The Scotland Sojourn by Spriha Srivastava
I planned my trip to Scotland by train in the month of January. Well, January is not the time to travel to Scotland, but considering I could squeeze in a holiday that month only, I went for it. Like it is mentioned in all travel itineraries, Scotland trip starts from Edinburgh. London to Edinburgh is a convenient train journey, however, convenience wasn’t the word in my favour on the day I was to embark on my much-awaited holiday. It was a shoulder day after train strikes in the UK. Now what’s that? It was the first morning after a few days of train strike, which resulted in some trains still standing ‘cancelled’. At Kings’ Cross Station, that’s what the schedule boards read. The station staff was helpful and guided me to a replacement bus service. ‘That can’t be!’ I groaned as I was shown the way to the bus station. I had to hop on to a train to the next station to be able to catch the bus. To my relief, there were a few fellow passengers frantically scrolling their phone screens and trying to read routes on the schedule board. After a walk through a long alley, up the escalator and down the stairs, I wanted to reconfirm if I was on the right platform. I reached out to a seemingly British guy. Sure enough, he was familiar with the route and along with the reconfirmation, he poured away his distress story. He had landed from Australia the same morning and to his horror, all trains were cancelled. He figured an alternate route and took an hour more than the usual time to have reached here. I gave a nod of sympathy and while I thought that was the end of the conversation, he pointed his finger to his face. “You see my skin peeling? That’s the crazy sun burn from Australia. I’d gone to watch the test match. The last time I’d been to Australia to watch a test match was with my ex-girlfriend. It was fun. This time I’ve got sun burns.” I gave him the quintessential head-tilt sympathy nod, though the voice in my head chuckled and said, dude, haven’t you heard of sunscreen? I asked him where was he headed. “Headed home”, he said matter-of-factly and looked towards the train wheeling along the track. When you ask a question like that, there is a destination you expect as an answer. Or was it a British expression, song or jargon that I wasn’t aware of? By now the man was gone and even I rolled my suitcase to hop on the train for the bus to Edinburgh that I didn’t want to miss.
A short bus-ride away and I was at the station that had a replacement train to Edinburgh. Here’s where bubbles of excitement started to wash away the hassle of the morning chaos. The moving train threw open an expanse of scenic beauty. Craggy mountains, meandering streams, flock of cows grazing away… I couldn’t get my eyes off the window and neither did I want to catch a wink all through the train journey.
At the Waverly station, Edinburgh, I exited when it was already dark but the town was glittering and buzzing. I walked outside the station and there emerged an array of castle-like structures all along the road. I was at the famous Princes Street of Edinburgh engulfed with chilly winter winds. I braced myself to brave it, but only after I check into the hotel.
There is a certain warmth that Scottish folks have. They treat tourists like guests visiting their home and go that extra mile to help out. The Scottish accent was a bit of a challenge but I did manage to grasp all relevant information about bus routes and locations of destinations on my list. And after a short bus ride, there I was at the Royal Mile Road dotted with pubs and eateries. The beauty of Edinburgh lies in its architecture. Cobbled streets, Victorian lampposts and castle-like buildings maintained as is. This was Edinburgh’s New Town. After almost a mile-long walk at the Royal Mile and a hearty meal at Bella Italia, I headed back to the hotel excited about the following day that I was to spend at the Edinburgh Castle.
In India, I have grown up soaked in history and have seen breath-taking architectural beauty – The Taj Mahal, Red Fort, tombs and forts of Rajasthan, but the sight of Edinburgh castle comes with a warning. Your jaw will drop and the first sight of the castle will take your breath away. And then the walk towards the castle will present a vista capturing the entire city that can nudge you into dizzy delirium. There are two ways to reach the castle. A tedious stairway-climb or a long uphill walk. Before taking the stairs, I spotted a food stall that read ‘Authentic Vietnamese Pancake’. I was sold. The petite lady offered a couple of options on how I would like my pancake. All I knew was I’d like my pancake like how a pancake is supposed to be and went with option 1, which anyway was a random pick. Her cooking process was quite an appetite builder. I thought street food meant quick food, but her authentic pancake perhaps took as much time as it may have taken to build the castle! Patience is a virtue we Indians definitely don’t possess. After the long wait what I received in my hand was something of the shape of a taco soaked in oil. I couldn’t gather the flavour. It was somewhere between Churros and Croissant. That was my four-pound disappointment before my ecstatic experience.
Edinburgh Castle presents history in the form of experiences. At the very beginning of the castle is the famous Mons Meg Cannon seen as cutting edge military technology back in the 15th century. I was looking forward to the customary 1pm gun fire that was started in 1861 to set the maritime clock to 1pm and has been carried on ever since. But lo! Sunday is an off day and Sunday it was. I didn’t have time to lament so I put the lost opportunity behind me and made my way ahead to explore the castle. The castle has a scan code for audio of its history and the boards along every segment have detailed history. In one segment there was a pictorial timeline of the history of Scotland and the detailing of explanation was so captivating that I read every one of the boards. Another segment had prisons where the military system of that time and the life of prisoners was detailed out with mannequins and prototype of the prisons of those times placed there.
After delving into the history of the castle and the city, I landed at a shop that displayed souvenirs and whiskies. The shop had a pleasant-looking gentleman who invited me to taste a few whiskies. I am not a whiskey drinker but I couldn’t have missed out on a ‘whiskey tasting’ experience. So, I gave it a go. I chugged down the shot handed over to me. My gut wanted to push the whiskey out of my system at the same speed at which I had downed it. The man looked at me with hopeful eyes. I saw his expression change while I tried to shine a smile through my crinkled nose and brows. Not her cup of tea… or whiskey, he would’ve have definitely thought. For all the whiskey connoisseurs, don’t miss a chance to take a whiskey tasting experience. It invitingly stands right at the exit of the castle. You will need to make pre-booking as slots usually run full. At the exit of the castle are also the famous Scotland Tartan shops lining the street. It has warm scarves at every price range. I did my share of shopping and on my way back, had a chance meet with Harry Potter’s Hedwig. Well, almost. Two ladies had their owls at display and offered as photo op moment of holding the owl. In the background, I could hear the tunes of a bagpipe. On walking further, I was greeted by a Scottish man dressed in a kilt playing the bagpipe. I stood there for a while soaking in the music. Right beside me was the man engrossed in playing the instrument, a few steps away was the owl anxiously rotating its neck while being passed from one arm to the next, and up ahead at a distance stood the grand castle, strong and firm amidst the passing layers of clouds.
Edinburgh left me mesmerised and wanting for more. And indeed, more of such experiences were to come with my next destinations – Fort William, Isle of Skye and Inverness. Next up, we shall delve into beauty and bliss.
Food: If you’re a vegetarian, Mc Donald’s is your destination. I eat fish so had the luxury of binging on fish and chips. For meat eaters, try Haggis – a speciality of Scotland. Leigh Street has a mall where you can have a sit-down dinner with different cuisine options available.
Stay: Holiday Inn Express was a good option for my stay. Edinburgh has luxury hotels as well as BnBs that are cosy and comfortable.
Quick tip: Be it any season, a jacket, hat, umbrella and comfortable waterproof walking shoes are a must.
Not to miss: A stroll along The Water of Leith, the river that runs through Edinburgh.
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Love your writing. A great piece, excellent travelogue! Kudos!
Good piece and very informative. Looks like you had fun. Interesting travelogue.