Tag: England

Travel Shot: The white peacock

Posted on by sudhagee

The Leeds Castle in the Kent county of England is a beautiful castle and located in very picturesque settings—the kind that’ll take your breath away. The extensive grounds offer opportunities for picnicking, playing golf, jousting tournaments, knight school, and so on.

The man at the ticket counter was very helpful in pointing out the various attractions at the Castle. So, when he told me not miss seeing the peacocks, I didn’t really believe him or pay much attention to this fact. Having seen many peacocks in India, they were not really on my priority list of things to “see” in the Castle.

But as it happened, I didn’t really have to go looking for the peacocks; they happened to be loitering near the path I was taking to the Castle. I actually heard the peacocks before I saw them, or rather I heard the “oohs” from the adoring tourists. It’s only when I saw the first one that, I couldn’t help “oohing” myself ! See for yourself:

The White Peacock at Leeds Castle

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Museum Treasure: Gold, silver, copper, diamond

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The Sedgwick Museum of Geology in the university town of Cambridge (UK) is, to put it mildly, a fascinating place. It has a fantastic collection of fossils, rock specimens from all over the world, as well as a large collection of minerals and metals. On a visit to Cambridge, this was one of the places I chose to explore. I loved their unique collection, but what really caught my attention was a display of the natural or native forms of gold, silver and copper, as well as a natural “solitaire” as found in its host rock, Kimberlite.

Gold, silver and copper as they appear in their natural state

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Pubs, inns, bars

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The English pubs, inns and bars are an institution in themselves, and the local people are very proud of them. Their history, their quirky names, the drinks they serve, as well as the err… food has loyal followers. During my year-long stay in London, I visited quite a few of them and, in the process, developed a love-hate relationship with them.

I love their exteriors (bright electric blue, red, yellow, black), their quirky names (how about The Slug and the Lettuce), and the history that many of them have, but don’t really care much for what they serve. That’s because I hate the smell of beer, ale, etc. and don’t eat non-vegetarian good. And the less said about the vegetarian food served in such places, the better. The worst meal that I can ever remember having was at an inn in Kent—a pumpkin risotto (kaddu ka khichdi for you and me) garnished with blue cheese and pine nuts. Aargh !!!! However, the soups served in such places are hearty and to die for. Not surprisingly, one of my best meals has also been at an inn (The Waffles Inn at St. Albans) where I had mixed vegetable soup with bread and lots of butter. Mmmm…

So presenting the side of pubs, inns and bars that I like. While I remember where most of them are located, my apologies for those that I don’t.

The foundations of 'Ye Olde Fighting Cocks' at St. Albans date back to the year 793. This inn claims to be the oldest public house in England and to have sheltered Oliver Cromwell for one night during the Civil War.

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If only stones could speak… A visit to Stonehenge

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Stonehenge. From the moment I read about it in a school history book, I wanted to visit it. Photographs of stone slabs in a circular formation should have been boring to a 10 year-old, but the opposite was true for me—I was fascinated with Stonehenge, so much so that everybody in my family knew about it. When I left for my year-long stay in London in September 2008, my father told me, “You’ll finally see the Stonehenge now.”

And I finally saw Stonehenge for real at 11 am at on a wet, grey and rainy day in July 2009. Instead of elation and joy at having finally seen my “childhood dream”, my first reaction was one of intense disappointment — I had expected towering stone slabs rising up to the skies, but all I saw was a cluster of stony protrusions on a plain, featureless landscape. Added to this disappointment was the persistent rain that had followed me from London, leading to a perfect set-up for the much-anticipated visit to Stonehenge turning into a disaster.

I gave myself a strict talking to about not judging monuments by their appearance and to enjoy my visit as i walked towards the ticket office. I had almost cheered up when I saw the people lined up to buy tickets to see the monument. There were babies in prams, toddlers being given their first or maybe 11th history lesson by their fond parents; bored tweens and teens dragged around by determined parents. There were also busloads of bemused Italian, Spanish and Chinese students (who were in England to learn English) and trying their best to look interested as their instructors shouted out amidst the din: “Look at the stones and feel history and pre-history”.

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Travel Shot: Heritage Kennel

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27 June 2009: Dido's Kennel

It is no secret that the British are very particular and serious about their heritage structures, which are graded according to their importance. During my year-long stay in London and travels in England, I lost count of the number of heritage structures I saw and visited. In fact, I even lived in one !

But even this did not prepare me for seeing a kennel which has been accorded a heritage. Reportedly the only Grade 1 heritage structure of a kennel in the world, it used to house a St. Bernard, named Dido ! The kennel is taller than me (I’m 5’4″) and looked quite roomy, though I did not test it out. 🙂

The heritage kennel is on the grounds of Ightam Mote, another heritage structure, dating back to about 700 years, in the Kent region of England.

Travel Shot: The apology !

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It had been a hectic Friday at the University and I was glad when I boarded the tube that would take me to Baker’s Street station, which was closest tube stop to where I lived in London. It was a cold January day and all I wanted to do was to get into the warmth of my room. As I hurried towards the exit, I saw a notice on one side and idly glanced at it as I passed it.

What I saw stopped me in my tracks as I had seen nothing like it before. I mean, nothing like it before in India.

I was amazed to not only see an apology over a delay in the services of the Bakerloo Line (of the London Underground) that day, but also the reasons for that delay. And to top it all off, the apology was sincere and a personal one from the General Manager of the Bakerloo Line himself !

Anybody who has travelled by any system of transport in India, would understand why I was so astonished to see the apology. The only thing we get to hear are the “we regret…” or the “hamein khed hai ki…” — a line which is used for delivering a condolence message or delivering automated messages!

Can you imagine seeing such a poster or apology put out by the Indian Railways, or local transport services in the various cities of India?