The UK trip - Scotland

Towards Edinburgh

Edinburgh is another two and a half hours by train from Windermere. These train journeys were becoming increasing scenic as I travelled northwards, passing through pastures with scores of grazing sheep, and the occasional horse or two. I arrived in Edinburgh at around 5 pm that day, October 4. But faced a problem then. Was constrained to reaching London by the evening of the 6th, since I had a ticket for Titus Andronicus for the 7:30 pm show that day. But I also wanted to do a much renowned train trip from Inverness to the Kyle of Lochalsh through the Scottish Highlands. The trian schedule did not seem to permit me to do all three however - reach London on time, see Edinburgh and do the Inverness-Lochalsh trip. I had a brainwave then and decided to go to Inverness the same night.

Reached Inverness, over 3 hours away, at around 11 that night. And when I went to the hostel there, I found out that there was no place! Inverness at night was the coldest place I had encountered in my UK trip, and will be about the northernmost place I go to in this European holiday. Still decided to not hunt for more places, and just sleep at the station. Walked back to the station, and it was closed too!

Inverness station past midnight

Hence, I walked back to the hostel (20-30 minutes) and convinced the receptionist to let me stay the night in the hostel's lobby.

Duly went to and fro Kyle of Lochalsh the next morning, a two and a quarter hour trip each way. The tribulations of the previous night were totally worth it. Really lovely views of little and big lakes, hills and mountains, the green pastures and woods and the occasional cottage.

Lovely wilderness

View from the Kyle of Lochalsh Station

Reached Inverness in the afternoon and saw Loch Ness for a short while. Did not see much else in town, since I had a train to Edinburgh to catch.

Serene, sehr serene - Loch Ness

Reached Edinburgh that night, and checked into a hostel that was the worst I stayed in during my two weeks in the UK. Had decent facilities, but important things like plug-points in rooms and working Internet facilities were missing. They are going to close the place down next month and open a new hostel closer to Edinburgh's city centre. Happy about that!

Had only a few hours to see Edinburgh next morning, since London is about 5 hours away by train. Could not really see the city at all - should have spent two days there. Only saw the Edinburgh Castle, and not all of it. The location of Edinburgh is superb - from the Castle, I could see the sea towards the norh of the city and Fife in Scotland beyond. Spectacular!

View from Edinburgh Castle

Boarded the train to London that afternoon. Reached the city in the evening, bought a Eurostar ticket to Lille in France (from where I could continue onward using my Eurail pass) and saw Titus Andronicus in The Globe. The next morning, I was aboard the Eurostar at 6, and about to commence my journey to the country about which I was crazy till 4-5 years ago - GERMANY!