London Diaries...

This was the first time I got a chance to go abroad! Guess what that too to London and I was too much excited :) was for a period of 3 months I was going out. Initially I was a bit scared about the travel but thankfully Bilsa and Shyam too joined with me for the travel. We boarded our flight to London. The flight was from Kochi to Sri Lanka and from there to London. We started off to Sri Lanka in SriLankan airlines at 16:15 and we reached Colombo at 17:30. Our connection flight was only after 8:55 hours, that is at 02:25. So we were provided with accommodation at ‘The Tamarind Tree’. We went to the hotel room and after keeping our luggage at room we roamed around the hotel, the hotel was surrounded with many trees giving it a feel of a jungle. We went in hotel lobby and connected to Wi-Fi to let our family know about our well being. I was unable to connect to Wi-Fi and after some time Rakeu searched for the hotel and connected to the hotel to check whether we reached safely or not. We had a tremendous dinner from the restaurant with all Sri Lankan dishes. Once we were finished with our dinner we were informed that our flight got delayed for one more hour so we went to our rooms and slept for a while. At 03:25 we boarded our flight to London. We reached London, United Kingdom at around 09 AM London time. Bilsa had already asked our colleague Sony to book a cab for us. So when we came out of the airport after immigration our driver was waiting for us with a placard named Bilsa. He took us to the parking area and we got into the cab and off we go to “268 Franciscan Road, Tooting , London, SW17 8HF, UK”. This was the flexi stay apartment provided by our company. We reached there in an hours’ time and were excited about the arrangements given but I was a bit disappointed when I reached London. I just saw London in Hindi movies and I felt that London doesn’t look like the ones which we saw in movies but we were not in the main city at that point of time.

I am not boring you with my work part. So I am here for 3 months assignment but obviously I will try to cover London as much as possible. I will give you briefly about the places I visited during my stay here.

The Tube

The London Underground or the Tube is a public transport system serving London. I was using tube for almost all my travel. You should get Oyster card to travel in tube. The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport in London. It is valid on travel modes across London including London underground, London Buses, DLR( Docklands Light Railway), London Overground, trams, some river boat services, etc. . You will get tube map for all the tube stations. It is better to keep one map with you while you are travelling in London. The tube map will also be displayed inside trains but I will prefer to keep one with me. Initially you will feel a bit difficult to follow the tube map but you will find it easy after using it for 2-3 times. This map will help you to reach your destinations easily. We usually do a recharge for a month which costs 144.80 pound. Almost all our trips were in Tube.

Oxford Street

To go to Oxford street you should get down at Oxford circus station. Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster. It is Europe's busiest shopping street. You will find almost all the famous shops and brands here. The main shops I visited in Oxford street are Selfridge mall, Primark, Debenhams, John Lewis, alda, Hamleys, H&M, Top shop. Debenhams showroom in Oxford street is one of the biggest shopping mall of Debenhams. Primark is similar to our Big bazar where you will get everything at cheap rates or in fact you can say at an affordable price. Hamleys is the oldest and largest toy shop in the world and one of the world's best-known retailers of toys. Hamleys in London is a 4 storied building with thousands of varied toys. You can get any kind of toys here. I was amazed with the collection of puzzles they had. One of the biggest puzzles I have ever seen was found here. The best season to visit Oxford street is in December, the complete street will be in party mood with decorations. Unfortunately I missed that part still as it was January I could still enjoy a bit of it.

Petticoat Lane Market

To go to Petticoat lane market you should get down at Liverpool street station. Petticoat Lane Market is a fashion and clothing market in the East end of London. It consists of two adjacent street markets. Wentworth Street Market is open six days a week and Middlesex Street Market is open on Sunday only.

We went here on the first weekend itself. As I already told I reached London in January it was too cold outside. Apart from that it was drizzling and a cold breeze was hugging us. our feet were getting numb due to this weather still we managed to some shopping.

Westfield

Westfield London is a shopping centre in London, United Kingdom. To go to westfield you can get down at Stratford station in Central line. Westfield is a good shopping centre with a wide varieties of options. You have many shops like M&S, next, H&M, Debenhams, Lego, Mango, Starbucks coffee, Waitrose, Zara etc. Westfield have been our all time favourite destination. Whenever we didn't have much plans we just hop around this mall.

Near Westfield you have Icon of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic park. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in London, United Kingdom, is a sporting complex built for the 2012 summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics.One day I went to Olympic Park all alone as all my friends were busy with something or other. I asked 2-3 people to take my snaps as I was not that fond of selfies during that time.

Madame Tussauds

To reach Madame Tussauds use central line and get down at Baker street station. Madame Tussauds is a wax museum in London. It was founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. Madame Tussauds is a major tourist attraction in London, displaying waxworks of famous people. Madame Tussauds contains wax sculptors of almost all celebrities which includes Aishwarya Rai Bachan , Amitab Bachan, Charlie Chaplin, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johny Depp as Jack sparrow, Indira Gandhi, Michael Jackson, Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan, shahrukh Khan, Marilyn Monroe, Hrithik Roshan, Sachin Tendulkar, Marie Tussauds, etc. You get a feel of union with celebrities here. At the entrance itself you can see the footprints of David Beckham.

From the time we kept our foot inside Madame Tussauds we kept on clicking pics and that journey continued till we get out of the place. Only after getting out of the place we realised that we didn't analysed much of those sculptures rather we were involved totally into filling our phones with pictures.

Buckingham Palace

To go to Buckingham palace get down at Green Park station. Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. It is located in the city of Westminster.

We went to Buckingham Palace on a Sunday. Our plan was to reach there for Change of Guards as this was one of the ceremony which we doesn't want to miss it. We reached there on time, in fact before the ceremony itself and we somehow got a place from where we could get a good view. We saw the old guards coming out of the palace and handing over their duties to new set of guards. The whole process took some time. After watching the ceremony we roamed around the place. The palace was closed for visitors at this point of time. There was a lake in which there were many swans. I have never seen such big swans in my life. They were beautiful.

Changing the Queen's Life Guard

Change of Guards in Buckingham palace is a formal ceremony in which guards on duties hand over their duty to a new batch of sentries. At the time of Guard Changing, the Old Guard forms up one side of the enclosure on Horse Guards Parade and the New Guard on the other side. Royal Salute is given on the arrival of the New Guard and on the departure of the Old Guard. Old guards will hand over the duty to New guards and move out of the palace gate in a parade.

Big Ben & London Eye

Big Ben and London eye is situated in Westminster. Big Ben is the nickname for the Great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, also called as clock tower. The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel on the bank of the River Thames in London. These two are one of the major tourist

attractions.We went to Sea Life Aquarium. Big Ben and the London eye was nearby the Aquarium. In fact Aquarium was just beside the London eye.

Sea Life London Aquarium

The Sea Life London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall on the bank of the river Thames in central London, near the London Eye. I was visiting an Aquarium of this kind for the first time. Varieties of fishes and sea species roaming and swimming around us was one of its kind of experience. I really enjoyed the sea life. There was a section for Penguins and yes, first time I saw them in real. Wow!!! Such lovely birds...

Victoria and Albert Museum & Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum , Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum are in south Kensington. These all are publicly funded national museums and does not charge visitors for admission.

The Victoria and Albert Museum or V&A, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design. There were many art students who came as part of their project work to sketch the sculptors. Its collection spans from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, America, Asia, etc.

The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens of natural history. The galleries are classified as

1) Red Zone: It is a gallery themed around the changing history of the Earth. The Earth Lab is a gallery that centres around geology, and contains specimens of fossils, mineral and rocks. It also have specimen of rocks, minerals and gemstones. There is also a section for volcanoes and earthquakes and you can experience or feel the earthquake in this section. For a minute the whole floor will shake giving you an experience of earthquake.

2) Green zone: Green zone consists of birds, ecology, etc.

3) Blue zone: This zone contains Dinosaurs, Fish, Amphibians and Reptiles, mammals, etc.

4) Orange zone: This section have Wildlife GardenNatural History Museum, London is my favourite museum in London. In blue zone there is a section for dinosaurs. You get a feeling of entering a Jurassic park here. One section is full of dinosaur fossils, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value. There is a Skeleton of Triceratops horridus at the dinosaur area. There are many moving roaring models of dinosaurs in the dinosaur area. There is a big giant dinosaur’s skeleton kept in a hall which covers the whole hall.

The Science Museum now holds a collection of famous items such as the first jet engine, a working example of Charles Babbage’s difference engine. It also contains hundreds of interactive exhibits. There are some 3D Cinema showing science and nature documentaries, and a section which focuses on digital technology. There are many games available in this sectionI played almost all games which were available there.

Tower of London

You should get down at Tower Hill station to reach Tower of London. The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a castle located on the bank of river Thames. The castle was used as a prison previously. The Tower has collection of armoury, Crown jewels. Yes, our own Kohinoor diamond is set on Queen’s crown and is displayed in Tower of London. Outside Tower of London you will get the beautiful view of Tower bridge. Yes, this is the bridge we have seen in many Bollywood movies and which have been mistaken as London bridge by many of us.

Camden Market

The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets in Camden Town. Among products sold on the stalls are crafts, clothing, and fast food. To get to Camden Market I took Northern line and get down at Camden town. Camden Town was only closed for return journey so I went to Morningston Crescent in Northern line itself.

Wimbledon

As you all know Wimbledon is home to Tennis Championship. It is famous for lawn tennis. We took a bus from Tooting Broadway to Wimbledon. The guide explained about each and every courts present inside stadium. We could see the trophies and photos, videos of the players, their jerseys, etc. in the museum present inside the stadium.

Warner Brothers studio – Harry Potter studio

Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden a big studio complex in southeast England. I was very much excited to visit Harry Potter studio as I was one of the admirers of Harry Potter series. I have watched the whole movie series and also read the whole series. So it was with such excitement I started the journey to the studio all alone. ;) I took Northern line form Tooting Broadway station to Euston. From Euston took overground train to Watford High street station. After getting down at Watford station, get out of the station and walk straight to bus stop. Bus number 142 will go to Watford Junction. From Watford junction go to bus stop 4 and from here you will get Harry Potter bus. Harry Potter bus is completely covered with posters from Harry Potter movie. I sat near a Chinese family and I couldn’t believe that I am finally going to the Harry Potter studio. :D

Once I reach there I walked straight and entered the studio. Oh, I forgot to mention that you need to book your tickets online for visiting the studio. And tickets will be booked months back for the same. So plan your trip well in advance. You can book your tickets from ‘https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/home’.At the entrance itself flying car was displayed. I started clicking pictures even before entering the studio. Then I came across the Great hall, Hogwarts, seats and dresses of each houses, the wigs used by each and every actors, A studio model of Hogwarts, The knight bus, talking head of Hagrid, sculptors/models of Harry, Hagrid, etc., Potter's cottage, Godric's Hollow, 1:24 scale model of Hogwarts on display, Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Diagon Alley film set, The Gryffindor Common Room, Hippogriff, Goblins, pictures of movie characters, Dobby, serpentine door in the movie, the big clock, talking lady in harry potter, potion class room, Dumbledoor’s office, Hagrid’s hut, etc.Apart from this you have a big shopping area in the studio which sells golden snitch, magical wand of Harry, Hermione, voldermont, etc., t shirts, dolls of movie characters, key chains, firebolt,etc.

Canary wharf

Canary Wharf is one of the beautiful places in London. To reach Canary wharf station we took DLR train from Bank station. DLR is driver less train service in London. Canary wharf is one of the busiest street in London and one the beautiful one too. Almost all big newspaper companies like Reuters and many big banks were situated here. This place has a beauty of it's own.

Emirates Air-Line Cable car

The Emirates Air Line is a cable car link across river Thames. There are gondolas in which we can sit and get the scenic view of London. We really enjoyed the bird view of London from this cable car.

Windsor Castle & Long Walk

We got down at Windsor to reach Windsor castle form where it is just 5 minutes’ walk. Windsor Castle is a royal residence.The castle got a great architecture. The castle have a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms, full of Rococo, Gothic and Baroque furnishings, antiques pieces, a miniature version of the castle along with dolls, The Crimson Drawing Room, St. George’s Chapel, etc. Windsor Castle is one of Britain's major tourist attractions.

Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park, including a deer park. Long walk is 2.65 miles (4.26 km) long path from Gateway at Windsor Castle to The Copper Horse.

We walked almost the whole way up and down.

Stonehenge & Roman bath

We got a package for Stonehenge and Roman Bath. We started the trip from London at around 7AM.

Stonehenge is considered to be among seven wonders of the world. When we reached Stonehenge it was raining and heavy wind was blowing. We had to take our whole strength to walk towards the stones as wind was blowing in our direction. It was really an exciting experience. We could see the circle of giant stones and we wondered how in those days people brought those stones there. After taking few pictures and modelling in front of the camera off we go to Roman Bath. The way to Roman bath we saw the country side. From far itself we could see the Roman architectures situated at the bottom of the series of hair-pin bends. while driving through those roads we felt that the Roman bath was approaching us instead of us driving towards it. We reached Roman bath and our cameras started clicking the pictures. There were many statues on the terrace of roman bath.

The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath.There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum. The Baths are a major tourist attraction. The water which bubbles up from the ground at Bath falls as rain on the nearby Mendip hills. We were amazed by the construction and in one area we could see bubbling water and steam was rising out of it. The temperature of water in that pool was much higher than required for human beings. So temperature adjustments were done underground and the warm water were provided to the bath area. We touched the water and could feel the warmth of water. There was a lady and guy in Roman attire near the bath area, we went requested them to pose with us for few pics. We just strolled across and saw drinking water facility provided within the area. We drank that water and different mineral tastes filled our mouth. After that off we go and grabbed something to eat as our stomach was making rumbling noises.

British Museum

The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture. To visit British museum we get down at Holborn station and from there we walked to the museum. This museum looks somewhat like the museum shown in the movie “Night at the museum”. The main entrance to the museum is constructed with 44 columns in the Iconic order 14 m high. The museum is divided into many departments like Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, Department of Greece and Rome, Department of the Middle East, Department of Prints and Drawings, Department of Prehistory and Europe, Department of Asia and Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. The British Museum houses the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There is a huge collection of Mummies on display in the Egyptian Death and Afterlife galleries. You can find the mummy of Cleopatra here.There were many sculptors, mummies, ornaments from prehistoric ages.Apart from all these we had been to many places. One day we took bus to Mitcham Tram station and took a tram to New Adington.

We went to a country side and visited a park. We also went to O2 mall which is North Greenwich. The other main attractions were Leicester Square, China Town, Piccaddilly circus, Elephant & Castle – The shopping mall (here you will get items at cheap rate), Museum of London – complete history of London can be seen here, St. Pauls Cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London, Greenwich,etc.

That’s all about my London trip.:)

Through the land of Cholas...:)

Another long week end, and we quickly swung to action. We revamped a plan which we had to cancel some time back. Last time we had planned a trip to thanjavur and Sri rangam, but due to the jallikattu agitations we had to cancel it.

So we kick started our trip on Sept 3 , uthradam day  from palakkad where we had gone for a marriage. Dad and mom joined us in this trip.  After a sumptous lunch at the marriage , we started off to thanjavur. We crossed Ramapuram, which was a landmark I had known for its famous idlies. Sadly due to the heavy lunch we had , we couldn't try out the idly. We soon reached Pollachi, a place known for its tender coconut and agrarian produce. Roads had broadened from that of Kerala, and soon we were travelling above 120 kms per hour on a consistent basis. That kind of gave an adrenaline rush to me , and a barrage of questions and threats from my wife and lots of pleading and coxing from my mother to bring down the speed.

Soon we reached Trichy, there were lots of wind Mills. It was really spectacular to see , an entire region covered up in wind mills. I was impressed that we were going the greener way in generating power. We passed through few toll booths and by evening stopped for a tea. Me and Dad had tea, wife and mom had coffee and some cake. We brought some murukku which we planned to munch on our journey further. After driving for an hour or so, the usual suspect arrived. Rains. Every trip we went, we had the blessings from rain gods and this time also it wasn’t different. For half an hour or so, it rained torrentially. Then as if there was a switch to it, it stopped, just like that.

We then saw, few people clad in light brown color dresses, walking bare foot . Eventually we understood that they were pilgrims headed towards poondi maatha church.

Brihadeshwara Temple, Thanjavur

By 6.30 we reached Thanjavur, We then followed our maps to the hotel Lakshmi wherein we had booked our rooms. We were pretty impressed by the hotel. But later came to know that, our rooms were in the building opposite to that of the hotel. We reached the rooms. All were a bit tired from the journey, so we took a bath and did some un packing.

We then went straight to the hotel restaurant which was named Nalabagam for dinner. We ordered biryani, uthappam, roti, paneer curry. It took some time for us to get the items and I eventually realized, that service promptness is not a forte of the staff of the restaurant.  After the dinner, we decided to call it a day, and sleep so that we could get up early morning for visiting the main places.

Brihadeshwara Temple, Thanjavur also called Big Temple

Thanjavur was a name which resonated history to me. Raja Raja chola was a name I remembered from my history classes. So to witness his empire and his kingdom was special to me. We started off pretty early by around 6.30 am. We reached the big temple or Brihadeshwara temple. The temple is a UNESCO world heritage center. It was amazing to know that the temple was a 1000 years old.

I had watched a program in TV some time back about the Kalasam of that temple. The Kalasam or top most portion of the temple is close to 80 ton in weight. It required an elevated construst and 100 elephants to pull that and place the kalasam on top of the temple. Also it was incredible to know that all those majestic architecture was created in 7 years. An architectural marvel in every right.

The temple is 7^th largest temple in the world. It had a big nandi statue towards the entrance of the temple. We roamed around and covered most part of the temple. We took few snaps. The early morning light had given a tinge of orange and yellow colour to the atmosphere which set well the ambience and mood in the temple. Once we did the darshan, when we were about to leave the temple, we saw and heard a devotee play conch shell.  Once we came out , we all realized that it was thiruonam day(a traditional festival day of Kerala) and to our surprise we heard lot of people talking in Malayalam.

We then headed straight to a restaurant. We went to Saravana bhavan , near the transport bus stand. We ordered Pongal, poori, and ghee roast. Everything tasted really good and I started feeling that best part of travelling around Tamilnadu is having to eat some really splendid food.

After our breakfast, we then headed to Maratha mahal a museum. Soon we realized that we were pretty early and the museum wouldn’t open by 10. We then headed to gangai konda chola puram, which was 1.5 hours from thanjavur. History says that, once Raja Raja chola 1 died, his successor Raja Raja Chola 2 changed the capital from Thanjavur to Cholapuram.

Gangai konda cholapuram

We soon passed through the heartland of Thanjavur and eventually reached gangai konda cholapuram. Like brihadeshwara, it too was a marvel of a creation. The only problem there was we had to walk bare footed and it was pretty hot. We roamed around the construct, felt amazed by the artistry and architecture know how of our ancestors. We took rest near a tree shade for a while. After spending some time there, we headed back to Thanjavur. Soon dad came up with another plan. He thought we should visit kumbakonam too. We visited kumbakonam kind of in a rush, as there was huge traffic and narrow roads. We changed our plan and headed back to Thanjavur. We soon reached Thanjavur , and headed straight to sree Krishna bhavan for our lunch.

We ordered 2 thali, for me and my dad. My wife ordered sambhar sadham and mom had dosa. My wife was pretty excited when she saw Kaara kulambu, which she was yearning to have. We had our hearts and stomach full. We then headed to our hotel room for some rest.

After an hour break, we then decided to check out the maratha palace or museum. It was kind of astonishing for me to know that the maratha empire had reached till Tamil nadu.  We took an entry pass of 50 rs per person, and explored the museum. We saw ancient swords, relics, books, plates and ornaments used by the raja maharajas of the past preserved really well. There was an Audio – Video visual in a small theatre , which gave a beautiful glimpse on to the history of Thanjavur. We came to know that Thanjavur is known as the rice bowl of Tamilnadu. Thanjavur painting of which I have heard before was also mentioned in the video.  There in I heard a story about the maratha ruler, who was eventually defeated by the british. He was asked for one last wish by the british, so he insisted that his vast collection of books, should not be destroyed and be available for the public. It was an inspiring story to hear. We soon saw a library, where in ancient books were preserved.

Maratha Palace

After the museum, we went to a small market near by and brought some rice, because we had heard in the audio video library that Thanjavur rice is pretty good. After the museum, we headed towards shiva ganga park. Google maps kind of created confusion as we had to roam around the same alley couple of times, to finally figure out that the park was just nearby. We reached the park. It was a normal park, where in people could stroll or have a leisurely time in the evenings. There were few rides for the kids. Near by the park, there was a small stream.  We roamed around the park, there were few deer’s and few rabbits in the park.  After spending some time in the park, we then headed towards our room.

Me and wife went out for dinner. Dad and mom preferred to stay back in the room . We ordered paneer porotta, Gobi masala dosa. It was yummy. We brought in parceled dinner for dad and mom. Every one had a good dinner , had chit chat for some time and then we called it a day.

Next day early morning by 5.30 or so, we check out of the hotel. We then headed towards Sri Rangam. Sri Rangam is the largest temple in india, estimated to be around 156 acres.

We reached the temple by 6.45 , soon saw the Raja Gopuram. As soon as we were about to enter the temple, my wife saw a bullock cart, and being the crazy girl she is, she immediately wanted to hop onto it. We stopped the car, she asked the bullock cart guy permission to sit , he looked perplexed. He eventually agreed. She was over the moon, when she got onto the bullock cart. After few minutes’ drive in the cart, she was more than happy. She had ticked off one more from her bucket list.

Sri Ranganathar swamy Temple

We headed towards the main entrance of the temple, and headed towards temple complex. My initial reaction was , is this the largest temple in india ? We soon visited the dieties in the main entrance area and were pretty under whelmed, for we had huge expectations. Soon one person, told us to pass through a gateway to another side of the temple. That kind of opened our eyes, quite literally. The temple was huge, we soon walked and walked and soon was taken to a queue. People were waiting in long queues to meet Sri Ranganathar swamy as the main diety is called. There were many halls with pillars encrypted with sculptures of riding horses or different animals.

Sri Ranganathar swamy Temple, Srirangam

I kind of felt that the queue system and the way the queue was handled,  kind of added chaos to the devotees. Soon we had the darshan, and explored the temple. Its when we started walking, that we realized the magnitude of temple and its constructions. We saw a board which stated, non hindus are not allowed, which kind of saddened me for the fact that more than being the largest temple in india, it gave an immense glance to the rich history of our ancestors.

Soon we headed back to Cochin.  We stopped near Pollachi and brought few tender coconuts. Soon we had our lunch at Palakkad and by evening we reached back home.

We were all bit tired, but all were happy and were looking forward to another trip.