After that one day trip to Aksa beach, about which I have written a review on Mouthshut(Mumbai-Hotels-The Resort), the farthest I have treated my wife to was Nariman Point. And one and a half years after our marriage, my wife had become a seasoned wife! Like an intelligent husband, I realized that if I did not give her the much deserved break from routine life, I was in for big time trouble. And so it was that I arranged my work assignments so that I get a month long vacation, and decided to visit my father in Nigeria. Again like an intelligent husband, well aware that comments like- You took me to Nigeria just because your father stays there! - would inevitably follow throughout the next two years...I decided to have a halt at Kenya to show my wife to the animals! I mean....to show the animals to my wife! After hearing about our plans, my brother called up and asked me to fit in a quick UK trip too, so that I could also meet him.
So there we were....Bombay-Nigeria-UK-Nigeria-Kenya-Bombay trip! Turning a deaf ear at my accountant's cries, I planned the trip! My accountant is a divorcee.
ARRIVAL AT UK
After spending some enjoyable days with my father, we all three went to UK. Dadu, as I call my brother, was at the airport to receive us. As we made our way from the London traffic, the one thing that struck me was the similarity London had with our very own Mumbai. I attributed it to Mumbai always being the British Raj's pet city. The red buses added to the Mumbai nostalgia. But as the car started running on the M-25 highway, I realized that our stay was not supposed to be in London. Dadu informed us that he stayed in Fareham, which was about ninety minutes drive from London.
When we arrived at Dadu's residence, I was amazed by the beautiful countryside. The well planned roads, the greenery, and of course the beautiful English summer made it the perfect place on earth. After unpacking our stuff, I had a bath and joined my Dad and Dadu in the conservatory. A conservatory is an attached room to the house, where the Englishman takes some sun. It is made of glass. It was indeed funny having your evening drink with the sun glaring from the glasses. It being summer, the sun was adamant at giving us company till ten in the night. Dadu asked me to try the English beer- Bitter. He said that the Brit did not enjoy it chilled. I couldn't help thinking of one of my bachelor friends, whose standard line was- The difference between a girl and a beer....one is supposed to be hot and the other one is supposed to be chilled. He was in UK. I wondered if the Brits had confused themselves as to what should be hot and what should be chilled.
MY EXPERIENCES
At the outset, let me say that England is beautiful. As my brother took us around, we visited many places in the neighbourhood. Given below is an account of the places I remember visiting.
Portsmouth
This is a wonderful place, where I had my very first ride in the famous topless double-decker(ok guys...it is just a bus). It was a wonderful experience. I also treated myself to the casino games, and promptly lost some money. Who cared?
Southampton
This was a beautiful place to visit. I remember seeing a huge gate. And we did a lot of shopping for our friends and relatives back in India.
Isle of Wight
By and far, this was the best place we visited. We took a ride in a launch and reached this island. I must mention, that the ride was so smooth that I felt like I was sitting at home. The island itself was fantastic. We saw a superb show called Waltzing Waters where we experienced the magic of lights and music. It had a music in the back ground with water being spurted by automatic motors. The timing was so accurate that you actually felt that the waters were waltzing on the beat of the music. Then there was a museum which exhibited memoirs from the sea vessels. I recommend this place to everyone who visits the UK. A must see island!
London
What can I say about this city? You will need at least four days to see the major attractions of this city. Sadly, I did not have them! However, I managed to see the tower of London(where the Kohinoor is kept), Trafalgar Square, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, TGIF and of course, the home of my favourite detective- Holmes.
IN-SIGHTS
The Tower of London
The Tower of London is another place every tourist must see. Besides the Kohinoor, it has all the armaments of the British monarchs. You are mesmerized by the history of Britain and its rulers.
Marwell Zoological park
This was a zoo which prided itself on keeping about-to-be-extinct animals. And the pride was justified. We saw penguins, llamas, giraffes, snow leopard, jaguar, Indian tiger, Billy goat, reindeers and many other species from the enigmatic animal kingdom.
St. Paul's Cathedral
This was a beautiful place. There is so much peace inside it! I also saw the resting place of the great authoress Jane Austen.
221 B, Baker Street
You remember the stories as you go through this home of Holmes. The violin, the highchair, the pipe, even the hiding places are brilliantly created. A great homage to a great writer- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Trafalgar Square
The home of the pigeons! It is fun to feed the pigeons, who perch on your hand to have their feed. There is also a wish pond, where people threw pennies. I did not do it. Intelligent husbands never do such things in front of their wives. You never know what she might guess!
Tottenham Court
I am sure that every musician will love this place. This is a street where you get everything of music. Be it synthesizers, guitars, violins, computer recording packages, books on music....anything and everything is available on this musical haven. It has six-storied music shops, with each floor dedicated to one aspect of music. Truly, a must visit for any musician.
The Pebble Beach
This is a huge man made beach. It is made of pebbles. We had a great time playing in the sand...oops, I mean pebbles! A place you should not miss!
The London Bridge
What can I say about this bridge? The whole world has accepted its greatness. It is so beautiful! The sight when the bridge opens up for a ship to pass is majestic, to say the least.
Of course, PUBS
The pubs are an integral part of UK. And I enjoyed them! Beer on the tap, with nice snacks. I still miss my fish n' chips.
IN CONCLUSION
I may have goofed up some places, and I have forgotten many. Blame it on my growing age and diminishing memory cells. After all, it was more than two years ago that I had gone there.
TWO YEARS, DID I SAY? Well, I better plan something....before my wife beats me black and blue!
