One week off to Escócia - One of the best Romantic Places!!!

Escócia (Scotland - I liked the sound more in Português).. As you know that I had been there for my academic trip before.. Since I loved that place a lot and I am having visa to travel there, I wanted soooo00000000 much to go there again and particularly in autumn.. .. Even it was bit late any way I know I would enjoy there since I know my taste well..

And as you know more, I got a good couch surfing people to stay with .. I always experience very different way of surprises from each people..

I would like to start this trip with my couch surfing friends..

I am very happy to introduce Maggi (wife of Ian) ..

and Ian.. He was busy with his work! and their house I stayed..

I would like to share something here about Ian and Maggi..

Once I got an email from them asking about my day of arrival since they had to go to one condolence .. They didn't want to mess up with their commitment even with this emergency genuine reason.. They asked my arrival details so that they would arrange some alternate before they leave..Fortunately the dates were okay for them and I was happy to be with them..

So what do you think about CS hosts?? To be honest If I were them, I would say the reason and that is it..
That makes lot of difference between me and them.. that is why I am doing just surfing!!!!

I should grow up!!

So I stayed with Ian and Maggi for two days in Edinburgh (One of my favorite cities) and I went to Aberdeen ..

So I suppose to stay in Aberdeen remaining days.. I just asked Craig (Journalist) to host me.. He surprised me too.. He has to leave on friday to help his friend and he arranged himself an other host for me for friday.. I was like " what is happening there" .. Okay.. Anyway this time people did stuff for me.. I didn't do much about my staying..

So here I am happy to introduce Craig and his friends.... Emma the girl whom he arranged for me.. That is so sweet of these people..

here I went to say good buy to Craig to his office.. So this photo from his office entrance..
He is a very cool person.. So active personality.. I had a wonderful time spending with him..

Okay now will go and see some pictures about the places I visited..

Edinburgh again!!

I guess you remember how much it was raining in my last visit to Edinburgh! This time I was really lucky enough to see the city with some sun shine.. At least not raining...

As soon as I arrived Edinburgh Ian & Maggi picked me up from the station and they took me to have some snack.. I had a very delicious chocolate drink.. That was awesome with the good weather...
They just asked me what I wanted to see.. I just said to them.. You have no idea how they executed.. I wasn't doing nothing again expect enjoying my journeys..

First day they took me to show the city.. Here comes the view of the city from the top of the mountain..

After that they took me to the beach via city centre..






Typical Scottish buildings..

This was the ship was used by the queen to travel before.. Now it has been used as a restaurant.. We have to pay to visit even.. When we returned home back we saw the rainbow.. we were very happy..

And after having a good tea with milk (Like Indian tea) we decided to go and have dinner outside.. More surprise was that they took me to Indian restaurant.. I was saying before that I like south Indian food rather than north Indian dishes.. Obviously you know why.. Maggi was looking for the south Indian restaurant to take me there.. Finally, she couldn't find and we went to "Delhi diner ".. that was really good food indeed.. spice and wine a great combination.. I felt bit spicy for me.. But Maggi and Ian were so cool in eating more spicier food than me even they were able to eat green chillies.. I couldn't do that..So with the good Indian food I had spent good time with them and Ian already had a plan for the next day trip ..

We suppose to start early morning to fulfil my dream.. You will see in the following post how they fulfilled my dream...

So ..

How would I thank them????

I have no words..

Heavenly path to Lochs and Trossachs National Park!!!

Main reason for this off was to visit the lochs since last time I terribly missed .. Do you believe in that I just went there again just to fulfil this dream.. I guess you do..

Last time I could not make that trip since there was no public transportation to reach the national parks.. But, this time I was so lucky that Ian and Maggi took me to almost all the lochs..

Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest loch/lake in Great Britain, by surface area, and contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh water island in the British Isles. It is a popular leisure destination and is featured in song. Loch Lomond is a freshwater loch lying on the Highland Boundary Fault, the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands. It is 39 kilometres (24 mi) long...

It was a very long ride..

We started from Edinburgh passing the Stirling castle..

I had explored well Stirling last time.. So I didn't want to visit again..But I like this photo viewing castle with cows...

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we headed to Loch Lomond.. Trossachs ...

As I mentioned in the title the way we crossed was perfect.. I do not have any words to describe it.. The highlight of the trip was the rainbow.. we even saw two rainbows.. But the complete one was just making us way until we finish our trip.. That is for few hours.. I could not believe that..

So how can I not say this trip so Romantic???

and this time I wasn't taking much pictures what I saw.. I just have few snaps of lochs where we stopped for few minutes.. Here they are..

First time me with Rainbow ..
Here you will have some idea how could we explore all the lochs starting from one end to the other end of the lochs..

Here I am very much thankful to Ian and Maggi.. They made my trip very luxurious!!!! I bet even if took some tour I wouldn't see all these..

Trossachs and Lochs are the best romantic places I have ever seen so far.. I wish you to go and explore that more..

I know you will..

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After fulfilling my dream of exploring the Lochs & Trossachs national park, I headed to Aberdeen..

Aberdeen - Granite city!!!

Actually I went to Aberdeen to explore more lochs.. In fact I was completely satisfied (to be honest I was more than satisfied!) with my previous day trip and I didn't want to explore more lochs ..

So I decided to explore the city itself though, Aberdeen is not a big tourist attraction spot.. It is a kind of business city.. Lot of oil companies..

Okay.. Anyway I wanted to see the city .. Craig suggested me to visit "Old Aberdeen" and "small old fisher man village near beach".. So I have got already things to do.. Half a day to old Aberdeen and half a day to beach .. And during Craig's lunch time he wanted to show me the "Art Gallery".. Look.. How many things to see now..

Starting from the city centre..

It has come already Christmas for them!!! lot of light settings..

And the following photo .. two things attracted me a lot.. One made me some suspicion about myself.. Ha ha ha.. And here goes the "Old Aberdeen".. that was so cool... I went to "Kings College" ... I was so familiar to that place .. "Of course I have seen this before from some cinema"..

It was one of my dreams to cover moon and the sun together.. I guess I did!!!!..

After spending good time visiting the Kings college I went back to the city to meet Craig to explore the Art gallery ..

Here we are already in a gallery..Craig wanted to show me his favourite pieces.. One of them is " The bronze sleeping bag" .. Interesting!!

" The Chess Man"..
I was lucky to see there .. Because it is under roaming... It will be there for only few days..

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It was really interesting to see chess man's with very funny expressions..
Very different from the warriors look..

I should mention here that Craig was running to spent some time with me even in his short lunch time break.. So sweet of him.. I am very thankful to him..

After he left I went to beach side.. It was again a long walk..

Then went to visit the Small fisherman village "Foot Dee" (Called Fittee) .. Very interesting place.. I knew before that Aberdeen is called granite city since they use granite for buildings.. But I never thought that they use the Granite for roofing too.. No wonder they are so rich ....

If you see in front of all the houses they had a good tables to sit.. It reminded my village where I grew up for some years.. we have the same set up.. Of course not pretty as here..

As I was tired of quite long walks I took some rest sitting and wondering "is this place really existing".. It is just near by the city and it is totally different life style.. They kept many things out.. I appreciate their belief!!!

After this I started coming back to meet Craig .. I wished to go back home with him.. His office is located at the heart of the city.. The funny thing I observed was the harbour is located right inside the city.. It was interesting that to see that there was one big ship entering along with the cars and vehicles in the main avenue ..

I guess with this photo you get some idea waht I mean to say..

Other funny thing happened was "I wrote text message to Craig saying I am waiting for him some place facing the blue ship".. He replied me "why don't I go to his office" .... Actually i do not know where he works...But I know that I am very near by..

He wrote me in detail saying walk along the backside of the ships and you will end up with the building where I come out.. So we meet .. Ha ha ha.. I read two times then I walked in certain direction then I came to know that I am making some mistake and decided to go back to the same place.. Before that Craig was searching for me.. Ha ha ha.. I told him I was going in the opposite direction.. He said I wrote you clearly.. Walk along back side of the ships..
Ha ha ha.. In fact that confused me!!! To be honest I didn't know which is the front and which is the back part of the ship.. (I have good reason why I am still a student!!!) .. But, He was very cool to accept that and explained me which is front and which is back part of the ship.. I guess I never forget this information..

One more thing made me so comfortable with him is " whenever we meet each other we hugged!!!.. That was very nice feeling!

(Look being Indian how many important stuff I missed in my life.. I do not want to miss any more!!!).. Do not under estimate me.. I only prefer comfortable hugs!!! not with everyone!!!
Ha ha ha..

Okay..

Then he wanted to show me his office.. I was to his office.. He has a such a nice view of ships from his desk..

He said he wants to take a photo .. I thought of our photo... . But the thing was he wanted me to go and stand in his company reception desk.. I made myself clear and I went to the reception .. He asked Porkodi please sit.. What??????...

I was bit afraid of that.. You can obviously see from my expression.. Ha ha ha..

Finalmente, I liked this photo with the good memories..

Okay.. After we left home and had good dinner and got ready to explore the castle next day....

Dunnottar Castle - Stonehaven - Adventurous Trip I have ever made!!!!

As we all know, going to Scotland and not visiting castles.. Hmmmm.. sounds stupid! I do not want to be stupid of course.. How many Hollywood cinemas have I seen shot in Scotland.. If I do not have this information then I am really fool.. Ha ha ha... But I'm not..

I asked Craig near by castles to visit in a day.. He suggested me to go here.. And he showed more on line details and photographs.. So I couldn't stop myself to visit there.. I came to know from him that it is going to be difficult for me to make it since the weather forecast wasn't so good.. But still I had just one day to do this..

So.. some wikipedia details for you about the Castle and its location..

Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles (3 km) south of Stonehaven.

The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th–16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been an early fortress of the Dark Ages. Dunnottar played a strategic role in the history of Scotland from the Middle Ages through to the Enlightenment, because of the location.

The ruins of the castle are spread over 3 acres (1.2 ha), surrounded with steep cliffs that drop to the North Sea 50 metres (160 ft) below.

As I was told clearly before, I was really well prepared to face the weather.. At least to protect from cold.. Even I took extra socks with me in case of emergency.. Ha ha ha.. The term Emergency means here the "wet feet"..

So I reached "Stonehaven" by bus and I waited for the tourist information centre opens.. It was very nice to meet a lady there.. She explained me so many things.. We had a quite good discussion for such a long time..

"Two women meets" so no wonder talking long time.. Ha ha ha..

She suggested me to take one more bus to get near to castle since it is 2, 1/2 miles far away.. But honestly I wanted to go by foot just walk on the cliffs and enjoy the gorgeous view of sea!!!

But still I had a second thought of taking a bus because of the weather.. It rained a lot a day before my trip.. The path suppose to be very slippery .. Okay.. Any way I started walking with a map.. Since there was almost no one going there.. And it is a very small town..

My first adventurous trip started (If I am not wrong)..

This is my starting point ..

In few meters I have reached a dead end even with the map.. Ha ha ha.. You know how smart I am.. "It is the time for asking help ".. I found two old guys.. I asked them how would I reach the castle.. They were looking at me strangely, and they had many questions for me...

1. Are you sure you want to go there ???
2. at this weather condition???
3. By walking??
and then the following question was interesting for me..
4. with this dress?? I started laughing..

I did answer all questions with "BIG YES"

and they understood that I was so eager to go there.. Then one of them have decided to drop me near castle with his truck.. I told them no no.. I really want to walk on the cliffs and enjoy.. They said that is fine ..you walk back over cliffs but I insist to go with me to go up.. That convinced me a lot.. So I went with him .. And said "big Thanks".. I do not know what to say about this.. no comments..

The guy dropped me here...

Lets go to the castle.. I was happy to see the castle.. But
I was thinking how would I get there ???
Good question..
I appreciated myself with good question expect having one answer in my mind that "Porkodi you are in Europe".. That clears my doubt simply..

I started walking with that clear answer.. The weather was perfect .. At least for me.. Really so romantic..Fabulous view with good breeze .. That gave me lot of strength to go forward..

Actually if you look the castle it has been built on one stone which has no connection with other ones.. Then how do I get here..No more questions.. Just proceed! Okay.. I just first went to the near cliff and wanted to see the good view of the castle..

You have no clue how did I get here.. I just covered my left eye like horse then I passed a narrow wooden bridge (left side of the bridge it is so deep down) to get to this place.. It was so windy and there was nothing to hold.. I was bit afraid to get closer and see down.. Same question came again into my mind..

I like this photo.. At least for my good effort.. You didn't see me how did I reach here.. You must have laughed enough!!

I am at the castle.. This is the entrance.. (I will show you the way after.. okay??) Just enjoy the castle..

Some photos inside..


I was happy to see some people around!!!
I like this view a lot.. I wouldn't mind to have coffee here watching this great view..

Here comes the path to get to the Castle... my way back.. I spent lot of time enjoying each spot inside the castle..

"I will wait for you to experience this with more pleasure in a sunny weather"

Quite a long walk ..

There was a bench to take rest .. I was sitting and taking some rest after climbing many stairs.. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.. even from here the view was amazing..

I was almost reached the top to get back to Stonehaven..

On the way back .. I had a long walk .. So beautiful in there.. It was so calm.. all beautiful landscapes.. and see this.. Group of birds .. they made some group dancing movements that I never saw before..

One Monument ..
I almost reached the town.. View of the town from the cliffs..
Look .. This place interest me a lot.. Nice place for a good discussion!!!!
And this street name made me smile.. "Love Lane".. I have no idea what it means..

Okay.. It finished my trip.. I hope you didn't get bored with my writing!!!!

I would like to end this post with the castle view..

I have one more thing to say.. I guess I never finish.. Desculpe!

Since I know about my arrival time, I asked Nasim to prepare lunch for me.. Because, they changed the time (day light saving) an hour before on Sunday the day I travelled back to Proto.. so it was just 11.30 am.. You have no idea how hungry I was and I was thinking is Nasim remembered that ?? I tried to call her to know the status, since my travel take more one hour to reach home.. If not she would make it ready before I reach home.. When I called her she said in half an hour food will be ready and funny stuff she said was

"Welcome to Porto Traveller"

That didn't sound good Menina.. Are you offending me??? Clear me!!!

Okay.. Now I am finishing..

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Wish you a good time ahead

kisses and comfortable hug from
PK