Edinburgh and the Lake District (22 June 2014)

 

at the Castle

 

the street of Edinburgh

 

around Edinburgh

 

 

we found a big indoor car boot sale in Edinburgh

 

Driving down from Edinburgh through the scenic rural Scotland could be one of the best driving experience of this trip. As the driver, I could not dose off or doing anything else other than keeping the eyes on the road. The sights were spectacular as we left Edinburgh using the A702, a direct route to M6. The road was narrow as it snaked through the hills and valleys of villages with strange Scottish names. Sometimes we stop to think whether people really live in these small and old cottages. Apparently they do as the proof of life can be seen all around. The horses, sheep, dogs, the cars parked at the sideways and the smoking chimneys all set to say that there are real people living in these houses. As strange as it may seem, I just could not imagine the hard life they are living. The place is isolated and was out of the way from town. The weather is cold and dark most of the time. It is a perfect visual of loneliness, sadness and melancholy. I guess for them life is as usual and the circumstances have made them different from us. It was clear sky that day and the temperature was just nice for the start of summer. M6 was heavy with traffics and I could hardly reach 80 mph most of the time (that’s around 120-130 kmph). But we were not in a hurry as the hotel was ready just down the highway. It’s a hotel house about 15 miles from the city of Lancaster. Nestled within the Lune valley it’s a small establishment with less than 10 rooms. With the internet we can find all sort of accommodation nowadays. Kudos to my daughter Ifah who spent many sleepless nights to browse the best deal for us. A nice little place at the end of a dusty road. The room was big and the surrounding was serene and quiet. The summer breeze quickly trickles into the room as the windows open for the sunshine. Just a perfect summer in the middle of an English countryside. We left the hotel early the following day to take Umi to the university for her conference. The road was clear and we reached there just about time for the lectures to start. The rest of us will go off and head north to the Lake district. Yahoooooo!!!

 

 

 

The Lake District was about a half-hour drive from Lancaster University. It was quite remote from the city and we drove through a typical English countryside. The roads were small and narrow but the signage was there to take us to the lake area. The place is famous for breath-taking scenery, but I don’t think my breath was taken away. There were lakes, some boats, hungry ducks and nothing else. The place has a typical lake scenery and I don’t feel anything special to the place. But I enjoyed it anyway to be there with other tourists and pretend the place is so special. I did not feel like going on the boat rides either that costs something like 60 ringgit. So we walked around and took some pictures.

 

at the Lake District