Visiting Scotland would be any man's dream in this world. The Serene beauty inspires you with awe and freshness. Wherever you go, you would be surrounded by gigantic mountains, river flowing valleys and all that you see on any windows desktop screen saver!!!
Our 4 day trip to this land of beauty started on an early Sunday morning and taking a look first at the famous Falkirk Wheel. The infrastructure details and the scenic pleasure would sure fill one's curious mind! One amazing information is that it could hold a weight of 100 African elephants!!! They let you ride in scheduled trip and do have a gift shopping centre for you to kill the time. And mind you, the lavatory has more waiting time than the trip!!!☺The Wheel tour is short which was a bit disappointment to us. However, the way your boat taken up and the tour guide's humorous speech will still amaze you!!!
One more attraction in Falkirk is the Kelpies. These are 30m high horse-head sculptures. The name intrigued me to google a bit and an astonishing news awaited me. The name is a local Scot name given to shape-shifting water spirit inhabiting in lochs!. Neverthless, this is a famous tourist spot and of course ideal picture click!!! Next to it is the Helix park for kids with water fountain entertainment. We rested our first day at Falkirk Stay home after a long journey.
The second day was filled for embracing the real scotland beauty. Visiting the mountains scene. We took a tour to Loch Lomond. I would dare say words are not enough to describe this serenity. One should experience it on own and capture it in their eyes forever. You would never get over with numerous camera clicks and still feel there is more to go!!!! We also had our packed lunch on the bottom of a mountain with a small stream flowing over a bridge. And this is definitely my fav spot!!!! My kids too had different experience playing the small stream and they always amuse me with their excitement on their nature love!!!! Like Dad, Like Kids!!!! :D
We also visited the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct. Any harry potter fan would surely not miss this spot. The majestic view of the railway bridge where the famous Hogwarts train zooms out is worth all waiting! We were lucky to watch two ScotRails passing and though they were not steam engine as shown in potter film, but still a fan would have a childish moment on it. From the parking area, one had to take a mountain trail for 10 mins to cherish that potter moment! Wonder how the directors of the movie came to know about such place!!!!! Wonder how they make such barren landscape into a major tourist attraction!!!! All in the movie game!!!!
We reserved our next day for kids entertainment and hence our obvious choice was "Blair Drummond Safari and adventurous park. I always love the self safari drive in UK as they let you drive safely near the animals and also you get better look at the animals comparatively and longer time too!!! This was the first zoo ride for my 2yr old and he was stunned to see a real lion. He is always fascinated on the famous Kannada folk song of Punyakoti - about a ferocious lion and honest cow. The impact of the song had got into his nerve of portratying the lion character a numerous times at home. :DDD
The park's sea lion show is another highlight of the day. The 30 mins show was packed with thunderous claps from the crowd on the performance of the mammal. The guide gave a fact details on Sea lions. The other shows were mere talks on penguins, tiger and rhinoceros. They had a wide pirate ship - sand park and more adventurous slides for kids to tire out their energy. More than the zoo, my kids enjoyed playing in the slides. One interesting play was on the sand.They could build different sand castle and use other tools and ways to move up and down the sand.
The last day of our trip was on the capital of Scotland - Edinburgh. Mark me, one day may not be enough for you to explore this beautiful city. With an acclaimed university, the city was buzzed with students! The hilltop castle is a must watch. We just wandered around the streets to get the feel of the city. Oh Man!, you will never get tired on their long paths. I would strongly recommend this place for newly weds - to rope hands on hands and get lost in a romantic walk!!! You might need more gigantic energy if carrying kids!!! :D The City shops are filled with "Ginger Shortbread Biscuits" which are remarkably tasty, apart from, as heard from others, the Scottish whisky.
I felt more lucky to watch a person playing bagpiper, which is again, a must look out in Scotland. I have heard them in few of English novels and had the chance to experience it this time. The City also has infinite botanical garden and they had more beautiful flowers than I saw in lalbagh or Ooty garden.The hues of the flowers tickled my small heart's wish to get a saree on it next time!!!! After all, Women will be always Women!!!! :D One more stop in our trip was the Edinburgh Museum. It has varied items on display from cars - rockets - about early life on the land to culture change, animals and food! And both museum and botanical garden have free entry and they are more worth to watch it.
And thus ended our four day trip to scotland and back to home sweet home, to celebrate our shared birthday. I am grateful to my hubby dear for making my dream come true - visiting scotland and that too as birthday gift!!!! ohhhhhhooooooooo!!!!!
Very nice, love reading your blogs
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