Long weekend to North East England

So, finally I made the bookings for North East UK. Me being Aj, booked at the last moment with the travel cost itself making up for the travel + stay, had it been the more thoughtful and advance booking. Anyways.. I was super excited to meet Thakur (Sagar M) and Gatur (Rahul S). Ever since I moved to UK, Sagar and I have been talking in terms of Sholay. Ab aayega maja! :)

The journey started at 920 from my flat to the Victoria Coach Station, and befriending an African infant by making faces - the holiday started with a bang. The National Express Coach bus was scheduled to depart at 2330 and reach New castle at 6 am. The bus journey was good except for the fact that I could sleep only for an hour or so. Thanks to the comforts of non-pushback nature of the seats. How I miss the sleeper coaches of luxury buses or railways of India!

Day1 Begins. Called Sagar to say - "Tanga sahi samay par Ramgadh pahuch gaya. Tum humein lene aa jao." Thakur received us and we went to his flat after a good 30 mins walk thru the town centre. Angrez were good at creating nice town centres. The massiveness of the structures and the neatness of the streets make you feel organised and small. A nice English breakfast at Sagar's place, and we were off to Sunderland on the Metro. Reached Sunderland University by around noon. Rahul came to receive us at the station and his house is just a 4 mins walk from the station. Such a bliss. Day 1 was spent in relaxing at home, eating daal-baati for lunch, followed by a birth day party in the evening.

Day 2, we had decided to go to Durham and see the Durham Cathedral. This cathedral was being built for 40 years sometimes in 1000-1100 AD. Such an architectural beauty, with the Organ music playing in the background. Spent close to 2 hours at the cathedral. While seating alone at the bench, I couldn't get off the feeling that "somehow I am connected to history". This is the same feeling which I get while trekking the forts of Maharashtra or books/movies of the pre-independence era about north India. Ok. Ok. Okay. Arnav too had his high - enjoying the bunjee jumping, while Ojal was sad, not being allowed cause she is still under-3. The same old distraction technic was used to make her forget n smile again. All the ladies had a gala time visiting the shopping malls and later munching on the ice cream.

Day 3, we started our journey back to New Castle. Thakur came to receive us at the Monument- ate some pret-a-manger stuff and we off loaded our lugguage at his haveli. A walk around the city centre, a few mins talk at the museum lawns, followed by visits to the bridges. Those who lived in Pune (with so many bridges) would sure love this city for the bridges. Some dialoguebaazi again at the Millenium bridge (remember, Jay died at a bridge with a blast triggered with his revolver). It was so difficult to control the beer-urge. I distracted my mind with the thought that the standard English dictionary should now have this new word 'beerurge'. :P Back to his flat. It was time to let our feets relax. The food was nicely cooked - and I had the chance to eat 'the indian egg curry' after a long 12-14 months. Thanks to the amazing cooks. Lots of talks and discussions about problems in India (yeah yeah, the typical NRI thing).

Day 4, early breakfast and the journey backwards. I intentionally kept this journey to be in the day time, so that I get to see the roadside while on the bus. And me being the luckiest ass on earth, it was a bright n sunny day with good visibility. All I did during the entire journey was keep Oj occupied or sleeping, so that I get to see outside the window. The view outside of the window was good. How I wish it had the Sholay theme music in background (Jay's organ play) Nice British house roofs, green trees, green lawns, green fields with yellow flowers, horse farms, cow farms and what not. One advantage of a developed country is that, every inch of the land is owned and managed. But, my heart still beats for my very own Sahyadris...