An end is a new beginning

It's here. The day I go back home, after seven weeks in the pretty island of Britain. It's been exhilarating in more ways than one. The lines between a vacation and a way of life blurred a few times on this trip; I guess that comes with the luxury of having so much time to…

London, Last Leg

“Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.” ― William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing I unwound for three days in London, preparing to say goodbye to this pretty little island that wowed me these last seven weeks. I stayed in the suburbs with friends, lazing around in the prettiness and residential living. I then stayed in…

Keswick, The Lake District

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought      - William Wordsworth in "I wandered lonely as a cloud" Tucked away in the north western corner of England, in a region sweetly called Cumbria, is a slice of heaven on earth. Tremendous calm pervades large lakes while mountains ring…

London Marathon 2014

Spectator Line: Westminster, Mile 25 Backdrop: Big Ben Four hours. Tears, sweat and elation. Not theirs, mine. I made a detour on the road, it was time to make a dream come true. Watching the London Marathon was an unexpected opportunity and it turned out to be the best few hours on the road so far. I…

Eerie Encounters – SW England

Bath, Glastonbury, Wells, Stonehenge, Salisbury I've heard it beaten to death that Stonehenge is not impressive. I disagree. Stonehenge - seen just as a monument - is not tall, wide, cavernous, colourful, gilded, carved or any other kind of awe inspiring structure. But when I dug deep into when, where and why it came to be,…

Countryside Capers – Cotswold Villages

Chipping Campden, Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh and in between It was time to leave the city behind. The English countryside that I had heard so much about beckoned with names that were a mouthful. As I hopped off the train from London at a middle-of-nowhere tiny train station and looked for the bus to Chipping Campden, I…

London, Day 10

It looks like I've done exactly what I wanted to do in London - hang out and just let *it* sink in. *It* varying from the city to everything that's happening within and outside my head. It's a lovely feeling to be able to navigate pockets of London like I've lived here a while. The…

London, Day 5

London. Day 5. And time has slowed down. These five days have been about one-third as frenzied as the last five days I spent in London more than a year ago. London has so much to do and yet for some reason this time I don't want to do it all. I've let the city…

York

Eboracum ->  Eoforwic       -> Jorvic  -> Yorke Roman     -> Anglo-Saxon  -> Viking  -> Norman Where do I even begin to talk about York? Should I start two thousand years ago, Roman remnants of which are strewn around the city and housed lovingly in museums? Or should I start in the…

Durham

Grey towers of Durham Yet well I love thy mixed and massive piles Half church of God, half castle ‘gainst the Scot And long to roam these venerable aisles With records stored of deeds long since forgot                                 - Sir…