Ashwina and I had originally planned to check out the Bodmin and Wenford steam railway. But we ended up waking up late and couldn’t get the 11.50am bus out of the harbour. Once you get out of London or other main cities, then public transport services are not that efficient. If you miss one bus, the next one is an hour or two away. We decided to just explore the area. Since it was almost lunch time, we went down to the local cafe, where I had a simply amazing Cornish burger which easily beats some really good burgers that I have eaten in London at prices you will never…
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Cornwall – Boscastle and Tintagel
Our last holiday was in February when Ashwina and I visited Dunwich Heath to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Since we haven’t taken a vacation since then, we planned a week in Cornwall in the first week of September. This was much needed for us to recharge our batteries. And as usual Ashwina made the necessary arrangements for our trip. We booked a cab to Paddington station in London where we caught the Great Western train to Bodmin Parkway, which is the closest station to where we were staying in Boscastle. The journey is nearly 4 hours with views of the countryside that would be be familiar to anyone who leaves…
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Kew Gardens and Kew Palace
The bank holiday weekends in May are always welcome since it means an extra Monday of holidays and a relatively shorter week, even for an investment banker! Ashwina and I decided to visit Kew Gardens and Kew Palace early May. This was one of the many places we had in mind given our Historic Royal Palaces membership. We were joined by Vincent and Indrita. Kew Gardens is located about a short walk from Kew Gardens Underground station which is the second last station on the District Line and good hours journey from where I stay in London. There are four gates where you can enter from and the Victoria Gate…
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Tales from the Countryside
I grew up reading Enid Blyton‘s series of books especially Famous Five and Secret Seven. And, one thing that is common to them all was the country side. During my trip to Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye, I got a taste of the Scottish countryside and it was befitting that we visited the English countryside as well. A few of my regular readers might recall that I married Ashwina last February and to celebrate our anniversary, I took the week off from work. Ashwina came up with the brilliant suggestion of taking a trip to Dunwich Heath which is located in Saxmundham which lies on the east coast of…
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A Trip to Paris
In spite of being in London for nearly 3 years now, I applied for a Schengen visa a few months back. To open the visa you’re required to visit the country your applying from and what better place to visit than France and isn’t Paris the romantic capital of the world! So, Ashwina and me planned a three day trip to visit Paris the week before Christmas. Paris is a little over two hours from London with the Eurostar and it is a comfortable trip from St. Pancras International to Gare du Nord. We stayed at Hotel Le Petit Paris, which is just close to the Panthéon. We reached there…
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Scotland calling: Isle of Skye
I wrote about my trip to Edinburgh with Ashwina as well as the one day tour to the Scottish borders. Edinburgh is a beautiful city, but the beauty of the Isle of Skye blew our minds away! We had booked the Timberbush 3 day tour to the Isle of Skye and the Highlands. Timberbush has an excellent rating on TripAdvisor, and we’ve even read some great reviews of our guide for the tour, Gail Williams. We started off from Edinburgh on a Thursday morning in September what seemed to be a relatively clear day. However, this would soon change as we left Edinburgh.We first made our way to Glasgow to…
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Scotland calling: Alnwick Castle
Ashwina and I returned from Paris yesterday after taking off for a short break before Christmas. But the story on that will be in a later post. This post is dedicated to the 1 day trip we had back in September during our holiday in Scotland. We had started the holiday in Edinburgh and had booked a day’s tour with Timberbush to Holy Island, Bamburgh & Alnwick Castle – Northumberland & The Scottish Borders. The one day tour started off early in the morning from the foot of Edinburgh Castle. The official tour starts off with the first visit at Lindisfarne Castle and Holy Island, but because of high tide…
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Scotland Calling: Edinburgh
This post is already 2 months late, because soon after my trip to Scotland, I was immersed deep into work. Better late than never, so here is a brief summary of my holiday in Scotland. It was a good 6 months after my trip to Mumbai for my wedding and a holiday was a necessity. While the I did make a trip to Hampton Court Palace which is outside the M25, the trip to Scotland would be my first trip outside London. Ashwina and I decided to do a 7 day visit to Scotland spread out between Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye. So on a Sunday in mid-September, we…
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Mumbai Calling – December 2011
I look forward to Christmas every single year. It’s the time of cheer and happiness with the place all lit up and decorated. I usually spend Christmas in Mumbai with an exception being last year, when I was stuck in London waiting for my visa. This year, I booked my tickets in early August to take advantage of prices when booking early. I must admit that I am sceptical of this so called price advantage! Come December, as expected the pressures at work go through the roof as everyone tries to complete 31 days work in 15 before Europe and the UK starts to slow down for the holiday period.…
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2010: A Life Changing Year
Come new years eve, most people stop and take a look at the year that was past. I am no different. The end of 2010 also brings together the end of the first decade of the new millennium. And, what a decade it has been! And, what a year 2010 has been! For me 2010 has been one of best years professionally and one of my worst personally (or so I think currently). I began 2010 with a clear future in mind. I had my usual 5 year plan ready, complete with a Plan B in place! But, as they say, man proposes, God disposes, little did I know how…
