. I thought it would be pretty, but it was just a normal library, but it was a good spot to use the restroom. The writer’s museum was not that interesting. However, I did eat lunch at the Rock Café near it. Again soup and sandwich. It was tasty. Time to move on.

Next stop was the Giles Cathedral. It was beautiful. Lots of stained glass windows and the thistle chapel. The Order of the Thistle is Scotland’s greatest order of chivalry given as a personal gift of the Sovereign to Scots or individuals of Scottish origin. There are angels playing the bagpipes also! Really intricate carving. Amazing.

Then it was just walking the Royal Mile all the way to the palace. Saw a lot of interesting sites on the way. I was wondering why Ross had not walked here, its because there is nothing here to show. The palace is meh. I did not visit inside or even the shop. I am not interested in the British royalty – they are all thieves as far as I am concerned. 

I did go to the Scottish Parliament building opposite the palace. Ross was right, it is the ugliest building possible. I had tea and scone inside first. It is 4 pm. Walked inside for a bit and saw the assembly hall. Nice. 

Decided to go towards the waterfront. Bus 35 goes there. Eh …not much was going on at Ocean Front. Just some cruise ships etc. Walked to Newhaven station and took the tram back to the hotel. All these bus/tram rides are wonderful, I love to see the city on these routes. 

Its about 6:30pm and I am back in my room. It was tiring day, tomorrow I have planned at least three things – carlton hill, botanical garden and johnny walker building. That is the goal. Two full days is sufficient in Edinburgh. 

Friday - 6 June – Third Day in Edinburgh – Calton Hill and Botanic Gardens

Today is a lazy day with very little on the books. Well – little did I know that the little will be big enough! 

Has yesterday’s half sandwich and half scone for breakfast then I am off to Calton Hill. It was a bit uphill but not as bad as I was thinking it would be. The views are okay – not spectacular, but still worth the walk. It is a nice size hill with an observatory and some other monuments. Arthur’s seat, castle and the port are all visible. It is easy to see the new and old city. Spent about 2 hrs here. 

Calton Hill

I got the bus from Lieth point to botanic gardens. The garden is free to visit. It turned out to be quite big. There is an outer circular route and then some inner ones. I wanted to first walk outside and then inside. It is beautifully maintained garden; one can tell the caretakers really care. Beautiful flowers and trees and bushes and all labeled. Really good! And then it rained twice. Thank goodness for my umbrella. There was no place to eat or anything so I just kept walking around. Went into the rock garden – the best part of the garden, really beautiful landscape. I just loved it all! 

Had a cup of coffee then it is time to get back to the city. I have time to visit the museums now. I got dropped off on Princess Street near the National Galleries of Scotland (Art Museum). Perfect. There was a band of kids playing bagpipes and drums. Very nice. I went to the museum – really good collection, Scottish, Danish and Italian artists. I am always amazed at these artists creativity and memory and attention to detail. I enjoyed it. Then I went to the Royal Scottish Academy next to it. It was okay – more of modern art there. 

Princess Street is fun to walk on, shops on one side and the gardens on the other side. I had walked in the garden the last time, and this time I am walking on the street, it gives really nice view of the castle. I saw on the other side that there were some tents, kind of like a Sunday market, so crossed the street. It was like a market, but the best thing is I found momos and aloo paratha! Wow…a wee bit expensive but tasty. Ate the momos there and brought the paratha for home and tomorrow’s breakfast. 

Then moved on to Johnny Walker store. The Walker statue is not out today. Went inside and am amazed at the all the variety. Wow! Did not have the courage to go up to the roof. Oh well….

Time to come back to the hotel. It is about 5:30 and I have been on my feet all day. The tram is excellent! 

On the way bought a piece of cake for Daria, the receptionist young lady. I had to tell her about my issues about not getting the code and I felt maybe she felt guilty when she is not. Anyway, I felt bad for her. She is not responsible for what happened. I am glad she liked the red velvet cake.

Time to move on tomorrow…

England/Scotland - Inverness and the Highlands

Friday - 30 May – To Inverness

Today is travel day to Inverness. Had a good breakfast (it’s the same for the third day!). took a 15 min nap and then trekked to the Buchanan bus station. The wait was not much as I got there at 9:25 for the 9:55 am bus. The loading was fast – the conductor/driver checked the ticket, and we all boarded. I took the front seat since no one did. The bus was not all filled up. We stopped on 2-3 stops for passenger pick up and drop off. Really pretty villages in the middle. No big town. The scenery changed to the highland kind – beautiful mountains and small streams and so many small waterfalls on the way. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere, purple, yellow, blue. It is very scenic. I realized I am sitting on the less scenic side (right side). I did take some photos but left side was better. (isn’t it always!). 

Just as we were entering Inverness there was a traffic jam for about a km. Some dude’s car died or something on the roundabout and caused such a mess for everyone. This is the second time I have seen a road incident in Scotland. 

The hotel is just 2 min walk from the bus station. Travelodge is okay, basic and comfortable. I did not pay the extra for breakfast here since I have to leave by 7:30 am tomorrow. And the receptionist said they start breakfast at 8 am on weekends. Well…there goes that. 

Time to walk around the city. Right next to the hotel is Red Pepper with a nice menu of soup and rolls. I had the tomato soup and bun with cheese filling. It was filling. I need to pick up some bananas/fruit and nuts for snacking on the tour bus. The town is small and nice. It could be any one of the villages I have visited already, but this is bigger as it has an airport and a Marks and Spencer. I walked to the used books store, then to the old church, then the very scenic bridge and then to the main road. 

Bought some hard candy for the road – it is not that great. I should have waited as I came across the UK version of dollar store – the Poundland It is also not all one pound price (like US is not all one dollar anymore), but it has very good stuff. I wish I had come across this before. I bought some chips and pumpkin seeds for snacking. Strangely, I also found bananas here. (there were also apples). Came across a drug store, they do have gas medication in case I need some more. Went to Marks and Spencer and bought one small yogurt. All other sandwich packages look too big for me. I will just have banana for breakfast. I have seen 4 Indian restaurants already! 

The tourist shops are good too. I think I am going to buy some things when I get back in two days. I have one full day more in Inverness. 

Went through the Victorian market – really nice indoor market. There is also a dime store – or something like that. It also has some nice gift ideas. I think it is owned by Pakistanis. 

Today I am feeling tired. Don’t know why. My right knee has been hurting. I need to get back into exercise and weightlifting. Or maybe these shoes are not good for the long walk in the city. I will wear them tomorrow for the Isle of Skye tour and then change to the Puma. 

Its 5 pm and I need some tea, so back to the hotel. No need to waste money on bad coffee outside. That is it. I don’t want to go out anymore. There is nothing much to do out except shopping and eating – neither of which I want to do. And it is still cold out here. I need warm weather.

Saturday - 31 May – First Day of the Isle of Skye Tour

I am really looking forward to this tour. I have heard so much about the beauty of this island. Got up earlier than I thought I would and reached the meeting point quite early. I could have slept in for another 20 mins. Oh well…that’s me, always getting to a place way before time. 

The guide/driver, Jack, is a young chap with wonderful sense of humor. We are six people in the group, a family of three and two ladies (sister-in-laws). Its nice to have a small group. We left promptly. 

Today we are stopping in a number of places. The drive to Isle of Skye was about one hour. It was quite nice. It was so nice that I thought we were already on the island.  So green and mountainous. We stopped at one small place for coffee and bathroom break. It was very much needed by all. This was before the island. 

Broadford was our first stop for bathroom and coffee on the island. We had some time so I walked around seeing flowers – really beautiful flowers here. 

Broadford

The next stop was Dunvegan Castle & Gardens – This is the home of the clan Macleod. It is about 600 years old. We had time to visit the castle and gardens and have lunch here. It was raining so much by now. The entry to the castle is 17 pounds. Sure! The castle itself is not that great. I would have liked more time to be outdoors, but the rain got to me. I went to have lunch, which was okay – soup and bread and a sandwich. I just wanted something hot to warm my bones. By then the sun came out and I still had about 20 mins before we leave, so I ran back to the castle to see the garden and I still missed some but I think I saw the best part – the water garden and the round one.

Dunvegan Castle

Fairy Glen – This stop was not on the original itinerary, but Jack added that, and I am glad he did – it was beautiful and magical. It was about 1 km of hilly hike but so beautiful. There are supposed to be fairies living here….sure. 

Almost the entire time Jack was regaling us with his stories of touring, or stories of the island. Really fun guide. And a fast driver. I have a feeling he knows these roads by heart and he is a good driver, that is why he was in no rush when we got to the individual spots to walk around.

Quiraing View – This was possibly my favorite of the day. this is exactly what I thought of when I though of Scotland. So beautiful…all green from here to there, mountains and waterfalls….oh just gorgeous. We spent about 30 mins here and it was not enough. 

Kilt Rock and Waterfall – This is now on the coast. It is a straight up rock with pleating in them, hence the word kilt in its name. And the waterfall in front of it makes it look awesome. All the photos I have seen, I am seeing those places in real. 

The Old Man of Storr - The Old Man is a large standing formation of rock part of the Trotternish ridge. This looked really fascinating – the rocks are in the form of an old man’s face. Quite spectacular to look at.

And last stop Lealt Falls. These were two falls next to each other. One was white and the other one had a brownish hue (from the peat in the ground). Very pretty. 

Then we are not far from Portree which came in 30 mins. It is a small town with few shops and restaurants, and hotels. My hotel is on the main road. We reached around 5:30ish. Either Jack was driving too fast, or they plan to keep some buffer because we were supposed to get here at 6 pm. I checked into the hotel, Tongadale Hotel. It is okay. Breakfast is included. 

I had some tea and then went out for a walk. Took some pictures. I don’t need dinner, and I don’t need to buy anything, so I am just roaming the streets. I thought I might have fries but the hotel restaurant is full of people, so forget it. Came back to my room and called it a day. 

Tomorrow we are starting at 8:30 am…very doable. 

Sunday - 1 June – Second day of the Isle of Skye Tour

Sleep was good today. Breakfast was okay. I got a vegetarian Scottish breakfast – egg, toast, sausage, hashbrown, tomato and beans. Uff! That is too much. I asked them to take off the meat like things and I still could not finish it all. 

Today on the itinerary are many places. But first is the fairy pools. 

Fairy Pools - Natural waterfall phenomenon. This is quite interesting. I think we need about 30 more mins here to go a bit more to see the actual pool that is shown in the advertising photos. This is about a one mile hike uphill and downhill with many many waterfalls on the way. All so beautiful and the weather was cooperative – sunny and beautiful. Just a lot of wind. So many pretty views. Even with all the 1 hour 30 mins given it was short because one of the groups left early and we followed them.

We stopped near a distillery for coffee break. It was nice to just walk around the lake there and have tea.

The next stop was the Sligachan Old Bridge – This also had the river with the fountain of youth. It was a lovely place. I am just feeling like I am in this magical place. 

The views have been just beautiful, out of this world mountains and waterfalls and so many streams in the mountains. 

Lunch was at Broadford. Everything was closed for Sunday. There was only one hotel open. I ordered vegetables and fries. I have not had any veggies for 4-5 days. They were steamed carrots, peas, beans and potatoes. Boring, but I ate them because I needed veggies!

Eilean Donan Castle of 13th century was the next stop. I did not go in. I walked around taking pictures. Very picturesque. Jack also stopped at another place where we could snap arial pictures of the castle. Very nice of him. 

Eilean Donan Castle

Fort Augustus gave us great views of Loch Ness, one of the longest lakes and of course home of Nessi the loch ness monster. It was a nice stop. This is where Loch Ness starts.

The last stop was the highland cows! It was the desire of everyone to see the cows. So nice of Jack to take us there.

I was staying at a different hotel this time - Kings Highway hotel in the heart of the city. It was not the best hotel considering how much I was paying. They could have easily included breakfast, considering that I was paying less than 10 pounds for it. The good thing was that coffee/hot chocolate was free all day. And their hot chocolate was fantastic (from the machine). The room was okay, but the noise from outside was too much every morning. It was not the most comfortable bathroom either. Definitely not a good stay.

Monday - 2 June – Highlands and Jacobite Train Tour

The tour today is at 9:30 so I have time to go for an easy breakfast. It is still the same – egg, toast, beans and hash brown. Very typical Scottish breakfast. My foot suddenly started hurting today. I am feeling a bit tired of all the tours also. Well…this is the last big one. Took a few advil and went on to my tour. It as a big bus and about 20 tourists. Not bad. 

The guide/driver, Sonia, was fun, experienced driver and wonderful sense of humor. Our first stop was Fort Augutus, the start of Loch Ness, where I was yesterday evening. Well, now I have time to go and see the other side of the lake. It was nice – there were the five locks which are used to let boats through, a topiary of Nessie and some nice stores. I bought some chips and a wafter. The touring spirit is not coming yet. We stopped at the Urquhart castle for a photo. There is nothing to visit there as it is a khandhar.

Urquhart Castle

Next stop was Glenfinnan viaduct. This is where the Hogwarts train goes from. It was fun to see it – little underwhelming but being a sort of Harry Potter fan, it was cool to see this. All was done in 3 mins. Walked back to the gift store, bought some coasters.

The one thing that is consistent in Scotland is that it is always windy.

We were dropped off at Mallaig. We are taking the train from here to Fort Williams. We have about 90 mins here. There is really nothing to do here. There is one Harry Potter store here though that Sonia recommended we visit. And it was worth visiting – Haggards Alley. It was such a cute store. Had some things I had not seen anywhere else – like bookmarks. Of course I got some. 

Came around to the coop and bought a sandwich and some paapad. Next stop – Garden Café. I just wanted some hot meal. I decided to have a baked potato with cole slaw. It was really good although it could have been a little bit hotter – temperature wise. Anyway, I feel good. 

I still have 30 mins before train time at 4:45 pm. Went to the platform and waited. Soon Sonia came and got us seated. It was a nice train inside. All were four seats with table in the middle. Once the train started the snack and drink cart lady came by. I had a hot cup of tea – very much needed. It was good. That is one good thing in England, good tea. The train journey was nice – we first encountered Dumbledore’s resting place, then 20 mins later came the viaduct which was the most photographed viaduct. I think I got some nice videos. I hope the couple sitting in front of me send me their video. 

Glenfinnan Viaduct

45 mins later we are at Fort Williams. We loaded up and next stop was the memorial to the soldiers. Just a 10 min stop for photos. Next stop Fort Augustus and then it is time to go home. I think Sonia was also ready. She dropped us in Inverness before 9:30 pm. Excellent! 

Walked to the hotel, got some hot chocolate from the bar and am back in my room. I am not tired or much sleepy but its nice to be in bed.

Tuesday - 3 June – Inverness

Not much to do except walk around Inverness today. Thought all day about having pizza for lunch and ended up having chole bhature at the Victoria market – LOL. I bought some more little gifts today. Hopefully I have covered all people by now. I think I might get some more coasters. I will have some more space to carry after my visit in Stockton on Tees.

Inverness Castle

The Mall