How To Spend A Day At MillPort Scotland? The Island of a thousand bicycles

We've been to places around Scotland, but never a specific visit to a village. So this weekend, we thought of visiting an Island village - Millport.

There are several reasons why I picked this place. It's proximity to our place, so the short travel and it was a one day trip. Second reason being, we didn't want to miss out the near by gems searching for the farther locations. And it turned out to be the best decision for the weekend. And we enjoyed it very much.

We had to take the car in a ferry to reach the island. The experience was wonderful as it was our first of this kind of travel.

The island was very small and so our intention was to discover the place on cycle. 

We did around 10KM of cycling in Millport.

These are the places that we visited.

• Cathedral of Isles
• Garrison House
• Crocodile Rock
• Millport Beach
• Millport Cycling

Never felt satisfied after a travel like this one. I was laughing inside out from the sheer happiness visiting this place.

The Edinburgh Trip & The 20th Vlog

Finally the Edinburgh vlog is out. This had so many un-expected editing challenges. However, we finished it finally...

Something Different Is Always Wonderful

We've been busy producing travel videos on weekends. Vlog making, editing, subtitling, previewing and uploading...so much creative!

There is a reason why we want to keep the traction on this effort.

Ani was working till last January and then she quit the job and travelled with me to UK. A sudden change from office life to a home maker, came to know that this transition is pretty tough to get on with. Creative side just get stale. 

She spends her entire time spending with Ikey which she loves to do her entire life, but at times she feels like something is missing. And was sad about it. But then when she tried out this vlog making, she started getting the creative side back. She's happy and am extremely happy that she's happy :)

Realized the fact that she's so camera friendly and which is not something I can ever do. I can shoot and she can behave (no acting is what our decision is) :)

Hope to make more good and interesting vlogs. Let's see...

A Wollaton Evening

Fun in the Farm

Off The Road This Time

A Bad Cough Situation

The Tiny Trains & The Summer Park

This was a wonderful outing. We didn't have a clue on what to expect and that turned out to be the best part of this outing. Wonderful moments exploring...

He is growing fast

We still remember the day he came out from the womb. He was a pre- mature baby, light weight and tiny.

We heard his first cry in the operation theatre. Ani was lying with her belly open and I was recording the delivery (they allowed me to use the camera in the operation theatre. Nice doctors) :) So I captured the moment, he was taken out from Ani's stomach.

We wondered how thin he was and Ani was tensed about his weight for a very long time. But we trusted God and like always, it came to pass.

Now he has grown up and gained weight. No resemblance to his earlier infant days at all. So different and dark he was. When we look at those old photos, we realize the blessing of God and the transformation he has gone through.

The only other kids growth that we have been closely associated with is Isaac's. We have seen him growing and thought we have seen all his growth stages, but later learned that, we did miss the core parenting part. That was a realization when Ikey came into our life.

Kids learn at a faster pace. Have seen this happening in Isaac's and Ikey's life. They do really grow fast. And curiosity drives them learn faster (I think once we grow up that curiosity factor is some way getting lost).

They observe, inact, experiment, learn so many things faster in the early growth stage (because they are not mislead by the social expectations).

I had to travel leaving them back in India. When I met Ani and Ikey after almost 3 months, he looked so different to me. He was a very small child when I left. But he knows so many things now.

Ani says, let's keep him busy teaching things. And we try to do that. And it is almost important that he learns the word of God too, along with all the other normal learning items. That is the first priority for us always.

I made a list of 100 things I want to do as a father. I didn't review that list yet. But would like to have a status check sometime soon.

One critical thing that we always keep in mind is that we are not Ikey's owner. It is Jesus. It is God. We are only his care takers during his life here. Once he grow up, he will have his own life. We cannot keep the control over him all through his life.

He will grow up, get into a job, will get married, will have a family and the life moves on. We cannot expect to see him whenever we like then. Truth is truth. Faster you adapt, easier it will be to manage :)

Even though it is tough to accept this truth, it is the reality. I couldn't digest this when I heard this for the first time. I know you wouldn't even :)

Life is a big book of learnings. You will hear about various ideologies, advices, experiences, recommendations, suggestions on how to lead the best life. And from my experience lot many times it contradicts from person to person. That made me confused, until I started reading the word of God. That is my measuring scale. The best measuring that you can test against.

Isu & Ikey - you guys grow up, but always walk in the word of God...We will do our best.

We Love Kerala Food

Even though we like to explore the international cuisines, there is an extent that we can live on it.

Afterwards, the taste buds craves for our homely food. If that is not available, then at least some spicy (with no trace of sweetness in it) Indian food.

Ani mentioned the other day about badly having a Kerala sadya. She said, cost is the secondary part when she searched for Kerala sadya around the city. Even if it is costly, she wont mind paying to enjoy it, once in two months. But the fact is that, it is not even available to pay for it :)

Thats a true fact indeed. Sometimes you wont mind to tire yourself out for getting the good regional food.

While I was in Texas, traced the fact that the nearest Kerala restaurant is located in a gas station, 45 miles away from the place where I stayed. But I drove there every weekend just to grab the lunch with Kerala rice, beef fry, thoran, sambar and papad. No joke :)

This pics are related to somewhat similar kind of situation.

The Continuous Realisation - We CAN'T live without the Kerala food. Period!

She loves baking

Cooking is a common interest that we share. Trying out new recipes is a fun thing for us. At times it can be a disaster, but its always a learning for the future :)

Ani loves baking. And then it became my interest too.

The final outcome was an excellent chocolate cake. Yummy one. Good job dear..(I did that design and spoiled it :) )

Making a good cake is a skill. And we are improving it every time.

This baking plan was an instant one. But I already had the plan to prepare Kerala Sytle Beef Ularthiyathu. Just couldn't refrain from executing the plan.

Doing something together with your dear ones, which they absolutely love to do, its lots of fun. No one is sacrificing then, rather compete to enjoy the moment.

Meeting Robin Hood at the Nottingham Castle

Another blessed weekend, while searching for a place to visit, Nottingham castle came into the plan. We didn't realise that it is close to the place where we live. Didn't think twice. We headed to the castle.

There is an admission fees of £6 to enter. There were mixed reviews about the place on travel sites. But a look from the outside made the place promising to visit. So we took the ticket and began exploring the place.

The big entrance to the castle. The ticket counter and the souvenir shop operates under this place. Not much people were around. People were concentrated around pubs and restaurants near by mainly. Weekend - that explains :)

The view from the garden was majestic. There is a vehicle route to the top of the palace, but we decided to take the walk through the garden, spent some time there and visit the palace.

Ikey will be in his stroller for the majority of the travel that we does. At times we feel sad to see him calmly sitting in it and enjoy the view. And it is no fun. So we always make sure that he gets his piece of happiness exploring the place, when it is the right time. So it was his time. The entire palace garden was his. And he enjoyed running and walking around the place.

Approaching the entrance of the palace, you have wonderful views of the Nottingham city. Palace is placed to see the entire city at a glance. Beautiful views...

We spent some time inside the palace looking at it's history and museums.

On the way back we saw 'Robin Hood' visiting the palace. When requested for a click, he readily accepted with a smile. He is the city's own new age Robin Hood it seems. Where ever an event related to the Nottingham history happens, he will be there. A very familiar face for us now.

The Historic Waterway and loads of boats

One fine Sunday, after getting out from the church, I took a halt at the signal thinking about where to go from there. Didn't plan anything for that weekend as I was excited for Ani's and Ikey's arrival.

Rather than exploring the weekend, I wanted to cherish on their arrival and getting them settle down comfortably.

The weather was cold and was very cloudy. Using an umbrella is not at all option when it rains. I got at least 3-4 umbrella damaged, under the fierce wind conditions. And learned to walk in the rain rather than trying to fix the umbrella when it get flicked by the wind.

And that answers one of the questions I had when I reached here. I was the only person with the umbrella around :) But, I learned.

What I loved about this place is that it looked detached from the city. Even though it exist in the center of the city, this place had its own feel and rules.

The boats are used for two things. For travel and to stay. Stay? Oh ya, like a furnished home. Think about a floating home. That is it.

There is a long history behind this canal. Search for Nottingham Canal and if you like history, you might enjoy.

Initially thought of spending some time walking alongside the canal, but I walked for close to 3 miles. I wasn't feeling tired or losing my energy. It was such a fresh walk.

There are houses on the canal side with bridges to the canal. Wonderful backyards to enjoy the canal views and boat repair shops...It is a different world all together.

The place was kind of filled with families who wanted to enjoy a post lunch afternoon. Feeding the goose, swans and fishing, all were spending quality time with the family.

To share this excitement, took Ani and Ikey last week. Not everyone has the same mind set. She seems to like visiting the Primark (not any more) more than this place :)

Can't take these delays anymore

When you really want to get home and the delays happens, I dont want to express that feeling :) But HOPE really works...The best option around.

Far Far Away From The City

Waiting for the train right now to Manchester. Got few more minutes before the train arrives. So thought of drafting a quick post.

The day started at 5 in the morning. The train to Manchester was at 6:30 am and I rushed to catch up with the travel plan. Was I feeling tired? Didn't feel anything then.

 
Reached the station ahead of time as usual and started for Nottingham on time.

 

When the train started moving, I realized the fact that I will never get the seating position right :)

 

When I booked for the first time, I chose the frontward facing seating position. I got what I wanted, but the train was moving in the reverse direction. And I was not at all happy about it as I got the motion sickness. But someway managed to complete the travel.

So this time, I chose the Airline style seating. Never seen an airline moving in the reverse direction. But I was completely wrong :)

The station was empty when I reached, but then got crowded towards the departure time.

What I like the most about the train travel is the amazing sceneries alongside the way. It started off with factories and mechanical workshops in the beginning, but soon it got shifted to an urban landscape which then slipped to the country side splendour.

Everything about the course from then was amazing. Miles and miles of green pastries, beautiful country houses, farmlands, sheeps and horses, it was a real treat to the eyes.

 

All those cute little sheeps looked like the white cotton rolls all around the place. It was so beautiful.
It is my dream to live on a beautiful country side where I can wake up to the gentle touch of nature. No city life in the vicinity, no pollution - it was my dream as a reality with a thick glass separation in between.

 
Except the sheeps and frozen but alive horses (seriously, they looked frozen:) ), couldn't find anybody outside. Understandable as it was too early to work on the farms, but the thick smoke that was coming out from the chimneys was a clear indication of them preparing a wonderful breakfast :)

The railway system pretty much resembles the Indian system. Railway stations are a mix of modern and classic architectures. Sometimes you will feel like going through a city area but then it looks like Harry Potter movie set. For a traveller it is a constant piece of happiness all through the way.

Except the motion sickness that I felt, everything about the journey was just awesome. Will not mind to take this route again...

Curious travellers

Ani was afraid to go out alone initially. But now things changed. She is exploring the city alone with Ikey. Shopping, wandering around, getting to new locations - mom and son is having a very busy schedule now a days.

Last time when they went out, She came back with handful of brochures which has the upcoming events list in the city. That really helped us to plan the visits more effectively. More information, the accurate the planning will be.

Every Fridays, I will be heading to Nottingham with the utter eagerness to meet Ani and Ikey. And so the weekends we try to make it fruitful to the most. Its a relief for her when am back home. Ikey sticks around me most of the time which gives her a good time to relax.

It was another blessed Sunday for us. I woke up from the sleep listening to Pastors message, around 7 in the morning. Ani was live streaming the service in the morning. So Ikey and I joined her. Had a prayerful start and a wonderful time together.

Our church here is few miles away from the place we live. The best way to reach there is using the public transport and using the tram network is the good option around. And Ikey loves tram.

We never get tired of getting in and around the trams. Easy way to roam around the city.

It was a nice service today. As usual Ikey spent the time in creche as a peaceful kid in the group.

Didn't even turn around to wave at us. He is always excited to be with the other kids.

On the way back we decided to explore the Lace Market square. There were some events listed in the brochures.

The place is like Glasgow. Architectural beauty is evident in each and every buildings around. So beautifully crafted with fine details embedded in it.

Ikey is very still when he gets strapped to the pram. He quitely enjoys the views around and people smiling and waving at him.

Sometimes I will feel sad to see him being on the pram for a long time, then we free him from it and carry for sometime. But he enjoys the pram ride too.

Busking is everywhere in UK. And so many talented artists showcasing their skills. It is a real treat to watch them performing and marvel at their skills.

And that concludes a Sunday trip around the city.
Looking forward for a wonderful week ahead...

Resuming the updates

There was an obvious gap in my blog posting pattern. Little bit of laziness and utter busy moments halted the blog updates.

But I really want to keep this moving. There's a lot happening these days and not writing those events down is a really bad idea.

It's a late saturday night. Lot many pending items to complete before kicking off a full week travel chart.

Spending time with Ani & Ikey is the top most weekend priority now a days. Absolutely no compromise.

Almost all the travel is on either on foot or in the tram. Ikey loves the tram and so it is the most used transportation these days.

It is Sunday tomorrow and church time. So its better to log off and sleep.

Ciao...

Where is the snow?

They said its going to snow today. Sun is on full power. Where is the snowwww?

Chasing The Snow

It was a fine weekend morning. Got up bit late. The normal schedule of calling Ani remained as usual. Simply moved the hotel curtains to gaze at the opposite garden. But what welcomed my eyes was the snowing. Grabbed the jacket and the camera, then ran out to click the pictures. Took the below video instead.

I was walking in the snow while shooting this video. The tiny snow particles hit my face and it felt wonderful. Chasing the snow is great...

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.