Last Day In Scotland - Let's Go Home

Looking out from the hotel window to the street in the morning is something that I loved doing everyday. It's a thanksgiving moment too. Remembering the grace of God, blessing me with yet another wonderful day.

The Walls Of Freedom - Glasgow City Centre Mural Trail

This is one thing which I enjoyed being in the town. The colours from the street arts added more life to the place around. So exploring the art became one of the weekend activities.

Why I like the idea of colouring the walls in the neighbourhood? First of all it is beautiful. Rather than keeping the walls neutral, something creative of this sort can be done. Recently there was a news about the graffiti artists painting around the places in Bangalore. Why they have to do this under cover? Why don't they have the freedom of creativity is not appreciated? I have no idea.

What is special about these anyway? It looked special for me, as I have not seen street wall drawings of this size before. I am not an art lover and cannot vouch for those scoring evaluation points anyway. From a common mans perspective, I could simply stand and watch the beauty of the talent behind this.

What else? Looks like the person had a story to tell. I don't know what the exact story is, but the cage, birds in it and the cat watching it's prey - he had something in his mind. Is it the freedom he is looking for? So when I assumed that the drawing is a perspective of freedom, the person still had a cage inside him? No idea.

The size The cars parked next to these walls looked so small. First I though those vehicles were a disruption to my photos. But when I look at them for a long time, someway everything becomes a perfect combination to the frame.

The town is all square blocks. To find the wall paintings I had to take a walk around several square blocks. You know when a traveller wants to find something, then no one can stop them :)

Isn't those looking amazing? Those were the animal related paintings near to the Glasgow green streets.

However the below one was on a pub wall. Sorry, I have no idea who those people on the paintings are. But again looked so creative and beautiful. This time, it was a blend of black and white paintings. Quite different feel.

Below are the murals from the university perimeters. More like student and knowledge centric.

Look to your left, there is something amazing on the wall :)

I hope they are all very popular personalities.



Look out. You got a hash tag right there to use. #STRATHWONDERWALL. Try this on Social Media.

This complete side of the building is covered with the murals. That's an effort.

#TEAMWORK? That's what I would like to call it anyway. It is like Christopher Nolan movie. Everyone thinks they got the idea, but all had different versions when discussed.

The above one had a connected mural paintings running for few meters on the wall. Like a jungle and very intense on the nature. Never seen those animals that big before. So perfect in the details.

Those red cherries were huge. Intense red, and 3D effect. 

Are you taking my photo? Some people are so disturbed with the photography. See that squirrel looking at me.

This one is my favourite. A complicated mural because of its richness in detail and colour. I might have stood and watched this for at-least 20 minutes for sure.

Again, the nature and animals. This entire stretch of murals on the wall was a treat.

The below one is near to the suspension bridge. But this mural changes more often than compared to the above ones. And the wall looked like a perfect canvas. Artists will be so tempted to put their creativity out there on it.

I might have walked miles searching for these paintings. But the exploration was fun. Checking out with the locals and getting to know the places is always fun. They know things better than Google sometimes.

The video below shows the other wall paintings around Glasgow. The last one which is shown as in progress is the one which is right behind my office, the university campus.

The Tall Ship At Riverside

Went to this place, as the photos of the Tall Ship was so calling for a visit. Never been to a big ship like this one before. And it was an exploration time.

Took the City Sightseeing bus from my place to the museum and the ship was visible from a very far distance. It stood mighty compared to any other structures close by.

Came to know that it was pretty old, but wasn’t quite seeking the history then. The only intention was to visit each and every part of the ship, enjoy its beauty and photograph if possible.

The below cleaning utilities were functional. Kids were really serious about cleaning the ship with these. 

The ship's interior is refurbished to include a big hall for functions and a nice coffee shop. 

While exploring the ship's inner areas, I was thinking about the life of people in the ship while they were in the middle of the sea. It is always a frightening fact for me.

The engines were still visible from this deck and that area looked like a pirate ship. It was so dark and not much light in there, but can see the huge motor which once powered this merchant ship.

View was awesome from the front deck. There were couples trying out the Titanic posture. That was funny to watch.

Too much of strings and ropes all over the deck. Am sure that each got its own function. It should be pretty complicated to control the ship with the rope technology. 

Walking in and out of the ship is through the souvenir shop. That's a good idea. And they had this calligraphic greeting which was something of my interest. 

The view from the front side of the ship was towards a boating deck. People were getting into the boats for a short ride through the Clyde river.

Helpful Resources:

Ship's Deck Diagrams

The Best Hog Roast In The Town - Oink, Edinburgh

This little shop is on the Royal Mile. The sweet smell of the roast literally filled the nearby atmosphere. When spotted the shop, the very first sight that welcomed me was a full hog roasted and displayed near to the glass window. Just couldn't resist. 

Wanted to taste the roast anyway. Only question was the size. Finally picked up their Classic Hog Roast. He picked up a bun, tore it open and filled the pulled hog roast into it.

So what was in there? Yummly hog roast, served in a white roll with apple sauce and haggis.

Wanted to eat it slowly, enjoying each and every bite. But that wasn't the way it happened. Am a fast eater. When the food get tastier, it accelerates by 50%. The roll got over in no-time. 

Pretty sure that this shop is ultra famous around the place.

Walking And Exploring Like Never Before

From my experience, the places which the automobiles can’t take you, will have the most hidden surprises for a traveler. It will me more close to nature, serene and intact from the modern world. 

That’s one reason why we decided to explore Edinburgh on foot from the afternoon. The main areas where the vehicles could take us were covered in the morning on the sightseeing bus. No brainer, no surprises – we had a map the day before about the places and we knew what was expected out of the trip.

However the walk in the afternoon was a completely different treat. We took the ways as it went without much thinking involved. That was the beauty in itself. There was a person in the group who had an ultimate direction sense, which helped us to reach back to the station without getting lost. 

New city became old, concrete roads became cobblestoned pathways, tall structures turned into lush green tall trees and walkways became the waterfall sidewalks – a moment when mind announced a ‘Wow’ factor. 

I didn't get tired from the long walk. The heart took the control enjoy the beauty of the place and suppressed the body tiredness. 

That was a huge arch shaped bridge. I looked so tiny standing next to it.

This was a view from the bridge in the old town. Looked like the remains of an old fort gate or a watch tower, covered with lush green trees all around. I expected a river flowing down the bridge, but instead saw this beautiful structure and road.

Kind of an intersection. We took sometime to decide the directions to take further ahead of the road.

Fairs and events are very common in Edinburgh. Noticed this art fair going on in the old town.

Took a jogging path next, which took us alongside a waterfall. This I would say, was the interesting part of the walk.

It was a calm and ambient surrounding. Except the waterfall sound coming from a far distance, there was no other voice from the outer world penetrating this place.

Took a stop and enjoyed this waterfall for sometime. Beautiful!!!

This overhead bridge gave a wonderful view of the channel and the waterfall.

The Great Scottish Run Event

Just being a part of the crowd to cheer up the runners and to see their hard work paying off was a nice experience. Spent almost 4 hours around the event and walking alongside the track, which were the streets vacated exclusively for the marathon. Fun moments and meeting new people in the town.

Enjoying The Season Like A Kid

Autumn is coloring the whole nature. I wanted to grab each and every beautiful leaves and fill my suitcase. How wonderful the nature is and we are definitely blessed to live the day.

Arts, Comics and Weekend Markets

Arts season all over the place. Comic Con conference in Glasgow just got over. Still there are pieces of the events in Glasgow.

The plan was to visit the comic fair happening close by. Visited and learned about the comic world and pretty serious people in the related world. Crazy!

And strolled and tasted the local delicacies from the weekend market and couple of museums and some brain whip art moments.

The above pics shows the everlasting craziness of those who love the comic world. Pretty serious they were about the event.

Climbing Up The Arthur's Seat

Last time when I visited Edinburgh, couldn’t go to the Arthur’s Seat. While walking through the Royal Mile, noticed this dormant volcanic hill running along the right side of the castle. 

When Ani called in the morning I said, "I am hiking a hill today". "You do whatever you want, but please be careful" was her response.

That's where I want to go :)

This time I went to Edinburgh specifically to climb up this place. Had my bag packed with enough water and snacks. Hiking is something that I am not used to. And being a person with very less stamina capacity, I knew that the task isn’t an easy one. However, the view of Edinburgh from the highest point kept on calling for the hike.

Past the Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace, Holyrood Park, Queens Museum and the Parliament, the way took me towards the hill base. There was a huge crowd climbing up from all ages. Family, youngsters, middle aged and even old people with walking sticks climbing up, which gave me an enormous amount of confidence.

It looks easy from here. But climbing up is a different story.

There was a family with two little daughters in front of me. I could really understand looking at them was that the father was highly interested for the hike while mom wasn’t that much but she was with them being a good partner. The kids were enjoying the moments with their parents all the way up.

I went past them and had a moment of realization of the path ahead, after couple of miles. Stood there and glanced at the remaining portion of the climb which then an old lady on a solo mission, who was also going through the very same dilemma asked me “Long climb huh?”. “I guess” replied with a smile and we continued our journey.

Someone with the pet. The pet was enjoying the climb and was running around in circles all the time

The signs which were all over the place – ‘Beware of falling rocks’ – wasn’t much encouraging. I can’t look up and walk. If it falls, it falls, but I didn’t want that to be on my head. 

I made sure to keep a distance from the edge of the trail. It was frightening as I climbed up. However the view of the town was getting beautiful. My eye was turning into a wide angle lens. It was so beautiful by the time I reached the top. 

View of the Edinburgh Castle from the hill.

The town, the palaces, tiny moving people, vehicles, green meadows and the sea, the ships – that was an amazing view that I enjoyed from the top.

View of the town was amazing from the height. 

Half way down, I took a small deviation and climbed up a rock to capture a time-lapse video. These videos will make us to sit at one place for hours. So I spent few hours gazing at the wonderful landscape that was right in front.

North Sea became visible from here.

The cold wind was quite refreshing. As it was unusual to see people sitting and staring at the views alongside the climb (that too in the sunlight), I was getting pretty much the same curious stares from the hikers.

The old picturesque town and treat for the eyes

The colour combinations of the buildings makes the city look beautiful from distance. It was like watching a painting. This is where the narrow line between me and an art lover co-exist.

Holyrood Palace and the premises

I photographed the Holyrood palace from the front gate. Going into the palace premises needed an admission ticket and that not being my priority, the plan was kept aside. But little I knew that there was a breathtaking view of the palace waiting for me. And the palace looked beautiful.

If you are ever in Edinburgh, please do not miss this hike. You might be missing a piece of solitude from your entire visit to this place.

Below is a tiny video that I shot during the hike and the train journey back home.

Does Travel Change Something?

I like my own moments of serenity. And I like it a lot. With an exception that Ani and the dear ones being provided with the ultimate override access, they can come in and take me to their world anytime. 

But during the solo business trips, this would be the best moments I enjoy during the day or on the weekends. Back in the hotel or the apartment, I like to gaze at the streets, just watching the movements out there for some time.

And I strongly agree to the fact that the mind of a men can go blank. A cache clear moment is truly recommended if you can do so. And I like those moments. I have found myself lost in the parks, railway stations, official meetings (:D) – no regrets.

Travel actually doesn’t change anything. It is just that you still think about the very same things at a different location with some changes to the routine. But thoughts, likes, worries, hope - life is the exact same thing wherever you go in the world. At the end of the day, the life is where our heart is.

When we have something in abundance, we tend to lose its value. That is why travel seems to be more exciting than the daily routine life. But when you travel enough, you will want to have the life back.  

Autumnal Equinox - The What?

I started my day staring at this +Google logo and trying to understand what the term meant.

After reading about it for quite long time, got bored with the geographical descriptions and explanations. The fact is simple: Winter is coming. 

Then I realized that my camera picked up the signs during the last weekend walk. The trees are changing the colors. And the entire park looked beautiful.

I picked up these two leaves and arranged them to click this picture. I might be looking silly, but I believe photography is all about thinking simple.

The transformation of the nature is in progress. Half way through...

Nature is a wonderful work of God. The whole mix and match of colors, they are so captivating.