One week road trip in UK - Pennines and Lake District (1)

UK countryside road trip

Last summer I spent 10 days on a road trip around UK. It was the longest holiday I have taken in UK ever and we ended up mostly visiting the places I have already been to before - the Lake District, Scotland and Peak District. But it still felt like discovering the country anew. We stayed in small villages in the countryside, walked around without an itinerary and loved our time exploring it at a relaxed pace. The best part of course was the experience of the English countryside, its charm and quaintness, greenery and freshness which made it enjoyable and refreshing the whole time.

I had booked the trip at the last moment and it turned out to be school holidays week too. So we ended up not getting the closest accommodation to the places we wanted to visit and stayed in places a bit away from the tourist hubs. Which actually turned out to be a boon in disguise, as we saw parts of the country where we would not go otherwise. And because we were far away, we also avoided a lot of the tourist rush, as the typical tourist places were too full of people all the time.

The weather was a mixed bag on the trip. There were days it was sunny and some days got a bit rainy. It was never hot at all even though it was August, mostly warm during the day but cooler by the evening. But given its UK weather we are talking about here, I don’t think I can complain about it, as it was better than average and our trip wasn’t ruined at any point.

Our itinerary was as follows:
Day 1: Drive from London to the North Pennines Area of Natural Beauty (AONB) with a stop in Birmingham; stay in an airbnb in the village of Garrigill near Alston Moor
Day 2: Explore North Pennines - Alston village and Hadrian’s Wall
Day 3: Drive to Lake District; visit Ullswater lake, Kirkstone Pass, Ambleside on Lake Windermere and Grasmere village
Day 4: Explore Eastern Pennines - Durham Dales, Stanhope village and High Force waterfall
Day 5: Drive to Blair Atholl, Scotland; explore area around; Stay at River Tilt Parc Royale
Day 6: Spend day at Crief Highland games; Drive by some of the lakes in Loch Lomond and Trossachs Park
Day 7: Drive to Loch Ness through Scottish highlands; Return via stop at Inverness
Day 8: Stay in our Otter Lodge; Shop at House of Bruar
Day 9: Drive to Peak District at Hathersage; Stop at castle in Penrith
Day 10: Trail up to John Stone Carvern near Castleton; Stop at the Ladybower reservoir; Explore Hathersage
Day 11: Stop at Bakewell and Stepping Stones; Drive back to London through Birmingham

UK drive itinerary map




Day 1: Drive from London to the North Pennines AONB; stop at Birmingham on the way; stay at an airbnb in the village of Garrigill

The first day of our trip was mostly spent driving, from London to the Pennines. We drove on the motorway all the way and the traffic was ok generally except from 5-7 pm when it felt like the entire road was full. Also people drive within the speed limit when near the cities but then accelerate above the limit when away. Clearly, they know when they wouldn’t be caught 😜,

The surroundings all around were green everywhere. At places there were yellow and purple flowers on the sides. The landscape was like the typical English countryside - gentle rolling hills in green, small fields dotted with cows and sheep grazing away lazily, and dark clouds showing up at regular intervals, to represent the rainy side of English weather. In between when we crossed the Yorkshire Dales, the landscape did become more dramatic at times, with larger and more rocky hills. But overall, it was quite gentle and low hills.

On the way, we stopped at Birmingham to visit our family friends. It was surprising to see the number of South-east Asians in the city. We drove through the Soho area and it felt like a different world together - all we saw were Indians and Pakistanis there, not a single white person! We had lunch at Red Leaf and loved the food. It was a buffet place and served tasty and authentic Indian food which we don’t find as often in London as we would like.

When I was booking our first stop, I was trying to find an airbnb close to Lake District. The best option I found though was in the neighbouring Pennines Park. I hadn’t realised that time though that it was quite a drive from the Lake District and so far away from the highway. So we had to turn in right from the highway and drive a long way inside the Park, quite late in the day.

View of the Eden valley

It was stunning all the way to Garrigill, driving through small villages going on about their rural life in a lazy manner. We drove up a huge hill and ran into spectacular views of the valley below. There were clouds and the sun was setting, and we could see sunlight filtering through the clouds which made for even more picturesque scenes. And it was all a bright green everywhere, like a sea of freshness everywhere. I later learnt it was the Eden valley surrounding the Eden river, which we saw from the top of the hill. Then we crossed the Alston Moors which were vast empty lands covered by dark purple thistle flowers till wherever the eyes could see. And then it almost felt like we were entering a different world on the other side of the hill.

The village of Garrigill was in a valley and it took us a bit of anxious moments before we got there, as it felt like we were just going on forever with nothing in sight. We reached there quite late, around 830 pm. Thankfully there still was light as it was summer and a sunny day. Once we reached the village, we started looking for our airbnb. And that's when we realised that we had lost our phone signal, so we had to find the place the old fashioned way - asking people around. We ran into one lone person walking on the road and somehow we found the airbnb. It looks like everyone knew each other in the village as the person directed us to the home based on the name of the owner. Even though he did not live in Garrigill but far off in a different village.

The village was very charming and small. It had a row of houses, a red London telephone booth (I finally found a place where it may actually get used!), a post office, a church and that's it. At night we went out for a walk trying to buy some milk and groceries. It turned out that there was no shop in the village, and the one pub they had was being renovated! So we ended up not really being able to buy anything the first day. We even tried asking if the local farmers in the village sold fresh food stuff, but turns out they sell it all to the co-op. So we cooked simple Indian meals in our airbnb and were sorted for the night. By this time, it already started to feel that it will be a very different experience to stay at a place like this.

Our bnb in Garrigill village

The airbnb we were staying in was very convenient and comfortable. It was a split barn with two bedrooms and a kitchen plus living room in the extension. There was too much stuff kept inside the house though, it was totally full and a bit cluttered, It was also full of wood pieces keot outside and inside for the winters. As the owner owned tree cutting services, he had just stacked up the whole place with wood 😊.

Inside it was generally quite cold most of the day, but we made use of the fireplace a bit, even though it was UK summers. All around the place, we had huge green grounds, a small stream running behind it, and then a huge hill. And there was no data or phone signal there. It felt so relaxed, so calm, so free; that as inconvenient as it was, it really felt like a boon. So in the evenings, we actually spoke to each other rather than keeping on checking the phone 😂.


Day 2: Explore North Pennines; village of Alston; Hadrian’s Wall

Our first day in the Pennines, we spent time exploring the area around our village as we did not want to drive much. And we also explored the North part of the Park including Cumbria, Northumberland and Durham county. Our first activity of the day was to walk to the village of Alston. We still had to buy milk which we hadn’t found the previous day and thought we could walk there as it was just a couple of miles away.

Walk to Alston

It was a sunny day and perfect way to explore the countryside. As we started walking towards Alston, we got signal in our phones! So all of us felt like we had got back to civilisation and quickly checked our phones before walking ahead. We enjoyed some impressive vistas along the way, some small waterfalls, a few churches, the usual village stone houses, a small church cemetery and lot of hares running around and sheep grazing lazily - all the typical sights on UK countryside walks. It was all green everywhere, with loads of yellow and purple flowers on the way. And there were lot of farmlands on both sides but surprisingly, there were not many places to sit on the sides of the road. All the farms had stone walls right on the road. It was turning out to be a strenuous walk with the sun being very bright, so we decided to walk back to Garrigill and take the car to Alston. It definitely turned out to be a much quicker drive that way 😊.

Alston was a biggish village and had a Spar and Co-op to shop for groceries, and even a petrol station which is rare in this kind of a place. It was full of tourists at that time and had some interesting things for sale in its shops. After getting our groceries at the local co-op, we explored the church and shops in the village. The local church had an art exhibition with lot of nice paintings. I was about to buy one from there.

They also has a beautiful town hall and a small railway museum nearby. Its so interesting to see that even very small places in UK are made interesting for tourists by adding some new local attractions. At the local library which had been converted to a tourist information centre, we found some maps and realised that Hadrian’s Wall was located very close by. Hadrian’s Wall is the ancient boundary of England and Scotland (and also the inspiration for the Wall in Game of Thrones), and given it was so close, we decided to drive till there.

Purple flowers covered hills

So we took off towards the Haltwhistle part of the wall and the drive turned out to be very refreshing. We passed through bare moors filled with purple flower shrubs till where the eye could see. These flowers may have been thistle, and they covered the entire landscape! And there were some cows in between, dotting the landscape. It also rained a bit and that made the whole atmosphere so much fresher and brighter.

Hadrian's wall

Once near Haltwhistle, there were loads of places to visit all along the wall where there were Roman forts and other ruins of that time. We first stopped near Cawfields Quarry and walked till the wall. Apparently this place was also the Centre of UK (I never realised it would be so North!). The wall that remains isn't much though - what remains is some part of the stone structures and a few foundations which would have been the towers on the wall. The wall was multiple feet wide, and the stones were stuck together with plaster. Even though its in ruins now, its impressive to see that a structure from 100 AD still survives in some form till today, 2000 years later! We drove towards another spot nearby which had ruins from a roman fort, but it closed by the time we got there, so we just decided to come back.

The drive back was through a different route, and as much if not more picturesque. We saw some amazing views of the Pennines park, hills, villages, yellow flower covered hills, farms and so on. On some of the farms, we also spotted some sheep which had black faces and legs. I think I noticed them for the first time, am guessing they are a different type of sheep…?

Back at the airbnb, since we had stocked up on groceries, we were able to cook a more spread out meal. And we also cooked some corn on the cob (makki) outside in the open on a charcoal fire. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing in a data and mobile-free environment.


Day 3: Drive to Lake District; visit Ullswater lake, Kirkstone Pass, Ambleside on Lake Windermere and Grasmere village

We spent the whole day exploring Lake District as it was a bit of a drive far from where we staying. The last time I had visited the place was 10 years ago when it had rained the whole time. This time it was different during the first half of the day but the second half was the same, cold and rainy.

Ullswater Lake

We first drove to Ullswater lake and stopped at a few places along the lake though there weren’t many of them around. The places were all full of people enjoying the summer around. And the lake was full of people sailing and swimming. We stopped at one of the coves for a tea break and enjoyed time just chilling by the river. There was a small stream there right next to the lake and provided a great place to sit next to. We saw a lot of people there with their dogs - looks like lake district is quite a favourite for dog owners. We also spotted 3 fighter plans flying furiously over the lake, snaking through the valleys and practicing their moves. It was a sight to behold, those impressive things, so charming, spectacular and still so dangerous. I am guessing Lake District might by a training location for royal fighter planes, isn't it too scenic for something like this?

Kirkstone Park

Our next stop was the Kirkstone pass which provides panoramic views of the valleys on either side, with both Lake Windermere and lake Ullswater on either side. The drive there is windy along the mountains and it is a worth a stop for the view. Our next stop was the village of Ambleside where we stopped at the northern edge of Windermere lake.

Borrans park in Ambleside

We first drove towards the town of Windermere but then came back to Borrans park in Ambleside as it felt like a better place to stop. We had a nice home cooked lunch sitting on the green grass with a pretty view of the Windermere right in front. We then also visited another Roman settlement ruins just 5 mins from the park. Even though its in ruins, it still had the foundations of the gate to the settlement and some of the rooms. I always wonder how something can last 2000 years, and what all it may have seen...

Roman fort ruins

While driving away from the town, we saw some parts of Ambleside and it felt like a quaint little town. It still had the typical stone houses, but they were made of sharp and black stones, unlike any other place we have seen. I think its definitely a town I would like to visit again.

We then drove to the village of Grasmere driving by a few lakes on the way. By now, the weather had changed and it was raining again. Grasmere is quite a popular village to visit, mostly because of Wordsworth as he used to stay and write in this town. And now, it felt like a small little place with some nice shops for tourists. We bought some amazing warm clothes from there but missed the famous gingerbread pudding shop as it was already closed. We also walked to the Wordsworth daffodils garden nearby which is an ode to Wordsworth.

As most places had closed by then, we left soon enough but I liked my little sojourn here. The village seemed very very charming, with green woods, small streams, dark stone houses and Grasmere lake nearby to walk to. It could be a nice place to stay on my next trip - somehow every trip in the UK gives me even more bright ideas on where to stay the next time 😊.

Sunlight playing games

During our drive back to the Pennines, the weather suddenly cleared and became sunny again. So we again got some spectacular views of the hills and the valleys. As it was earlier than our first day, we stopped at the Hartside summit (at 1800 ft) located in the middle of nowhere on a hill with panoramic views of the valleys on both side. The view was amazing, of the plains in front and sun shining on it through the clouds.

Our day out in Lake District turned out to be enjoyable, unplanned but fun. And we soon retired to our non-data home for the night after another home cooked meal. Lake District has a lot of places to visit, so every trip can be different. The villages of Windermere, Bowness on Windermere, Borrowdale, Buttermere & Honister Slate Mine are all popular with tourists. And if you like activity, then hiking in Great Langdale - Langdale Pikes is a good option or in the Newlands Valley starting in the tiny village of Little Town southwest through Brandelhow Park. Maybe for next time...


Day 4: Explore Eastern Pennines; visit Durham Dales, Stanhope and High Force waterfall

This day we explored the Eastern part of the Pennines and kept it quite ad-hoc and relaxed. I marked a few places that we could go to and then kept striking off some of them as we kept spending more time at the first few places we went to 😊. We drove a lot and all the way there were hills and greenery and small picturesque villages, any of these could be a picnic stop. We started driving towards the Durham Dales and first stopped at Nenthead for groceries. Even such a random village on the way had a tin mine museum from old times, for people interested in museums.

St Johns village

Then we stopped at a random village in between, St Johns which looked charming enough to stop. It had better houses than some of the other villages on the way and we could see that the people staying here were richer than the others. We took a small walk around, walked through the fields to a bridge on a local stream. It was sunny and felt very fresh and fun, even though it was a random walk. And then we stopped at another bigger village for a walk, Wearhead where lots of people were walking their dogs. The whole place felt so relaxed and nice, that you could stop anywhere you want to enjoy the sun and take a break.

Stanhope village

Our major stop of the day was the village of Stanhope where we stopped for a couple of hours. It was a captivating village and had a lot to offer. We found some cute shops there and bought purses, pottery, show pieces, farm produce and so on. We went to the local church, spoke to a few of the local people and spent some time just taking in the sights. As we drove further, we found a place next to the river - Kingfisher leisure park which was perfect for a lunch break. There were loads of trailers there and we took a short walk next to the river. It kept raining regularly that time, so we ended up seeing the rainbow also.

High Force waterfall

We were planning to go all the way to Durham and see the sea but we spent so much time in between that we had to turn back by this time. While coming back, we drove back through a different road and again passed by many purple flower coloured mountains. We passed through the pretty valleys of Meardale and then drove through Teesdales. On the way back, we stopped at a waterfall called High Force, which was pretty average but a good walk anyways.

The driving was slow as the roads were narrow and there was some traffic at least but it felt very enjoyable and fresh everyday. We also ran into bikers driving very fast all the time. Maybe this is the only place they get their way and space. And the locals also drive too fast. They are really used to the narrow curvy roads, but not for me, as I drove quite carefully and much slower than them.

Rainbow on the way

And soon we were back in Garrigill. Coming back to Garrigill everyday that week almost started feeling like coming home 😊. As today was the last day, we thought we would cook food in the angithi. We made rotis and sabzi outside on the charcoal fire in the angithi. And the outcome was amazing. The food tasted yummy and a different kind was tasty - it felt almost like eating Indian food in a village, it was so simple and tasty. By this time, it started raining (again!) which was a spanner to the works, but we had cooked most of our food, so were still able to enjoy the meal.


Day 5: Drive to Blair Atholl, Scotland; explore area around; stay at River Tilt Parc Royale

It was finally time to leave Garrigill and early morning, we left for Scotland. We mostly drove on highway A74 and then took the smaller road all the way to Blair Atholl in Cairngorms national park. On the whole, it was quite an uneventful drive except at one point near Lancaster, we were able to see the sea on one side from the car itself, which looked striking. We spent most of the day driving and reached our place only in the evening, with limited time left to explore much.

Our Scottish abode next to the river

We were staying at the River Tilt River Park which had a lot of small cute trailer homes located right next to the river. It was near the village of Blair Atholl, in the southern tip of the Park. It was a lovely location with views of the river, and an ideal place to relax and chill (especially with a book). You could just sit outside forever, with the gurgling of the river providing the background music.

View from the river

Since we reached there so early, we decided to just take a stroll nearby. It was very green and fresh all around, and as it had rained a bit recently, the brightness was more than usual. First we walked to the Blair Atholl village, which was very striking. It was full of grand grey stone buildings lining the road. We then went down to the river from where we got a view of our huts on the other side.

We next took a walk down the old Atholl road which went to the old village. and the old bridge on the river Tilt. The place was located right next to a huge camping ground which is quite popular with camp loving tourists. Blair Atholl castle is also located there, which was gearing up for upcoming Highlands games. And right near the turn to Parc Royale, there were a few restaurants and clubs which played a lot of music all night. The walk was interesting and we realised, that even though it was a very small village, there was loads to keep tourists busy.

As we had had a long day of driving, we again cooked food in our airbnb and had it sitting outside next to the flowing river. The presence of a water body makes so much of a difference to your experience, doesn’t it?


Map of Pennines and places around



Part 2

Working in Bangalore and Singapore

I recently spent some time in Bangalore and Singapore on a work trip during the London winter. Its always good to travel to warmer countries during this time and Bangalore and Singapore were perfect for that.

Bangalore

I haven't been to Bangalore much even though I have heard a lot about the city for long, as a lot of my college friends went there on their first jobs. Since then, I've had a fascination for the city, always. Also, I hadn't visited India for some time, so on this trip both factors made me enjoy my time there a lot, even if it was short.

A view of Bangalore

The first thing I noticed about Bangalore was that it is so green. And when you drive around, you can imagine how beautiful it must have looked years ago. With the old stone buildings, small rock hills, all its green gardens and the lakes. But not much of it remains in the same form now. And what takes over is the negatives, the biggest of which is the traffic - with so many small roads and so many cars, its too much! There is dust everywhere and sound of horns in every direction. Going from anywhere to anywhere takes at least an hour, irrespective of the distance. Most of the buildings seem old and dusty. Also, from the top, it doesn't look that there are as many high rises in the city as you would think. There are small pockets which have high rises and the rest are quite normal.

The drive to the hotel made me very nostalgic. I passed by some iconic names and places which I remembered from my last trip to the city - especially DRDO offices. Also seeing all the billboards, names of schools, shops and so on, I just had that rushing feeling of being back in 'my' country. Its a feeling which never leaves you, irrespective of how long you have stayed outside your country.

View from the balcony

I was staying at the Ritz Carlton hotel and it was amazing. Being at a luxury place in your own country feels very different than being abroad. The service was top-notch, with the whole staff taking care of you as if you are royalty. And I must say, the suites in the hotel were outstanding (and quite reasonably priced too). The views from the hotel were beautiful, a panoramic view of the city till wherever the eyes could see. It looked so green from the top. Also, it had many different coloured flowering trees everywhere. Apparently, different coloured flowers bloom in the city at different times of the year - purple, yellow, orange and so on.

Art at the Ritz

The art in the hotel was also something worth talking about. Here are a few photos of some of the pieces. The hotel prides itself on the art collection and it was very clearly visible. And the Indian food, whether room service or on the terrace restaurant are worth dying for, especially the dal makhani, yum... A definite recommend from me.

Art at the Ritz

I spent a Saturday in the city and was amazed by the number of restaurants all around. And ta lot of them were open air terrace restaurants, so those were my preferred ones during my stay. On the weekend, I went to Brigade estate for dinner which seemed like a nice community, with malls, restaurants, offices, lakes and residential flats within the same complex. Living in India is so much more luxurious than London. On top of that, the weather was pleasant, the food was great and the service perfect. I really enjoyed the time I spent there on the weekend, especially the weather. And it was quite the opposite to my next weekend in Singapore.

I loved my short stay in Bangalore, especially the pleasant weather. It was so cool the entire time, its the perfect place to stay. Ola and Uber is everywhere, so its easy to get everywhere. And its quite a green city. People also seem chill, and there is an entrepreneurial feel all around. Most things about Bangalore are superlative, except of course the traffic which is the bane of the city. That's why most people prefer to stay near their place of work and places like Brigade estate are popular. But overall, loved my short time there and would like to go back there again soon.



Singapore

Ive been to Singapore a couple of times and this time I spent about three weeks there on work. To be honest, it feels almost the same as it was more than ten years ago that I had first visited the city. Its all about malls, shopping, restaurants, high rises and completely man-made living. There is very less vibrancy and liveliness underneath what you see and that hasn't changed yet.

View from the St Regis

I again stayed at the St Regis and the hotel surely is amazing. Great service and a magnificent view of a green Singapore which you never see from the street. It felt very refreshing every morning. Most of my time was spent between the hotel and office. And it was as usual efficient. I did spend one weekend there which was mostly about meeting friends and also exploring a little bit more than what I had done earlier.

Little India Diwali decorations

This time again, I went to Little India twice for meals at Kailash Parbat (which is awesome btw) and once for a movie. It had decorations for Diwali this time, as the last time - again nothing has changed since then. And then I went to Arab street which was a nice experience, sitting outside and eating spicy food. We also walked around there a bit and could sense the Arab influence everywhere. And of course I visited Dempsey Hill a couple of times for meals, always a good place to go.

Marina lighted at night

The Marina Sands hotel is a big part of the city. It has spas restaurants, hotels, shopping and just about anything else tourists would be looking for. In terms of restaurants, a good find this time was the Punjab Grill at the Sands which had very tasty food. And I saw a fountain show outside the Marina at night which was very impressive.

Bridge near Robertson Quay

The three new places I visited this time were the Pebbles Bay island where I visited a friend, Robertson Quay and the Botanical gardens. Pebbles Bay looks like a nice place to live, high rises with a view of the river and a long line of restaurants right across which are a nice place to sit and chill in the outside. And I liked Robertson Quay which was again located next to the river and had a few nice brunch places. I walked there during the day and enjoyed the calm and quiet there. The outside seating places in Singapore are definitely much better than the crowded mall type restaurants.

Botanical gardens

One of the evenings, I walked to the botanical gardens from the hotel as it was very close. Its a nice park in the middle of the city, with plants from all over the world and lot of landscaping done to make it look interesting. There is also an orchid garden which was closed that time but seemed promising for another time. I liked the gardens, its a nice place to walk and when you want to be away from the noise of the city. Have noted it down for the next time definitely.

The weather overall was too hot and humid, around 30 degrees max. It was always like that and there was no respite from the heat at all. We did have thunderstorms everyday though but don't think they did much to reduce the temperatures much. On the other hand it was extremely freezing inside, whether in the office or the malls. It was a bit of a downer as we would have liked to enjoy the warmer Singapore temperatures given we were trying to avoide the London winters.

Overall, the food was too expensive. The city has become a lot more expensive in the last few years. Its very very convenient though, especially the taxis and it is totally safe. There is also a lot of greenery in any of the free spaces. Even on bridges and under them, there is vegetation growing to increase the greenness around. But something is still lacking. And I noticed it even in the people - the locals don't smile much. I think the city really needs some life, something more real than what it has.

A Nordic winter in Stockholm

This winter, I spent two very cold months (Jan to March) in Stockholm. My last visit to the city ten years ago had been quite uneventful even though it was in summer. And my view hasn't changed much this time either. As I was there on work, I was mostly confined to my hotel and office. But I did get a chance to see a side of the city which maybe could have been more interesting, if not for winter...

About the city

View of Stockholm at sunset

I mostly stayed in the central part of Stockholm, overlooking Gamla Stan, the old town set on a small island. The views outside the hotel were impressive, with huge majestic stone buildings perched on top of small hills all around and surrounded by water. Stockholm is composed of a lot of small islands dotting the sea and there are a lot of waterways and canals everywhere, which adds a dash of character to all views. And a lot of the buildings are colourful, at least by Swedish standards, making all the views quite picturesque.

All snowed up

Stockholm is old, yet very modern and efficient in how its infrastructure is setup. And everything works fast and like clockwork. In fact, its one of those countries where its very easy to catch your flight even if you leave just an hour earlier - I tried it many times and it always worked. Also Sweden, is a low cash country and everyone accepts credit card. I spent three months there without ever seeing a Swedish Krona!

Its easy to get around the city, there are trams, trains and buses. We used taxis quite often and they were easy to find. One thing to note is that different cabs charge different rates for the same distance, so its important to book one in advance, preferably the cheaper ones😊. Overall, they are very expensive as is the rest of the city. Regarding food, there are amazing restaurants in the city and food is really yummy and its easy to be a vegetarian. But as expected, its very very expensive.

Touristy stuff

One weekend, I decided to stay back in the city and explore some of the places around. It also turned out to be the week when the Beast from the North was hitting Europe. So it was -23 degrees that weekend, definitely not the best time to explore a European town. As expected, I did get to see some of the city, but it wasn't as much as I would have wanted.

Narrow streets of
Gamla Stan

One of the days, I walked to the Gamla Stan which was very close to my hotel. I first passed by the Houses of Parliament which was am imposing building with lion head gates. And then into the old world charm of Gamla Stan. Even though the weather was cold, there were loads of tourists around. The whole area was full of cobbled pedestrian streets with lot of colourful buildings and small alleys everywhere. The streets were lined with small quaint cafes, boutiques and handicraft shops on both sides. They were fun to explore and I could see it being a lively place in the summer but for now, it was a bit of a struggle walking around in the biting wind and cold.

There were a few popular buildings nearby to visit too. The cathedral was quite well decorated inside and had some exquisite pieces in gold, especially from the last coronation. Next to it was a grand square and the Nobel museum. And the Royal Palace next door was huge and had great views against the setting sun. There were also loads of museums everywhere. Stockholm is known for its many museums, but I wasn't as interested in them. So I continued walking around and taking in the sights and feel of things around.

Views of Stockholm

While walking back to my hotel, I saw other parts of the city and it looked very enchanting. With old grand colourful stone buildings visible from a distance on top of hills and waterways with boats all around. It was a nice enjoyable walk, but I couldn't stay out for more than 2-3 hours in the cold, so I had to soon come back to to the hotel for the warmth of indoor heat.

The next day was even colder, if that was possible! So I chose to visit the Vasa museum and it turned out to be a good idea. Vasa is the name of a ship from 400 years ago, with almost as tragic a history as the Titanic. It was supposed to be the pride of Sweden, decorated with 1500 wooden sculptures and big enough to house 400 crewmen. However, it sunk on its maiden voyage within a couple of hundred metres of its launch and lay at the bottom of the seas till it was taken out after 400 years on the ocean floor. And the best part is that even after being in the water for so long, most of its structure remained intact. And it now gives a good insight into the lives of people 400 years ago.

Mast of the Vasa

The museum is setup on multiple floors and has lot of displays linked to what they found in the Vasa and how it was recovered. For me though, it was the actual ship which was the most interesting of all. The wooden mast with all its sculptures is majestic and a sight to behold. Imagining how it would have looked in its glory, all painted in bright colours with the Roman Gods and the lions and other sculptures is fun, it would have looked quite magnificent sailing in the sea. And you can now imagine how Sweden and other colonial countries would have impressed and conquered the worlds at that time with their huge and dominating ships.

The Vasa

There was a lot of history related to the ship which was quite revealing to me. It was interesting to know that the Swedish and Polish had years of wars because of differences in faith - Protestant and Catholic. I never knew that earlier. It was also ironic to see, that an imperfect ship which failed in its purpose has a museum to itself now 😂. The ship drowned because it was not constructed properly and then survived 400 years to be in a museum today! How ironic is that?

That Christmas-y feeling

As soon as I came out of the museum, I ran into a view right out of paradise. There was a white river with bridges across it and the beautiful coloured houses of Stockholm, up and down the streets. With the sun setting, there was light music playing in the cafe and the Christmas lights started to light up. On the other side of the road, there was a huge park which had a frozen river. I just sat there outside the cafe for some time and enjoyed this view. No one had mentioned this place to me and I am glad I found it. Though the cold ensured that I couldn't stay there long enough, but I would have loved to...

Then I walked to the neighbouring park and tried walking on the frozen river. It was an exciting but scary feeling. I knew that nothing would happen to me, but still every step I took was very very carefully placed. Again it was so cold, I could not stay out too long and after accomplishing the feat of walking on frozen water, I went back quite quickly to my hotel.

During winter, skating on ice in the lakes and water bodies is quite popular. You can do it in Hagapark, Hellasgarden or Millesgarden. However, given how cold it was, I was not in the mood to do anything too action oriented and so missed out on it. Also, there are many other parks and small castles around which are good to visit, explore and enjoy.  I went to one small old castle very near the central city which was lovely. It had great interiors and a view of a frozen lake outside, again dotted with houses in white around it, all very captivating views. And of course, in summer, the most touristy and popular thing to do is rent a boat and explore the islands around by yourself, stopping at some of them and having a picnic in the sun. But that's for another time.

This one weekend when I stayed back in Stockholm and explored it a bit, I finally found that it is actually a beautiful city. With its waterways and hills and scenic buildings. But it takes time (and better weather) to explore it to find the beauty that lies there.

Weather

Zipping through the snow

The weather in Stockholm in winter has to be one of the worst I have ever seen. Its so dark and cloudy the whole time and there is no sunlight at all - its not a joke, it is actually that bad. All the waterways are frozen and always white. And its always snowing. Apparently February is always the worst month and then slowly it starts to get better, so I saw it at its worst. It is quite dark most of the day, with limited hours of light and I found it quite depressing.

One of the weeks I was there, it snowed continuously for 3 days in a row. And everything turned white. There was many feet of snow outside. Initially I thought I would play with the snow, but it was so cold to just be out, leave along trying to play in it, I never got to do it. But I did learn that it doesn't make sense to wear heels at all in such weather. It could get very slippery very quickly, so boots was the way to go the entire winter.

The temperature when I was there was below -10 most of the days. But when the sun came out for a bit, the whole city looked a lot brighter and cheerful. One of the days when the maximum temp was 6 degrees, people actually thought it was hot and were regretting why they wore a jacket 😂. Not for me though, I was just happy to see some sun and some sunlight, even if for a few minutes. Maybe that's why museums and eating out is quite popular in Stockholm; there isn't much you can do otherwise in the winter.

People and culture

Swedes are said to be quite reserved people and don't mingle well with people who are not Swedish. And I heard this so many times while in Stockholm that I would assume it to be true 😜. I also heard that Swedes almost behave like different people in summer and winter. Apparently they become more open and friendly in summer and clam up in winter. I don't know how true it is, so can't say. But I did find them to be quite distant even if friendly in the few interactions I had. Overall, Swedes are not very religious - they say they are 'culturally Christian but not religiously'. Its also a very non-hierarchical society and you can see it for yourself very easily.

I noticed some small things while there which are definitely part of their culture, even if it cannot be defined as such. First, they have a lot of holidays. Everyone gets full 6 weeks off in summer, then one week sports week where they all go skiing in the mountains and then Christmas. That is quite impressive.

Also, Swedes all like to eat lunch at 12, almost like clockwork. Everyday the cafeteria used to be full at 12 and empty completely if you go at 1230! While I was there, they had a festival of eating semlas (a kind of pastry) which are traditionally eaten on the day. They are not very healthy and neither very tasty, but everyone around was excited to eat semlas on the festival day 😊. Also pancakes Thursdays seems to be a thing there which I haven't seen elsewhere.

They do have some funny traditions too. One of which is jumping into ice cold water in frozen rivers after a shower and then running back to the indoors warmth. And this is taught and practiced in schools! Very interesting...

Service quality overall was quite poor. The worst example was my hotel - even though they were a 5 star chain, they would not send water or come up to my room to give my passport. They rarely helped with the luggage. You ask for a taxi and they ask you to come down and call for it yourself. I also once got almost scolded for calling the carpenter to fix my door lock! Its a very do-it-yourself country which I found worse than some of the other European places I had visited.

In the last few centuries, Sweden and other Nordic countries used to be quite poor. They only recently became richer. And because of this history, there are thousands of Swedish people in US who had migrated there when conditions were difficult. And now Sweden has a lot of migrants coming in (and consequently migrant problems). I didn't see it much when I was there but heard it being talked about quite a lot, plus a lot of my friends asked me if I saw it. Once asked, I started noticing it a bit. All taxis are now driven by migrants. And a couple of times when walking in Central Stockholm at night, I saw some people standing around and creating a ruckus on the streets which made it look less safe than I would expect. Things seem to be changing even in this country which for years has been quite isolated from the world...

One view I always remember of Stockholm and Sweden is a view from the air when flying out one of the weeks. It was dark as usual, and I could see the clouds below me, stars above and some house lights below. And all through the route, the clouds shone because of the lights below... It was the perfect example of finding beauty in small things, where you would not expect. But it hasn't happened for me and Stockholm yet. People love the city but I haven't figured out yet why. I have been there many times and I still think its an average city. It does have a lot of museums but something is missing. But maybe there is something in its beauty which I am missing?

Skiing in Kitzbuhel, Austria

This year I revived my annual skiing trips to Europe and so went on a long weekend to the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbuhel. It was a fun vacation and we had a great skiing experience in the long and tough slopes of Kitz. The weather was awesome and made the whole experience even more enjoyable, definitely a place to return again.

View from the slopes

We flew into Salzburg from London on a Friday and then drove from there to Aschau at night, the village where we had booked our airbnb. The drive was on a bright moon night, amid the mountains and the fog and it felt almost surreal. As we started there was white fog all around. And then the shapes of mountains emerged, sometimes dark, sometimes with the shape of green trees on the peaks and sometimes shining white with the moonlight reflecting on the snow. And sometimes the hint of lakes and streams on the sides, reflecting the moon and sometimes completely dark.

The temperature was quite cool outside and at times we saw the star filled sky. We passed by loads of villages on the way which would have looked very picturesque during the day. The roads were amazing, the drive was comfortable and the view outside so enchanting! With Indian music in the background, the whole drive felt almost uplifting and was the perfect start to the vacation.

I thought we were driving fast given it was mountain roads filled with snow, with a lot of turns and no light at night. But we kept on getting overtaken all the time. So clearly not! We did drive a bit faster after that but not as much as the others for sure. It took us about 1.5 hours till we reached the town of Kirchberg. We could see the night ski slope all lighted up before we got there, and the sense of going skiing became more real! While we drove through the village, people were drinking and partying after skiing, and it felt very alive.

View of Aschau

We reached our airbnb at night and quickly settled in. We were staying in the village of Aschau which was a very small one with maybe less than 50 huts. Our airbnb was an alpine apartment very comfortably decorated, and with everything you would need. Out of our window, we could see people come skiing down the slope right next to the apartments! Next to us conveniently located was a hotel where we had breakfast the first day. Overall the apartment was very convenient for the stay, it was a bit of a drive from the ski slopes of Kitzbuhel but totally worth it.

The next 3 days we drove to Kitzbuhel every morning, skied there the whole day and came back to our village at night. The drive till there was about 30 mins, through the village of Kirchberg and a few others. As expected, the drive was pretty picturesque passing by typical alpine views. With huge white peaks all around and the wooden hut filled villages, with the church spires peaking from in between. I never seem to tire of the view of the Alps at all, isn't it?

Skiing in the sun

The infrastructure while skiing as expected was amazing. There were multiple hills to ski on. We always started from Kitzbuhel and went up that way. And then of course, there was a network of lifts and slopes up on the mountains to spend the whole day there. The snow was good but not fresh as it hadn’t snowed for a couple of days, at places it was also a bit slippery. The slopes were long (including the 16 run which is supposed to be one of the longest blue runs in Europe) and well maintained, but I think they were tougher than usual. There were also lot of moguls on the first day but thankfully they vanished the next few days. And even when slopes were blue, they felt steeper than what I was used to.

The ski slopes were not very well linked though if you wanted to go up and come down all the way on blue slopes. I had to ski a bit of red slopes sometimes to come down. Also the bottom ski slop (No 20) apparently was red earlier but was converted to blue when people complained that there was no blue slope to come down! But overall, skiing there was fun and challenging.

We went up the top of the mountains a couple of times and could see a lot of the snow covered peaks all around. Almost felt like you were on top of the world. You could see the village of Kitzbuhel and panoramic views of the valley from many places on the top, with some green but mostly covered with white snow..

One of the Jocheburg slopes

One of the days I also went to the Jocheburg area to ski there which was amazing. It had great blue and red slopes which were quite wide and a pleasure to ski on. The views of the valley from that side were also very enchanting. We also saw some people para sailing and many hot air balloons in the air too - so there are things to do for those who don’t want to go skiing too!

The weather on two of the three days was absolutely fantastic! It was 10 degrees and sunny! You could see the sunlight slowly come into the valley and stay on some of its slopes. It made the skiing easier and warmer. The days were still short and it would get dark by 530 pm or so. By the way, we once saw the moon and sun out at the same time - it was quite a scenic view.

View of Kitzbuhel from the slopes

I have been to Kitzbuhel twice before on a work trip but this was the first time I went skiing and I saw a different side of the village. One of the days we were looking for a place to eat in the centre and it turned out all the restaurants were either booked or closed. There were only few restaurants around (but a lot of high end shops). It got quiet very quickly too. And the supermarkets closed very early by 5 pm, so you needed to be careful and buy food beforehand.

We finally ate at La Gondola that day which was very tasty food. One of the other days we went to the Pavilion, an apres ski place near the bottom of the slopes, and it was full of people after skiing. We didn’t do much apres partying overall but it looked fun for sure. There were loads of British people everywhere, on the slopes, in the village, tourists as well as instructors. Clearly Austria is very popular with British as a ski destination.

Three days there felt quite short. But it was a very enjoyable trip and a lovely place to go to, worth going again for sure.

Impressions and experiences in South Africa

In this article, I want to share some of my experiences from my long stay in South Africa, almost 7 months in 2016 and 2017. I had a great time in country travelling around on weekends but surprisingly I enjoyed staying back on Joburg also as much. There was always a sense of warmth and liveliness which I felt every time I landed there, which is difficult to describe.

This article is not a comprehensive view of the country by any measure - I don't think its especially possible for SA given how complex it is. This is more of me putting together all the things I noticed and heard which were interesting but don't fall under any of the other travel headings.

I must say though that what I have seen is only a small portion of SA but it is some SA at least. Its not the real South Africa though, that is in the villages and townships where I never visited. So I don’t know how 90% of the people actually live. But I can say that the part I saw, the better part – I liked tremendously.

About the Cities

There are a couple of big cities in South Africa where a lot of the population is concentrated – Joburg, Durban, Cape Town and Pretoria, and after that the cities are below a million people. These cities are quite modern and look quite similar. They could be in Europe for all you know, with not much of local African touch in the cities left nowadays. All of them have English names, English roads, English parks and so on.

The cities do have their own short history, like Port Elizabeth, East London and so on. But they are missing the history of the local people. You can find an Oxford Road or Cotswold street or a Hyde Park everywhere, but there are barely any local names in these cities. What all these are, are some posh areas with beautiful bungalows and malls, and the rest of the population staying in townships which are tin sheet covered small houses crowded with each other. After the fall of Apartheid, it is all changing but it will take decades before this difference vanishes and for now, it stays as it is.

The rest of the country is quite spread out, with some more towns and then small villages all located very far from each other. At least I have heard that there are villages, but I haven't seen any.  When you are driving in the countryside, you see huge farms on both sides, some of them being farmed but a lot of them completely empty. Someone mentioned anecdotally (and there is no way I can verify this), the whites own all the farms and a lot of them have migrated out of SA. However, they still own them and chose to not farm them rather than give it to the blacks for farming. And so vast land lies uncultivated but for giving the benefit to the blacks.

The farms that still do have farming, its always the blacks working there. And when you are driving in the countryside, they are the ones who sit along the road asking for lifts, in the sun. Its never a white guy ever asking for a lift.

People

I think the people of South Africa are amazing. I love their zest for like, their liveliness and general happiness – it is quite in contrast to the Europeans I must say. I did interact a lot with the blacks, so maybe my view is biased. The accent, the enthusiasm in the voice – its all very infectious.

People are very polite and everyone says hello to you, and smiles at you. Also, everyone will always ask you ‘how are you’, expect an answer, expect a 'how are you' from you, answer it and only then start any conversation. I found this tough to get used to initially but now when I use it in London, people look at me weirdly 😊.

Also another interesting thing is that the locals address a woman sometime as mummy (if you are older) or sister. The sister part is fine, but I think mummy is too funny and weird! I was thrown off by that many times.

Dance and music is a part of the people of the country. Its very common to see people break into an impromptu performance when there is music. Whether its on the streets of Cape Town or Durban, or the airport – you should never be surprised to see music playing and some people joining in to join the fun. As I said, dance and music is in the air, and the genes!

African women’s hair is also very complex. I was initially impressed with how long everyone’s hair was and my friends turned up in different hairstyles every few weeks. Till I realised that it was fake hair and carefully braided in the different styles! It takes hours for each of the hairstyle, but is quite impressive that one can change their hair and their look so suddenly at any time. I do wish though that people were more comfortable with keeping their natural hair rather than having to straighten it to meet Western standards.

Rules are quite important in the country. Everyone follows them to a fault. And customisation is not the name of the game, which I used to find frustrating sometimes. Also, funnily they don’t allow driving licenses as ID for domestic flights. Only passports work – something I learnt the hard way!

Culture

The culture in SA is quite a mix of the original African culture and Christianity. Though I think a lot of the original culture is lost, especially in the young people.

Also in weddings, the family of the boy has to give gifts to the girl’s family! Earlier it used to be cows, but now you can pay cash instead of cows. Apparently, there is one ceremony which is basically the negotiation between the families on the number of cows that will be given! Also, nowadays, weddings have some 4-5 events including an African traditional wedding, a white church wedding and an official wedding in the court. So it ends up being a long multi-week/month affair.

There are some 10 or so main tribes in South Africa – Zulu, Xhosa, Venda, Swati and so on. They all have some of their own cultures but now there is a lot of mixing and differences have reduced. The status of women in the society is not too bad either. They work, drive and lead an equal life, at least in the cities.

The two most powerful tribes of SA, the Zulu and the Xhosa have quite a difficult relationship till now. Apparently, they had a different view of dealing with the Afrikaners and that has led to long-standing differences. Even now, there is a lot of politics between the two tribes, so much so that even today, in the state of Kwa-Zulu Natal, where the Zulu are in majority, they would not treat a Xhosa with too much respect. I heard anecdotally that in the state hierarchy, it’s the Zulu on the top, then Indians and even the Whites and Afrikaans people comes above the Xhosa. I found that quite funny but sad too, that till today the people of the country are divided in some ways, which ends up benefiting some of the outsiders.

I heard a very interesting tit bit which I am not very sure of but wanted to share anyways. One of the Venda tribes has a surname which matches one of the Jewish surnames of the lost tribe. And this tribe till today follows some of the traditions which are similar to the Jews. So could they be one of the lost tribes of Israel??

The Indians from SA are different from the Indians from India. After being away from the country for centuries, they have developed their own culture. Most of them live near Durban and a few in Petermaritzburg. They have a typical South African accent, and speak ‘Durban’ as my friend put it. And have developed a local Indian dish called ‘Bunny Chow’! They also have some names which are not that common in India, like Chetty, Moodley and so on.

However, they still follow the festivals and culture from India, celebrating festivals like Holi and Diwali, Navratri, wearing Indian clothes for weddings, watching Hindi movies and some of them even speak Hindi even though the younger generation does not. Its interesting to see how as an Indian, you would connect in some ways and in some not be able to with people who left your country so long ago.

You can see the influence of Britishness everywhere, especially with the names of streets and the number of parks in the cities. The British as well as the Dutch made the country their own, and you can see which were the British and which the Dutch spheres of influence. Also because of that I think, there is the same fascination in SA for London and the UK as I see quite often in India. The rest of the world on one side, London and UK on the other😊.

Politics and business

South Africa has one of the most complicated histories and complications. I must say I have read the wiki page a couple of times but I still get confused with the whole British and Dutch interactions, the Boer wars and how Apartheid came across. So am not going to write about.

I am just going to mention a few things I noticed. One of course is that corruption is a big part of the country though it has not been accepted by the people. They still protest against it, unlike India where it almost been accepted. The whole Zuma - Gupta scandal is quite popular anyways. I credit Indians to have exported such levels of corruption to the country😊.

But there are lot of other aspects which are already there. For example, to get out of a traffic violation, you need to give the cop 50 ZAR and that is good. They even have a service at the airport where you can get faster through the immigration queues. But it does not seem like a valid way – it feels more like the employees know everyone around in the airport and just take you to the front of the queue! Its definitely convenient but basically shows how you can get around the rules in the country.

And there is something about getting a SA visa which makes you feel that they think the whole world wants to get there and never leave!! It takes a month to get an appointment at their visa center, and they give only 3 month visas at a time! If you want to get an extension, you have to get a detailed medical examination done - all of which I found very surprising.

Also, there is a lot of entrepreneurship in the country, or at least was for many years. There are lot of companies which have a global presence but are headquartered in SA. The reason for that is during the sanctions of the apartheid times, given how isolated they were, there was a huge drive to build companies to service its needs. And when the sanctions lifted, all these countries looked outwards, did acquisitions and flourished.

Racism

Racism and talk about it is such a big part of South African life, its surprising. Specially coming from the western world where you have to be politically correct the whole time, it was quite uncomfortable for me initially to talk about it.

Racial differences very much exist in the society. Even though everyone seems to have mixed in well together, it is going to be decades before it becomes truly mixed. The Blacks are still mostly poor and live in townships which are not the best parts of town. The whites have the massive bungalows in the posh parts of town, multiple holiday homes along the sea and Kruger and Garden routes and so on. They still have the best jobs and own all the assets in the country.

Joburg being a working class city still seems a lot less but I have heard that Capetown is a lot more racist even now. A few black colleagues of mine mentioned that if they would call a restaurant, they would not get a booking. But a white friend of theirs calling at the same time would! I can’t even imagine how it would feel to live in your own country like this. But I think still the positivity around is very impressive.

I also heard a lot of people stating their views that they thought the whites should have left when they got freedom. They should not have stayed on, owning all the assets. It is almost as if they have freedom only in name, but definitely not any economic freedom.

To anyone visiting SA I would say, it’s a lot more open place to talk about race and racial differences than any other place I have visited. And people make fun of themselves as well as the others. I have heard people say about themselves – this is how you recognise a black person’s house, this is the typical furniture he would have and so on. But it seems a lot more easy to talk about it than it actually would be, and sometimes it is easy to not see how much pain there would be underneath this positive exterior.

Living in South Africa

Living in SA is grand and luxurious if you have the money. Good infrastructure and roads everywhere (and I must say one of the cleanest public toilets I have seen anywhere!). Huge houses with pools. Beaches and wildlife and mountains and greenery. Its got everything. To top it off, there is the awesome weather which is great the whole year around.

There is a lot of beauty everywhere you do. KZN and Durban beaches, Limpopo with its mountains and Kruger, Garden Route with the mountains and the sea. It all sounds so heavenly. There are enchanting vistas wherever you go, and sometimes its so tough to capture it all in words or in pictures either.

There are also a lot of activities everywhere, whether its bungee jumping, para sailing, shark diving, quad biking and so on. Anywhere you go, there will be a few things to do in the outdoors. I think its because of the great weather that people love and can be outdoors a lot more than other countries.

People here love to enjoy life, chat and gossip. And generally smile and be happy all the time. Braai’s are quite common, to sit outside in the good weather, make food, and eat and chat. Isn’t that the idyllic life all of us want? Of course, there is a lot more underneath. But at least on the surface, it’s the ideal life.

Safety

Safety is definitely not the best point of SA. If you are careful enough, lock your cars when you drive, keep your purse in the boot, not go to unsafe areas alone or at night, you should generally be ok. Unless of course you are unlucky. But overall, its not as bad as is made out to be. In fact some statistics also say that Paris is more unsafe than SA, but I need to check that to confirm😉

That being said, I did once see a direction for a gun safe in a hotel, so I do think there is something to the bad safety reputation SA has but it is not as bad as it is made out to be. In fact I heard that this image has been created by a lot of the rich South Africans who have been leaving the country since Apartheid fell. And they are rich and influential, and creating this image of SA as a massively unsafe place not fit to live. It is nowhere as what I imagined before I went there. In fact, I know of a lot of stories where expats did not want to shift to SA, but once there, they and their families love it so much that they don’t want to leave it anymore. So as I said, it is definitely unsafe but not what its made out to be.

Driving

I was very impressed with the driving in SA. The roads and infrastructure was very modern and well kept. And the driving sense is amazing, people drive without aggression. Public transport is limited though, we rarely saw buses on the highways, and most people drive. A lot of the driveways accept e-tags which makes it easy to drive. I did notice an unusually high number of broken cars on the highways though, all the time. It might be the sun and the heat, and old condition of the cars, but something I noticed.

Tips for travelling in SA

I have already mentioned a lot of the tips in the countless articles before. A few here overall for travelling around the country

1) Rent a car and drive around. The infrastructure is great for driving. And the drives make you see a part of SA you would never see otherwise, the bare lands and the rich bungalows, the green and the desert, and so on
2) Whenever visiting the national parks, stay inside. You can book through the Sanparks sites. The site isn’t great, but it’s the best place to stay
3) The cities have much less to offer than the countryside. Stay outside the cities to enjoy the real life. Even in Cape Town, stay somewhere near Pringles Bay. You will experience much more that way than otherwise
4) For vegetarian Indian food, go to Raj. The restaurants has branches everywhere touristy and the food there is lovely!
5) Be careful how much food and drinks you order, the restaurants love to serve huge portions all the time!

I gush about SA so much that it might appear that I love it more than London. And that’s the part about home. I miss the politeness of SA and the weather all the time.  But as much as I may love it, it is always nice to be back at your own place. Of course the fact that you don’t need to watch your belongings 24*7, and you can walk out of your house and walk wherever you want to does help. And London is still home, and as they say – home is where the heart is...