Blog Postcards Part II- Poetry in Motion

Dear D

I am where you would have found true bliss. I am in the land of the Poet Laureates who introduced Romanticism. I am in the land of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey! The Lake District in the county of Cumbria, north west part of England. 

Remember, how all of us have drawn, with crayons and water colours, a pond with a duck swimming in it surrounded by soft round and green hills, flowers of all colours dotting the hills, and the sun peeping out from behind the clouds. Well just imagine walking into a drawing like that! It is exactly how you would have dreamt or imagined it to be…picturesque!

The Lake District National Park and the surrounding fells and lakes, meres and waters are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of these places have been able to retain their natural charm because of the efforts of people like Beatrix Potter, the author of the children’s Peter Rabbit series. While only the Bassenthwaite Lake is called a lake here, the others are referred to as waters or meres. We visited Bowness- on- Windermere beside one of the largest water bodies, the Lake Windermere. It derives its name from Vinandr mere which translates to Vinandr’s lake. 

A walk in this town will leave you spellbound by its pristine beauty. You have the clear waters of the lake with ducks, geese and swans swimming and crackling merrily in it beside a backdrop of rolling lush green hills. The houses are quaint cottages made of stone with vines hanging down from the sides. For us tourists, there are multiple cute ice cream stalls, cafes and souvenir shops. The Cornish Bakery is the ideal place to get a taste of the typical and the not so typical British Pies. We also found a stall with rescued owls. You could hold and pet any of the owls, the big tawny ones to the tiny spotted ones and donate whatever you want for their well- being. Oh, and the dogs here, cuteness overload. They seem the true owners of this picture- perfect place. They are so well behaved and friendly. 

We went for a cruise on Lake Windermere and the weather could not have been more perfect. It was drizzling, the dark clouds had gathered overhead forming a canopy but allowing some warm rays to pierce through. It was windy and chilly. A rainbow just completed the painting.

And now I truly understand where the poets drew their inspiration from. Wordsworth defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” D, if we had also been born in Cockermouth and lived in Dove Cottage, I think it would have been possible, no no, I am quite certain we would have been able to pen something worthwhile to stir a flurry of emotions among a few people!

From Bowness, we made our way to Keswick. Here you can take part in some adventure activities like high ropes, rock climbing or archery. But if the romantic in you is brimming and bursting forth, a walk up to the Castlerigg stone circle is a better option. Like many other stone circles in U.K. (about 300 of them), including the most famous Stonehenge, this one’s origin is debatable. While the arrangement of the stones has astronomical significance, some believe that it belonged to the druids. This set of circle dates back to 3000 B.C. Although much smaller in scale than the Stonehenge, you still feel as if you have been transported into another time. It could be because of the weather, the dramatic backdrop of mountains of High Seat and Helvellyn or just your imagination having an unfenced field to play around! A drive through the county is likely to bring joy to even the most heartless and emotionless human, if alive. The woolly sheep are a familiar sight looking like polka dots on a green velvet cloth.

We have to come here together once and just capture every moment with every blink of our eyelids. Till then, I shall send you photographs as I wander lonely as a cloud…

Love

M

Dear D and S

Today I have helped two young lovers elope and witnessed their union, till death do them ‘part, by the Blacksmith’s anvil! Just kidding!!! 

We visited Gretna Green today. And yes, two from our group, an eligible bachelor and a blooming beautiful bachelorette did indeed get married here! Ha ha!! 

Situated just at the border of England and Scotland, this place is famous for runaway marriages. The Marriage Act of 1754 in England could veto the marriage of minors below 21 years of age if it was against the will of a parent. In Scotland, however, no such law was binding and anybody could conduct the ceremony if the declaration was made before two witnesses. The blacksmith realized he could make a fair amount of money and thus began the tradition of sealing the marriage with the strike of his hammer on the anvil. The law was once modified in Scotland such that it required the couple to have resided in Scotland for at least a period of 21 days. 

With an archway made of two hands joined in union, love-locks forming the four lettered word and a scandalous history, Gretna Green still remains a popular and one of the most romantic destinations for weddings.

We then headed off to see the remains of the most powerful empire in the history, the Romans. While the Romans conquered many lands in the British Isles and expanded their kingdom far and wide, they met their match in Scotland. The strategic and decisive Roman army were taken off-guard by the guerilla tactics of the Scots and the Picts. Emperor Hadrian then decided to step back and built a wall to mark the boundary of their empire and keep off the barbaric native tribes. The Hadrian’s Wall and the Housesteads Fort now remain faint memories of an age forgotten…except probably by George R.R. Martin who drew his inspiration of The Wall, built to safeguard against the Wildlings and the White Walkers, from these ruins. Looking at the remains of what must have been their granary, bathrooms and watchtower, you marvel at the engineering capabilities and ideas of the civilizations of that era.

As I stood atop the Wall, with my brothers by my side, I saw the vast expanse of open fields and hills stretching far into the horizon as if challenging us to do something more than what we had thought for ourselves and dream beyond the boundaries that we had marked for ourselves. And as we placed our arms over each other’s shoulders for a group photograph, I felt the lands stretch out its arms for us…the World is our Canvas.

From the Wall

Your Imp

Dear D and S

You and I both thought that I was going on a solo trip this time. While you worried, I was excited, while you wanted me to book everything in advance, I wanted to go with the flow, while you expected me to make a few acquaintances on the way, I hoped to find a few friends. To the surprise of both of us, I now have a family of over 50 who are more than just friends on the way, my Contiki Family. 

When our tour operator recommended Contiki, a travel company for 18-35 year old like- minded travelers looking for adventure, I jumped at the prospect and agreed to it. I did read up reviews on their website but did not know of anyone who had done a Contiki before.  Few days before the beginning of the trip, I signed up for 'My Contiki' that lets you connect with your fellow travelers in advance. I realized that like me there would be many people travelling alone. Quite a few had done Contiki trips before. I was really looking forward to meeting everyone.

During these few days with my new friends I have come to know a lot about their lives in their countries and while there are a lot of differences, you won’t believe how similar some things are. The women are the majority in our coach! Our group comprises of a doctor, two pharmacists, one nurse, one paramedic and one physiotherapist…so we are medically insured! There are also a few teachers, a social worker, an electrician, an artist, a student of linguistics and some who were going to go back and join graduation programmes. One couple had come on their honeymoon, one girl had recently been through a break up, one had left her husband at home and few had come with their best friends or siblings. There was also a couple who clicked photographs of every place with a fairy doll to show their daughter back home that they had found this fairy and brought it for her. 

Many of them have taken a break of 6 months or 1 year to just travel, explore and figure out what they want to do…something which is still unconventional for us. In countries like Australia and Canada, the cost of living is so low, and their currency is so powerful that they mainly have part time jobs in department stores or restaurants and can go on long vacations over several months. Two of them had their luggage misplaced by the flights and they were least bothered. “It’s a good excuse for us to buy new clothes,” they said. I would have probably cancelled my trip had I reached London without my luggage! Our trip manager was explaining the custom of tipping here in U.K., especially to the Australians who were not familiar with it, when he remarked about the poor value of Rand against GBP to my friend from South Africa. I later found out from her that it was 1:20 for her. She was shocked to find out that I had to multiply each pound by almost 92 to convert to rupees!!! Quite a lavish gift to myself with what I had earned!

My roommate is from Australia and we have gelled incredibly well. Our morning and night routines happen smoothly, and we complement each other’s habits quite well. She works in a day care and has been teaching tennis at a summer camp in USA every year for the past 6 years. She says, because she spends so much time with small kids, she doesn’t fall sick when she goes overseas on trips, she’s got all the antibodies by now. I said working in a hospital has done the same trick for me.

Can you imagine so many women travelling and staying together without arguing or fighting? Haha!!! People are very understanding and adaptive. Here, they also express themselves freely and do not shy away from showering compliments genuinely. Strangers greet you on the streets and hotels with warm smiles and kind words. 

I have learnt music and Harry Potter are two of the best ice breakers and can be used to start off a conversation with anyone. While everyone is equally friendly and considerate, some of us hang around together. There are the three ‘tokens’ from India, South Africa and Germany and two Australians. We end up going out together at nights, enjoying the same jokes and being crazy in our own way and have forged a special bond. Once we started talking, one in German, one in Afrikaans and one in Hindi, it was hilarious but probably only for us! I had one of the most meaningful conversations with the nurse one night. Not only was she the most stunning bride at the fun wedding we had, but she was truly beautiful inside. There is another girl whom I befriended while exploring a graveyard!!! It’s probably a sign that we will remain friends for a lifetime and beyond! D, do you know, her mother named her after one of our favourite characters, the heroine of Pride and Prejudice. She said even her father looks like Collin Firth…but she still hasn’t found her Mr. Darcy. I said they don’t make men like them anymore!!!

Jecinda, you beauty

But all this has been possible only because of our Trip Manager and Driver. Imagine ‘managing’ a diverse group like ours! We travel from place to place in our beautiful and stylish coach, who’s been named Jecinda and she’s our driver’s Gal. He is the friendliest and most cheerful man I’ve come across and takes care of her like a man in love! He had heard about Contiki since the time he was a kid because his brother-in-law worked there. As he grew older he realized that even though he was not very fluent in English, he could drive well and just last year he was voted Contiki’s best driver!

Our day sheet

Our Trip Manager told us that we have two dads on this trip but he will become mum if any of us are late at any point. Our ‘dads’ have found a day song for us so that we imagine bright blue sky and yellow sun. It’s called ‘Fly Away’ by Lenny Kravitz. And we have a wake-up song as well, ‘Paradise’ by George Ezra, that starts playing whenever we are approaching our destination. He painstakingly makes day sheets for our itinerary every day, helps us with everything, from withdrawing cash and exchanging old notes which are no longer accepted to getting local sim cards and finding pharmacies for those falling sick. Every day he thinks of ways that he can make this trip even more memorable than it already is. He gets us local things like shortbread and chocolates to munch in the bus, tells us about the good places to eat, and the tips and tricks about each new place we visit, gets us great deals in local pubs and has even arranged for tickets to the famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo. He helps us to get to know each other, making us play interactive games, introducing our coach partners to the rest of the group in the bus and constantly reshuffling us so that we make as many friends as possible. He is originally from South Africa and rugby was his passion since he was a child. When he was seventeen, his father gave him a ticket to Europe and asked him to go out and write his own story. He played for Brighton’s Rugby team and had everything one could ever dream of. But when his passion became his profession, he wasn’t happy any more. He spent all his money to get out of the contract with his team and joined Contiki. The rest is history. He says he does not really have a home, so he doesn’t like it when he’s not on any trip because then he has to think about all the other things which is so important to all of us! He is what he himself would have described as a ‘Gangsta’! His motto-

“I’d fly above the trees

Over the seas in all degrees

To anywhere I please”

I don’t know if I will get a chance to do this again, but this has been truly a life changing experience for me. Just talking to new people changes your outlook and broadens your horizon. I believe everyone should venture out on a trip like this at least once in their life not only to know about other cultures and people but to get an insight and clarity into one’s own life and character!

Lots of love

A happy and content M

#NoRegrets