Travel || Day 4 - Tuesday, Apr 26

A day to Canary Wharf ...

Got up late, and took the tube to Bank. Bank station is the station for Bank of England (the RBI of England). From here, we took DLR (Dock Land Rail) to Greenwich. Here, we saw the National Maritime Museum, where we saw old maps, globes, models of different ships. We saw how the thinking of the world in terms of geography changed in course of times, the different expeditions, discovery of America, trade with India & Africa, anti-slavery movements,etc. Basically, one could see how this country ruled the world.
Phir 5 baj gaye aur museum bandh ho gaya. Phir hum thoda sa Greenwich ghoome aur DLR pakadke pahunche Canary Wharf.
Saw the Canary Wharf tower, bought ghee from Waitrosse, some shopping from Next and then had a lavish dinner at Nando's. Ah! Kya dinner tha! Mazaa aa gaya! Had a khatarnaak dinner ...
Then walk at the dock lands amidst crazy hawa .. Phir DLR pakadke ghar!

Highlights of the day -
1. Bhaiya kept receiving Morse code messages at the museum without knowing how to decode them or where they came from. The decoding chart was pasted on his right and the messages were sent by Bhabhi from another machine, 15 steps away.
2. We were practically thrown out of the museum because at 4.55pm Bhabhi, Ma and I were in the wash room and those ppl had to close the museum at 5pm sharp.
3. Bought Tiramisu, frozen Pizza and Panna Cotta from Waitrosse. It would be my first experience with Tiramisu and Panna Cotta.
4. Picked up lots of tissues from Nando's. Doesn't sound too much fun but the entire exercise was very funny. Only 4 of us who had dinner together there would be able to relate best.
5. Meri topi gum gayi :( :(
6. Nando's pe chicken dinner kar liya despite the fact ki Tuesday tha. Chhutti mein yaad hi nahin raha ki Tuesday hai aur non-veg nahin khana.

Travel || Day 3 - Monday, Apr 25

Amidst lot of lazing around, we started our day by taking a big red bus to Waterloo station from where we had decided to go to Sea World (London Aquarium).

Entering a dark corridor, I was wondering how this would be like but looking at the very first glass (magnifying) containing a starfish, I realized that this won't be bad. As we moved down the corridors, we saw hundreds of varieties of sea creatures - starfish, pacu, anemones, rays (they were amazing!!!), sharks, sea turtles, clown fish, sea snakes, crabs, sea horses, shrimps, and many more.
Fish of all different colour combinations possible and of course, all sizes were there. I had never seen a ray in my life, but it was great to see rays in an open pool where they were floating and moving everywhere. Their teeth at times, would twist in such a manner, as if smiling at you. Then there was a huge area containing 2 sea turtles, different kinds of tiny fish, large-sized rays and lots of sharks. Sharks of different types - brown shark, zebra shark, etc and they all had 2 very distinctive features - their scary jaws and their khoonkhaar expressions :P
Then we got a chance to touch a star fish. Orange in colour, it was very soft with a surface quite rugged to touch, but it was a very different experience. The section of tropical rain forests contained different types of sea horses and sea turtles. Poisonous frogs with skins of colours yellow & purple were kept in a separate cage. 'Bachpan mein jab frog ko green ki jagah koi aur colour ka kar do, to teacher anda deti thi', exclaimed Bhabhi.
Altogether, it was an experience of a lifetime, a great day. Highlights were seeing Mom become a little kid, full of excitement and of course, the moment when she was pointing to a fish over an open tank when the chewing gum in her mouth dropped and a fish quickly came and ate it up!
Thereafter, we munched a bit at McDonald's next to London Eye while feeding the left over French fries to the pigeons in this area. Yes, the pigeons in London eat French fries!

After London aquarium, we took a turn towards Big Ben and took a bus to Leicester Square where we had Belgian waffles and awesome ice-cream at Haagen-Dazs. And then to Piccadilly again, clicking more pictures, this time while standing atop the Piccadilly statue. Uske baad, tube pakdi and reached Westminster where we clicked pictures around Big Ben and London Eye again, this time after dark. After this, we took the tube to the Tower of London. Cutting through the side of the Tower Museum, we reached the Tower Bridge (commonly known as London Bridge by all those who've never seen London). Walking on the Tower Bridge, we experienced thandi hawa ke zabardast jhonke. And then, another big red bus and we were back to Liverpool Street.

Mausam ka haal - As the past 2 days, sunny during the day and very windy after the dark

Travel || UK Trip - Day 2 - Sunday, Apr 24

Plan is to take a train (not tube) to Brighton and visit the beach there.

Bhaiya and I got ready first and took a walk to London Bridge. The bridge which is generally referred to as the London Bridge with big towers is actually the Tower Bridge. London Bridge, on the other hand, is quite simple and gives a beautiful view of the Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast and of course, the river Thames.

Amongst a decent crowd and quite a bit of confusion, we finally managed to get our tickets and board our train to Brighton. Walking downhill from the Brighton station, Bhaiya showed me the difference between a small town and a big city (like London) of UK. After all the chit-chat, we reached the Brighton beach which is a pebble beach. There we laid our sheet & bags and got in the water which was veryyyy cold. What followed was masti in water, eating coleslaw sandwiches and lying down & relaxing in the sun with lots of gupshup. Then bhabhi and I went out for a walk and did a bit of window shopping (so typical of girls, I know).

Phir kha-peeke aur paani mein khoob saare pathhar maarke, we went to Brighton Pier. There bhabhi and I played a few games and then went on a roller coaster ride and mind u, this ride was special because it was my first!

We left Brighton beach and wandered around the county to see more beautiful and peaceful sights. And then, back on train and back to London.

Missing highlight - my first trip in the UK's Red double-decker bus.

Mausam ka haal - Very sunny and of course, very windy after dark (btw, sun sets after 8pm UK time)

Travel || UK Trip - Day 1 - Saturday, Apr 23

Loads of walking ...

From Liverpool Street to Westminster Station, the first thing witnessed after popping out was Big Ben. Sorry, The Big Ben. Round the corner, saw the first glimpse of London Eye and of course, River Thames ... London ki Ganga!
Took left from Big Ben and saw Westminster Abbey (on the right) and Houses of Parliament (on the left). Looking at the huge size of the buildings, one can see the attitude of the people who ruled the world. The architecture is impressive but is not famous because Roman architecture beats it (heard from Bhaiya). Anyhow, the buildings are tall and sturdy. For a snapshot, one can imagine a building roughly 8 times the size of the Statesman House with carvings like Akshardham Temple. And this sized building would just make the border of the Houses of Parliament.
Next we went to St James' Park, a park linking Westminster area to Buckingham Palace in a green way. Special feature - very unlike any Indian park, people here were free, in terms of behaviour, clothes and of course, attitude. As it was Easter Saturday, lot of people had a chhutti and were out with their families for a picnic. More importantly, with a 4 day chhutti (Easter) there were lots of tourists coming in. So we weren't alone :P
Cutting towards Buckingham Palace, saw the flowers that have been grown for the Royal Wedding and how the press is planning their bunkers. Saw a change of guards of black guards, not the royal (red) ones, saw them though.
Walk to Trafalgar Square where a concert for St George's Day was on. With National Gallery on the left, was in the midst of a huge crowd and lots of dhoop. The weather was like a fairly hot April day, with a disclaimer from bhai-bhabhi 'isse zyada garmi yahan nahin hoti'.
Cut to Leicester Square where for the first time in my life, I ate at a joint called Burger King. Ma was pretty tired but the spirit was high. And then, slowly, but steadily, we moved towards the Piccadilly Circus.
Phir train pakdi aur thak-tootke ghar aa gaye.

Early to bed and early to rise coz Sunday is the day to Brighton beach! :-)

Travel || UK Trip - Day 0

Finally, I've managed to start penning this one down.

Day 0 - In flight (Air India)

The day started with lots and lots of last minute checks. Reason? Haven't had a vacation in the past one year. Hence, haven't locked the house. So lots of checks.
Cab ride to airport involved phone calls and discussions about them.
Terminal 3 of IGI Airport was like a shopping mall, reminded me of Select Citywalk, Saket. All international brands were available, all priced in USD. Saw lot of men eyeing duty-free alcohol and women eyeing duty-free cosmetics. Anyhow, they were more expensive in comparison to prices abroad.
Ghoom-phirke, settled down on a couch and had Matar ka parantha with mom, followed by a coffee (CCD). The walkway at airport was used for fun, as if we both were 5 year old kids.
Also clicked lots of pictures in the airport lounge - Ma's Buddha style and of course, pictures with statues of Surya, the Sun God (created by Satish Gupta).

Air India served us lunch at 4pm IST where, for the first time in my life, Continental food tasted better than Indian vegetarian. Saat wala takloo peeke talli ho gaya aur Ma & I couldn't sleep. Finally, after listening to Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma's Raag Hansadhwani and half Crocin did I manage to get a nap of 5 mins but with Ma, no luck!
Anyhow, at the end of it all, I saw Aakrosh, Anjana Anjani and half of Robot .. films that I couldn't get a chance to watch otherwise. Ma saw 3 Idiots, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (for the first time) and part of Chachi 420 (1st time, of course).
Then, we were served tea and sandwich at 9pm IST and Ma and I had weird expressions coz our body clocks were badly stuck!

Bachpan mein geography mein jitni cheezein padi thi - mountains, valleys, deserts, gorges, river, tributaries/ distributaries, etc woh saari mujhe upar se dikh gayi. Contours dekhne ke liye kitni upar jaake baithna pada .. Batao! :P

Anyway, the flight was fine. Reached London Heathrow and met bhai-bhabhi. From Zone 6 to Zone 1 aka from Heathrow to Liverpool Street, travelled in the Tube and witnessed the origin of Delhi Metro :P
On reaching home, bhabhi treated us to a variety of delectable food - dal makhani, matar mushroom, etc. Tummy full karke, so gaye, with a plan in mind ki subah jaldi uthke ghoomne jaana hai. Weather was ok, Feb-Mar like pleasant but thandi hawa after dark. Huhoohoo...