Category: Travel

After the first day of Lake District Trip : Penrith-Windermere-Grasmere-Stone Circle, Some expectation has been adjusted for the second day. I clearly said that I didn’t really need so many places to stop by. I just need my picnic by the lake. It would be too dissapointing visiting Lake District without it. A chance to return to such place would be too small in the future.

I had one strong reason about being so annoying about this picnic thing. I was once having this kind of thing during the two months in Manchester back in 1994 with my family. You don’t underestimate how powerful happy childhood memories is. It stays longer more than you could think of as confirmed by Meik Wiking in his book below.

Blur picture, vivid memory : Picnic in Peak District 1994

After being grumpy a whole previous day, in our first stop my wish was granted. We had picnic by the lake in Derwentwater. From the lake, we could see the hill where the sheeps were enjoying their time, munching grass or just lazing around. The wind was pretty strong and it was cloudy at that time.

Done with enjoying the right amount of picnic, we proceeded to the next stop : Lingholm Estate. This is an itinerary arranged for the little girl. Here, we had a tour with alpaca, the cute little creature, a cousin to camel.

Lingholm Estate was a big estate by the lake where people could do trekking or eating in Lingholm Kitchen. We booked a session in 12.45 and since it wasn’t a normal situation, there were only two small groups of people with our own guide. We paid for 2 adults while the little girl paid none. So, we got 2 alpacas to walk around with us.

Popeye and Jahraz were the two Alpacas given to us. Me and Langit went with Popeye. He was a very nice and lazy alpaca who loved stopping and eating grass every few meters. We walked for an hour through the lake, forest and around the estate. It was beautiful.

Ste was our guide that day. Within an hour, everyone who met him would clearly see his huge love for his job. The way he explained about the Alpacas, the way he talked to them, the sparkling eyes and genuine smile were too obvious. When normally we have a dog person or cat person, then Ste is obviously an alpaca person.

He told us that he started as an ordinary guest just like us when he had totally fell in love with these creatures. He visited on March then by June, he had already landed at this job. I always have big respect and admiration to this kind of people. They know what they want, have the courage to pursue it, no matter how far from flashy it looks.

We had lunch in Lingholm kitchen and prayed in the car then continued the trip to Saint Bees.

Saint Bees is a less famous coastal beach in Lake District. We were so lucky that day the weather was so fine. The blue sky and sunshine were available throughout the day.

Not so many people in Saint Bees that day. Most of them were the elders or maybe local people. It wasn’t the beach for swimming but a perfect one to enjoy the sunshine, blue sky, the sound of the wave, and the beautiful hill next to the beach.

Honestly, there were so many times where the heart felt like being pinched watching these beautiful views. Saint Bees was one them.

It was 7 pm when we left Saint Bees and still had one last itinerary.

To the famous Buttermere.

Similar to the last trip to Scotland, the last itinerary was the highlight of the trip. SATNAV, the map tool, directed us through some narrow streets instead of big one. But then, the view out there was so breathtaking.

It was so quiet, peaceful and serene. It felt surreal to see all these beautiful nature and how different it was with the city landscape.

Maybe I was too grumpy about the picnic on the previous day until the next day, I was granted not only one but two picnics by the lake.

The second one in Crummock Water was way more beautiful than one in Derwent Water. The silence, the almost sunset view, the sound of the sparkling water. Such place does really exist in this world. We had our dinner in Crummock Water and Langit had some time throwing stones to the lake.

We still had Buttermere for our very last stop which only few minutes away from Crummock Water. Buttermere is a small village by the lake and often considered as the most beautiful Lake in Lake District. Crummock Water is actually also a part of Buttermere. The stunning view level is obviously higher than the lakes we visited on the first day.

We practically had the whole lake for ourselves in Buttermere. The hands couldnt stop taking picture. More with my favorite time of the day, made everything look more photogenic.

How ungrateful the heart was on the first day and how much it filled with gratitude on the next day.

To be granted a chance to travel safely after five months in this unusual situation, and many more, sometimes, other than being extremely grateful, I am just too scared to receive so much.

May the heart always stays low when life is on high paces and be patient (which is so hard) during the (s)low times.

We arrived at Penrith Railway Station on Friday afternoon around 14.30. Check in was still one and half hour away so we visited Penrith Castle right in front of the station. It’s more of ruined castle and there was nothing much to see. We had quick lunch on the bench before continued walking to our guest house.

I booked a guesthouse 10 minutes walking from the station and it is located near the supermarket since we traveled without kitchen. Our room was a triple bed in the attic. It was nice and clean.

Right after checked in, we went for a walk to see around the city center of Penrith and since it is a small town, we could just walked around for two hours. More, in the current situation, almost all the shops were still closed. The streets were empty and people were rarely seen. We just went home after a short visit to Sainsbury to buy some snacks and water.

As it is another nature trip, we booked a car for the next 2 days. Day one turned out to be one of the grumpy days in my traveling diary. We were ready to go according to the appointment with the car hire person and took a cab to the office. We were a bit early so we waited first. Until 15 minutes, there was no sign it would come so I asked the trip planner to call them. It turned out they would be late because of so many things and the earliest they could arrive was 11 am.

The grumpiness started.

It was 10.20 and we decided to return to the guest house as we left something too. We called the same cab to send us back and asked the driver to pick us once again at 11.10. The car office was only 7 minutes away. Not long after we arrived at our room, the car person called that they had arrived. We practically wasted 10 pounds on cab. The car hire company agreed to give us some compensation about making us waiting for them without a prior notice.

After everything was clear, we’re good to go and I was so ready to execute my most wanted itinerary. But, as the wise words said : bad things never come alone.

The first destination was Ullswater and it was only less than 30 minutes away from Penrith. But, when we arrived there, parking spot were packed. Not only that, the parking along side the road were also full. The city people were spending weekend by swimming, hiking, and camping. Apparently, my picnic plan should wait a little bit longer.

We proceeded to the next stop to Aira Force. Small waterfalls near Ullswater and it said we could have some picnic too. I wasn’t really sure since I had a very specific picture about kind of picnic that I wanted to do and it was certainly not a picnic by the waterfalls. Arrived in Aira Force, turned out another jammed parking spot so we just stuck there for few minutes and continued.

The grumpiness level was rising.

We only had two days in Lake District and had spent more than half of the first day in car.

As we already had a booked boat trip in Windermere and it was impossible to miss it, we had no choice but heading directly there. We arrived an hour early and thankfully, no more parking spot struggle. While waiting for the boat, I saw a perfect picnic spot on the other side of the lake. But again, it was impossible to go there within an hour. I should accepted my picnic ransum to be finished inside the car instead by the lake.

My mood had been so awful for the rest of the trip. Even the slightest thing irritated me and my heart almost lost all interest in everything. The beautiful view of Windermere outside the boat window couldn’t make the eyes wide opened and they chose to sleep along the trip. The weather was quite fine. Some blue and grey skies took turn. The trip took an hour back and forth.

The next destination was Grasmere where there was a famous gingerbread man store which only opened until 5 pm. On the other side, we had already promised the little girl to go to playground. We had Brockenhole in our itinerary where there was playground. We supposed to go there before the boat trip. Since the plan changed, so did the itinerary.

We accidentally found a pretty decent playground on the way to Grasmere. We made a stop there and let the little girl played for a while. There were quite few people, big group of moslem families to be precise, doing picnic and barbeque although there was a clear sign of no camping, no fire, no barbeque. Shame on them.

One of the advantages of summer trip is the long daytime. So we proceed to Grasmere and when I saw the little vilage from the car, the hope to have a picnic by the lake soared. Grasmere is a beautiful little village, the town was slightly busier than Penrith. I always love town walking trip. But sadly, we couldnt do that in this trip. Also, most of the shops were still closed.

We bought dinner from one of the restaurant and still tried find a spot for picnic but ended up with nothing. At that time, all I wanted to do was went home and sleep.

The mood was slightly improved when we visited our last itinerary : Castlerigg Stonecircle. It looked just like mini Stonehenge without entrance ticket and the crowd. It was located on the top of mountain with incredibly stunning view. The view reminded me of the Heidi and The Swiss Alps book.

Albeit all the beautiful landscapes, day one spent with heavy heart and dissapointment.

Lanjut dari bagian 1

Besoknya Senin pagi, kita keluar airbnb jam 9.20 dan udah pesen uber buat ke rental mobilnya. Perut saya udah mendingan meskipun masih ngga nyaman. Kita sempat nunggu agak lama sampai mobilnya siap.

Mobil yang kita dapet adalah Nissan Juke yang ternyata oke dan nyaman. Dalam bayangan saya mobil rentalnya akan seperti mobil tua yang sudah agak lusuh. Tapi begitu liat bersih, nyaman, dan kaya mobil baru, seneng banget.

#3 : ketika jalan-jalan, ekspektasi penting buat kenyamanan hati.

Kita berangkat dari Edinburgh jam 10 lewat sedikit. Keluar sedikit dari kotanya, lanskap pemandangannya sudah langsung berubah. Setelah jalan sekitar 40 menit kita stop di pemberhentian pertama. Sebuah toko es krim home made dan produk peternakan di pinggir jalan.










Es krim habis kita lanjut lagi dan berhenti di Luss Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond memang ngga seterkenal Loch Ness, tapi ngga rugi berhenti. Di ujung jalan menuju danau, ada satu toko souvenir kecil yang barangnya lebih unik dengan harga yang sesuai. Di sini akhirnya kita beli sedikit oleh-oleh.

Loch Lomondnya sendiri waktu kita dateng hujan lumayan deras,tapi karena cuaca di Skotland ini moody sekali, dalam beberapa menit tiba-tiba cerah lagi.





Dari Loch Lomond kita masih berhenti di banyak tempat lagi buat pipis dan foto. Pemandangan di luar jendela terlalu bagus buat dilewatkan.  Lanskap pemandangan menuju Glen Coe ini bergunung-gunung yang sebagian besar puncaknya masih tetutup es. Apa yang dilihat dari balik jendela ngga bisa sepenuhnya ditangkap kamera hp sederhana.



Kita sempat berhenti di rest area buat ke kamar mandi dan beli instan couscous dan tuna pedas di dalam cup. Buat makanan instan rasanya cukup lumayan. Setelah itu, langsung menuju penginapan karena sudah mulai gelap.

Kita sampai sekitar jam setengah enam. Strassynt guest house ini penginapan yang dijalankan oleh keluarga kecil. Kita dibukakan pintu langsung oleh Neil yang punya rumah. Meskipun kecil tapi kamarnya bersih, nyaman, kamar mandi juga cukup luas. Kita sempet numpang makan malem di ruang keluarganya. Selain bawa makanan, juga sempet beli makanan di Co-Op, minimarket  yang ada di belakang guest house.

Sebelum kita naik, Neil minta kita buat pilih breakfast yang kita mau untuk besok pagi. Pilihannya ngga banyak dan standar. Tapi lebih baik daripada ngga ada sama sekali.



Salah satu hal yang mungkin beda sama orang lain adalah pergi kemanapun kita hampir ngga pernah keluar lagi abis maghrib, dan kita selalu bangun dan sarapan kecil sebelum subuh. Setidaknya beberapa kali trip keluar, kita selalu jalan paling lambat jam 8 dan maghrib udah di rumah. Jam 9 udah tidur. Lama-lama udah jadi kebiasaan.

Di sini pun sama dengan banyak alesan yang valid. Ini desa kecil, gelap, dingin, dan ngga ada apapun juga yang bisa diliat. Jadi setelah check in, ngga kemana-mana lagi selain makan malam di ruang keluarga sambil ngobrol sebentar dengan hostnya.Besok pagi sebelum jam 7, kita udah keluar dan jalan-jalan di sekitar penginapan. Udara dingin dan berangin ditahan-tahanin karena pemandangan di semua sisi susah buat dilewatkan. Setelah sejam, kita kembali ke penginapan buat sarapan.



Sarapan yang disediakan adalah menu yang sudah dipilih malamnya. Standar aja, tapi enak. Saya pesen omlet, pancake buat Langit, dan smoked salmon bagel buat Pak Dokter. Buah, yoghurt, dan sereal juga tersedia. Selesai sarapan, kita langsung mandi dan beres-beres untuk cek out dan lanjut jalan. Setelah cek out dan taro koper di mobil, kita lanjut jalan-jalan lagi di sekitar penginapan. Tujuan utama  danau di sebrang jalan. Cuaca waktu itu hujan, angin lumayan, tangan beku. Semangat aja yang tetep 45 dengan dalih kapan lagi.

Setelah puas hujan-hujanan, kita kembali ke mobil dan itinerary hari kedua dimulai. Tujuan akhir hari kedua adalah Fort Augustus. Di Fort Augustus ada danau Loch Ness yang terkenal. Loch sendiri artinya lake. Sebelum Fort Augustus, kita sempat berhenti buat tracking sederhana di salah satu forest trail. Tracknya antara ringan-sedang. Lumayan juga buat olahraga dan suasananya juga tenang dan sepi.
Selesai tracking, kita terus ngga berhenti lagi sampai Fort Augustus. Sampai sana sekitar jam 2. Waktu sampai, ada cruise Loch Ness yang siap berangkat. Tadinya mau naik, tapi udah telat dan ternyata itu kapal terakhir. Ya sudah, jadi kita makan siang dulu dan  jalan-jalan sambil nunggu waktunya check in jam 4 sore. Pemandangan sekitar Loch Ness waktu itu pas banget dengan cerita-cerita monster yang didenger. Kabut, mendung, hujan, bahkan pas makan siang sempet hujan dan salju sebentar.

Cukup salut sih sama negara ini yang bisa menjual pariwisatanya berdasarkan sesuatu yang fiktif dan absurd dan dibeli secara masif. Karena winter mungkin ngga terlalu rame, tapi pemandangan dari danau Loch Ness dan suasananya itu tenang dan relaxing sekali.





Ngga ada yang lebih moody dari cuaca Skotland selama road trip ini. Setelah jam 4 cek in, tiba-tiba cuaca jadi cerah lagi. Tapi saya udah terlalu lelah buat bungkus diri dengan semua jaket tebel, jadi waktu Pak Dokter mutusin jalan lagi, saya lebih pilih tinggal di penginapan.

Besok paginya, kita cek out jam 9 dan sempetin buat nengok Loch Ness sekali lagi. Cuaca pagi yang cerah bikin moodnya juga beda sekali. Seperti perbandingan pas monsternya laper dan sober.


Tujuan hari ketiga sekaligus hari terakhir adalah Urquhart Castle lalu akan balik ke Edinburgh. Sewa mobil kita sampai keesokan hari jam 10 pagi. Jadi kita lebih milih sudah di Edinburgh dari malam.

Dari Fort Augustus ke Urquhart Castle hanya sekitar 30 menit. Loch Ness dan Urquhart Castle itu biasanya satu paket kalo misalkan ikut one day tour. Urquhart Castle ini salah satu castle yang paling banyak dikunjungi di UK. Kastil di danau ini pemandangannya juga luar biasa cantiknya.






Dari Urquhart Castle rencananya kita akan lewat rute yang sama dengan pergi, tapi GPS di mobil menyarankan untuk ambil rute lain yang mana terus lanjut sampai ke Inverness, kota kecil yang merupakan akhir dari rute A82.
Karena yang nyupir sangat percaya dengan GPS, diikutilah saran mesin pintar tersebut.



Rencananya di Inverness mau makan siang. Tapi repotnya adalah cari parkir yang gratis yang aman. Karena ngga ketemu kita jalan lagi terus. Keluar dari aura kotanya dan jalan kecil di Inverness, kita kembali ke jalan besar seperti high way dan cari-cari tanda rest area yang ada restoran.



Cari rest area dan tempat makan ternyata ngga semudah itu. Kita jadi sempet muter-muter dan salah jalan yang ternyata adalah sebuah blessing in disguise. Setelah berbulan-bulan ngerasain winter yang hangat di London, akhirnya bisa lihat dan ngerasain aura dan warna winter yang sebenarnya. One of the most breath taking experiences in this trip was a chance to see and feel the “winter is white”.



Sepanjang jalan cuma bisa terkesima liat pemandangan di kanan kiri. Setelah berbulan-bulan Langit nanyain hal yang sama tentang winter, akhirnya pertanyaannya dijawab. Kita akhirnya bisa berhenti dan parkir di Aviemore buat makan siang dan berhenti di salah satu taman kecil buat main salju. Aviemore ini kayanya juga pegunungan dan resort tempat main ski karena banyak orang dengan snow suit dan sepanjang jalan banyak toko peralatan ski.

# 4 : selalu percaya, ada sesuatu yang lebih besar dari perhitungan akal manusia untuk segala hal yang terjadi di hidup kita. Sekecil apapun, semua yang jadi rejeki, akan sampai dari manapun dan bagaimanapun caranya. Sekecil ganti rute jalan, ternyata highlight tripnya ada di sana.






Setelah makan siang dan main salju sebentar, kita ngga berhenti lagi dan langsung gas ke Edinburgh karena kejar sebelum gelap. Sengeri-ngerinya nyetir di highway, lebih ribet nyetir di kota yang jalanya kecil dan lebih padet.


Hal yang paling menakjubkan dari Scottish Highland ini adalah gimana alamnya bisa berubah drastis dalam jeda waktu dan jaraknya yang sangat pendek. Dalam 1 jam bisa ngerasain hujan salju lalu berubah jadi panas terik meskipun tetap dingin. Dalam jeda beberapa menit pemandangan di luar jendela bisa menampilkan musim yang berbeda.

Kita sampai di Edinburgh sekitar jam 18.30 dan langsung cek-in. Kali ini pilih di apartemen hotel yang juga punya parkiran biarpun bayar. Pengalaman sewa mobil ini jadi belajar banyak hal. Seperti susahnya cari parkir gratis, atau masuk ke gedung parkir dengan kode, slot parkir juga ngga bisa liat asal kosong. Meskipun nyaman, saya mendingan naik bis kemana-mana.

Setelah Komodo tahun lalu, ini mungkin salah satu trip alam yang paling berkesan. Salah satu skill paling jago yang saya punya adalah bisa tidur dimana aja dalam waktu cepet. Apalagi di mobil. Bisa baru naik langsung tidur. Di road trip ini, hampir 90% mata saya kebuka. Dua pertiga karena ngga selesai-selesai ngerekam semua pemandangan depan mata, sisanya berdoa semoga selamat di jalan sampai kembali ke tujuan. Ngga baik buat jantung duduk di kursi penumpang selama road trip ini.

#5 : makin jauh pergi, makin sepi dan sunyi tempat yang dikunjungi, makin banyak lihat berbagai macam hal, makin jelas dan sadar kalo kita kecil sekali di dunia seluas ini.

Keesokan paginya kita cek out jam 9 dan langsung ke tempat rental mobil. Perjalanan yang harusnya hanya 12 menit berakhit jadi 40 menit karena selain GPSnya ngasih jalan yang ngga bisa dilaluin mobil, navigator di samping supir pun sama sekali ngga pinter buat baca peta. Combo lah.

Lega sekali rasanya waktu mobil sudah dikembalikan tanpa kurang satu apapun. Kereta kembali ke London masih jam 1an, kita nunggu dulu di Waverley Mall buat makan siang di Chopstix, fast food halal terenak di UK yang menyediakan makanan cina sederhana kaya mie dan nasi dengan ayam berbagai bumbu.



Sejauh-jauhnya pergi, setelah lima hari bertualang, ngga ada yang lebih nikmat dari kembali ke tempat paling nyaman di seluruh UK.


Alhamdulillah.

Buat pertama kali selama tinggal London, akhirnya keluar dari Inggris. Kebetulan waktunya pas libur tengah semester dan jadwal cuti yang sudah diajukan dan disetujui jauh-jauh hari.

Awalnya saya sudah bikin plan dan budget buat pergi ke dua kota : Edinburgh dan Glasgow. Berhubung saya emang tim liburan di kota, pilihannya kota semua. Tapi, di tengah perencanaan, Pak Dokter akhirnya buka suara mengubah itinerary dan rute trip menjadi half road trip. Bukan sekedar liat-liat naik bis lokal keliling kota, tapi sewa mobil buat liat sendiri, bagusnya Scottish Highlands yang orang-orang dan video-video di Youtube gambarin.

Setelah banyak diskusi antara waktu dan rute, akhirnya ditetapkan rencana rute perjalanan kami adalah Edinburgh 2 malam- Loch Lomond-Glencoe-Ballachulish (Nginep)- Fort William-Fort Augustus (Nginep)-Urquhart Castle-Edinburgh. Baru kali ini trip 6 hari 5 malam dihabiskan di 4 tempat yang berbeda.

Akomodasi baru dipesan setelah kami konfirm dengan penyewaan mobil. Sedikit info tentang sewa mobil dan nyetir di UK, mungkin bisa membantu kalo ada yang perlu. SIM A bisa digunakan untuk menyetir di UK, tapi untuk sewa mobil, diperlukan SIM yang berbahasa Inggris. Kami ngga punya SIM Internasional. Setelah cari info, Pak Dokter dapet salah satu travel di Jakarta yang bisa bantu buat bikin SIM Internasional dari sini. Jadi tinggal kirim semua data yang diperlukan via email lalu mereka bantu urus lalu sim akan dikirim via kurir. Biayanya sih lumayan ya. Harga asli SIM Internasional hanya 250 ribu.

Tapi, berhubung ngga ada pilihan lain dan memang perlu, jadi kita tetap urus. Travelnya cukup reliable, selalu bales wa, fast response juga ditanya-tanya, bahkan sampai terakhir SIMnya akhirnya sampai juga ke rumah di London, mereka masih cek apa kita udah terima. Setelah SIM Internasional konfirm, baru akomodasi mulai dipesan.

Di Edinburgh 2 malam pertama saya pilih Airbnb. Seperti biasa, soal milih AirBnb cuma dua : harga dan lokasi. Kebetulan dapet yang harganya masih sesuai budget, foto OK, jarak dari stasiun juga ok. Di Ballachulish dan Fort Augustus, pilihan ngga banyak, harga juga cukup mahal. Jadi terpaksa 2 malam nginep di akomodasi tanpa dapur. Di Ballachulish kami nginep di Strassynt Guest House, di Fort Augustus kami nginep di Lock Chamber Caledonian Canal, penginapan tanpa penerima tamu. Di malam terakhir kembali ke Edinburgh, nginep di Hotel-Apartment.

Kereta dari London ke Edinburgh Waverley berangkat dari Euston. Virgin Train yang biasanya menyediakan rute ini sudah ngga ada dan diganti oleh Avanti West Coast. Sebenernya sama aja sih, cuma seinget saya Virgin itu bisa milih bangku waktu pesen, sedangkan Avanti tau-tau udah dipilihin pas udah konfirmasi pembayaran. Sayangnya, kita ngga dapet yang table seats.

Trip ke Edinburgh ini rasanya seperti trip besar sebelumnya. Bedanya cuma berangkat dari London, bukan Jakarta. Apa yang rasanya sama? Dramanya.

Jumat malem jam 12 Langit kebangun dan bilang perutnya sakit, ngga berapa lama dia muntah dan non-stop sampai pagi. Buat yang hampir ngga pernah muntah kaya gini, timingnya pas banget kan. 2 jam sebelum berangkat masih pucet dan muntah ditambah juga mencret.

Kita berangkat dari rumah jam 7.20 sabtu pagi. Kereta berangkat jam 8.43. Perjalanan ke Euston cuma perlu 40 menit. Saya udah siap-siap plastik jaga-jaga dia muntah lagi. Tiap beberapa menit nanya apa dia mau muntah. Deket pemberhentian bis buat nyambung dengan underground, tiba-tiba yang ditakutin kejadian. Dia muntah lagi dan itu sebelum kita turun. Karena dia ga makan apa-apa, jadi yang keluar hanya sedikit air di lantai bis. Udah minta maaf terus ke supir bisnya, dan malah repot banget juga bawa koper dan backpack. Alhamdulillah supirnya masih cukup baik, meskipun ngeliatin dengan tatapan yang ga jelas antara kesian atau kesel, dia masih sempet nanya, ” Are you ok?”.

Kita sampai di Euston cuma beberapa menit sebelum kereta berangkat. Ngga pernah ngga mepet herannya. Ada aja. Di kereta, masih sempet muntah dua kali tapi aman. Semua tertampung dalam plastik. Perjalanan ke Edinburgh ini lumayan lama sekitar 4,5 jam. Di hari itu, Storm Dennis lagi dateng, jadi ada satu servis kereta yang dibatalkan dan semua dioper ke Avanti. Keretanya bukan cuma penuh tapi sesak. Bahkan ada yang harus berdiri. Kereta mahal rasa underground.

Tapi Alhamdulillahnya Langit udah berenti muntah dan lumayan bisa tidur. Meskipun dia tetep ngga mau makan apa-apa. Sampai di Edinburgh jam 14.30 dan hujan gede. Menimbang semua keadaan dan kerepotan, kita mutusin naik taksi ke Airbnb, ngga naik bis.

Di saat-saat kaya gini saya bersyukur sekali, kami tinggal di Inggris dengan visa kerja, bukan pelajar. Budget bisa lebih leluasa. Uang tidak dipungkiri, bisa membuat setiap keadaan lebih mudah.

#1 : dalam hal apapun di hidup, punya pilihan itu kemewahan dan salah satu privilege yang paling berharga.

Jarak ke Airbnb cuma 15 menit. Hostnya sendiri yang bantu kita buat check in. Alhamdulilah ketika sampe rumah, Langit udah bisa makan biarpun sedikit dan ngga muntah. Mode cerewetnya juga udah naik pelan-pelan,meskipun masih buang air. Setelah dia makan, saya ngerengek mau pergi karena ngerasa sayang kalo sisa hari ngga dipake kemana-mana. Nekatlah siap-siap pergi sendiri. Langit jelas ga bisa diajak jalan, Pak Dokter mau nonton bola.

Baru nutup pintu depan, ternyata hujannya deres dengan angin yang kencang sekali. Sampe payung hostnya rusak. Alhasil saya mutusin balik lagi. Apesnya, saya ngga bawa kunci karena pikir ya nanti bisa tinggal telpon kalo udah mau pulang. Lebih apesnya lagi, hp Pak Dokter lagi dicharge, dan itu di kamar sedangkan dia dan Langit di ruang tengah. Dua puluh menit saya telp dan wa di depan pintu ngga diangkat. Udah basah kuyup. Kesel banget.

Tiba-tiba ada satu cewe menuju pintu apartemen dan ternyata dia mau masuk. Alhamdulillah sekali dan saya bisa langsung masuk tinggal kedor pintu kamar. Untung yang ini langsung dibukain. Alhasil, malam pertama di Edinburgh, dihabiskan dengan marathon drama korea. Sulit emang kalo pergi ngga direstuin.

Besoknya, menurut prakiraan cuaca, Denis masih akan berlangsung dan kemungkinan hujan cukup tinggi. Kita udah siap jalan dari jam 8. Ternyata hampir sepanjang hari cukup cerah jadi memungkinkan buat keliling-keliling. Kita naik bis ke Victoria Street lalu terus lanjut jalan kaki ke Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle (tutup karena Denis), Grassmarket, sempet stop dulu buat angetin perut minum teh sama scone, anginnya bener-bener kenceng. Lanjut ke Museum Context Harry Potter. Setelah makan di Yo Sushi, kita lanjut lagi jalan ke tempat rental mobil, supaya besoknya ngga nyari sambil geret-geret koper. Destinasi terakhir ke Edinburgh Central Mosque.

Cantiknya Edinburgh ini agak terganggu dengan angin kencang yang nusuk sampe ke tulang plus Langit juga yang masih ngga fit. Kali ini kita ngga bawa skuter karena akan naik mobil. Kita jalan santai, pelan, sesekali berhenti, foto-foto. Langit sempet buang air abis makan, yang alhamdulillahnya masih di Yo Sushi, jadi aman. Abis makan dan jalan lagi, ngga berapa lama, tiba-tiba dia bilang mau buang air lagi. Bener-bener panik harus kemana. Liat ada Joe the Juice yang antri rame sampe keluar dan pikir pasti ada toilet, masuklah kesana.

Gara-gara rame dan spacenya cukup sempit, saya dan Langit jadi cukup ngga terlihat dan bisa langsung ke toiletnya. Alhamdulillah kosong dan selamat juga dari insiden yang mengerikan.

Dari setelah makan, saya ngerasa ada yang ngga enak juga di perut. Tapi masih tetap terus jalan. Makin lama makin ngga enak dan pengen muntah. Angin kenceng bikin badan beku, kaki pegel, punggung rasanya sakit semua, perut mual, dan konturnya Edinburgh ini nanjak, lengkap sudah. Tadinya sempat mau batal ke Central Mosque. Cuma ya udah sampe sini, akhirnya diputuskan buat naik taksi sekali lagi.

#2 : Sehat selama perjalanan
sampai kembali ke tujuan,
bisa menikmati semua pemandangan dan pengalaman ketika liburan,
doa yang selalu harus dipanjatkan sebelum jalan-jalan.

Ini entah saya yang agak bias karena kondisinya kurang enak dari cuaca dan badan, tapi soal kotanya, Edinburgh ini lebih sedikit point of interestnya dibanding kota-kota lain yang pernah didatengin.  Konturnya yang nanjak dan banyak kastil-kastil memang keliatan cantik, tapi ngga ada tempat yang bener-bener wow. Baru kali ini saya ngga bikin list tempat yang musti didatengin karena emang cuma sedikit, seperti Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Victoria Street, Museum Context Harry Potter, Grassmarket, St Giles Cathedral. Saya emang turis standar sih, mungkin kurang banyak riset juga

Satu lagi, UK itu ngga punya makanan yang khas banget juga. Jadi dimana-mana pilihannya untuk makan cuma antara middle east, asian atau thai food. Fish and Chips itu hambar buat lidah kita. Rugi juga. Tapi, kita sempet mampir ke Scottish Kitchen dan coba cheese sconenya. Enak. Beda lah sama scone yang biasa saya saya beli di Lidl, hehe. Atau ini bias juga ya karena saya penggemar bakery dan pastry.


Hal lainnya adalah toko souvenirnya pun ngga ada yg menonjol. Semua hampir menjual hal yang sama. Produknya Harris Tweed yang dari segi kualitas dan harga kurang pas, (atau ya ngga sesuai sama daya beli mungkin?😄).  Jadi, ngga ada satupun yang dibeli pas di Edinburgh.




Selesai seharian keliling Edinburgh, udah mau naik taksi lagi, ternyata susah. Jadinya pulang naik bis.

Sampai rumah, ngga kaya biasa pasti langsung beres-beres atau nyiapin sesuatu, saya langsung ganti baju dan masuk selimut. Setelah berselang beberapa lama, muntah ngga berenti. Saya jarang sekali masuk angin karena dimanapun kita hampir ngga pernah keluar abis maghrib. Tapi seharian kemasukan angin Denis, udah ngga tahan dan muntah semaleman.

Kabar baiknya, Langit udah sehat. Udah ceriwis lagi dan itu sangat melegakan karena besoknya kita akan mulai road trip. Bagian road trip ini ngga ada satupun yang saya rencanain, semua Pak Dokter. Hal ini yang buat saya juga setengah hati. Bukan penggemar road trip dan agak ngeri aja ngebayangin nyetir di tempat yang ngga familiar dengan peraturan yang super ketat. Biarpun udah di briefing berkali-kali, saya terus nanya hal yang sama. Buat orang yang selalu banyak baca sebelum pergi, saya sama sekali ngga baca apapun tentang Highlands. Jadi tulalit banget😁

Lanjut di bagian kedua tentang Highlands. Mari liat apa Highlandsnya bisa mengubah setengah hati jadi sepenuh hati.

The last day trip before spring term starts or we can say the first out of London trip this year.

Cambridge is only less than an hour from London. We took 9.12 train from Euston and arrived exactly at 10am at Cambridge station. The first impression told that this city is a quiet one.

The first stop was the Eagle pub. It is the place where Watson and Crick for the first time published and discussed their finding about double helix DNA.

Not far from the pub, there is the iconic place from the famous university. King’s College is the most famous college among 31 colleges in Cambridge university. The entrance ticket for two adults cost £18. The college was huge, quiet, and tranquil. Inside the college there’s Kings College Chapel. On the way out, we passed the river where visitors can go punting at certain price. Going around the college by the boat with a guide who rows the boat. We passed the punting.

We continued walking to the Cambridge Market. Unlike Oxford, the market is only an open market and the tenants are not that interesting. Nothing special about the market. We also had lunch there before heading to city centre.

The city centre is pretty lovely. The small alleys are really charming. It has the ambience like an old town. Along the way, we met climate change parade like one we saw in Oxford street in October. We just kept walking around, passed St John College and the famous Newton Apple tree.

We stopped by at few shops that drew our interest like the flagship store of Cambridge Satchel Company, the famous bags made in UK bag from Cambridge (this one was once a trend few years ago in Jakarta), Ryder and Amies, the 120 years university store in Cambridge, and Children at Heffers, a hidden book store which we coincidentally passed, which has great collections. If I were tourist who would comeback to my own home where my own mini library were there, I would definitely bought all those my favorite children books series!

As we only had seven hours in Cambridge, we didn’t enter any other colleges. Instead we went straight to our last destination which was Cambridge Central Mosque. We did zuhur-asr prayer and waited for maghrib there.

Cambridge central mosque is beautiful. Located in Mill Road, the mosque is one of the best that we have ever visited. It’s huge, bright, and well designed. The ablution room is so large and sparkling clean. Even the toilet has the mini shower which is very rare in this country. More, the abaya for prayer is also available! I was greatly impressed.

We did maghrib prayer in jamaat and it had been a long time since I heard a proper adzan. How I miss it a lot. From the mosque, we took a walk to the station. It wasn’t that close, but waiting for the bus was longer. It was just 4.30 pm but it was dark already, but the area was quite safe for walking.

After having three one day trips to the most visited places in UK, I could do some description about these cities.

Bath has an old people ambiance. Tea shop are everywhere. It’s just like visiting an old English lady who loves afternoon tea and enjoys scones and bun.

Oxford is the stylish, popular, out-going guy. The lively vibe, the crowd. It suits an extrovert personality.

While Cambridge is the opposite of Oxford. It’s quiet, tranquil, and obviously fit the description of a nerd introvert guy, which is totally my type😃.

Seven hours spent in Cambridge was a good start before heading to the new spring term tomorrow, resuming work next week and the exam at the end of the month.

Shall we aim this place for your future school perhaps?

The last weekend playground of the year spent in a city where the doctor heart has always been longing the most.

Liverpool was set once the annual leave approved and a home hospitality ticket was available for some quite pricey number. Yet, the chance to be able to watch the Reds in Anfield might not come twice, so secured it was better than regret. Alhamdulillah the ability to pay for it was also granted.

We once had been in Liverpool in 2017 but only for day trip doing the stadium tour. It’s beyond imagination that going back here to watch a live match granted two years later. I am not a fan at all, and I didnt watch the match with him too (I am not insane). But, since I knew the doctor from day one, his love for Liverpool is somewhat beyond a mere fan. So, it’s a pleasure to witness something that means so much for him.

We also stopped by Albert Dock, Museum of Liverpool, and the iconic statues of The Beatles for the first day itinerary. The second day agenda was going to The Beatles museum and Liverpool mosque.

The Beatles Story is one of paid museums that worths the pound spent, for us. The audio guide, the interior, the feel, they all make good combinations for an enjoyable visit. Ticket price is £17 for adult and £10. Langit is borderline and most of the time, some kind British staffs don’t count her so we often only pay for two adults.

For such big city, when you type Liverpool Central Mosque in search engine, you will only find one mosque called Al Rahma Mosque. I am not sure whether this one central or not, but the mosque located in a quiet residential area and quite far from city centre. Central mosque in one city is usually identic with halal food around. London, Oxford, Seoul, Tokyo, Bath, all located quite central surrounded by halal food restaurant. But in Liverpool, there is none.

In my opinion, Liverpool is more lively than Manchester. The city centre and the town are more charming. Although compared to London, the people are less friendly. Listening to the doctor’s explanation about Liverpool history, it is understandable that the people smile less than Londoners.

Another thing, I can safely say, the local seems really love their city. A taxi driver asked us where we came from and when he heard the answer that we live in London, he said something about pitying us and he started telling us about how good life in Liverpool is. Instead of annoyed, I found it so heart-warming listening to his story about places and felt the big love and pride he has for his hometown.

He gave us his number, told us to give him a call when we come back and he promised to give us a tour to the places less traveled by tourist in this city.

Then, there could be the third time, maybe?

I dont mind.

Last Saturday was a playground session for mommy. This time, the baby had to follow us to go to Oxford in less than five degree weather.

As the city of learning, Oxford is so lively and exciting. I couldn’t help admiring how they preserve such university buildings since 1231. All clean and seems just like what they were thousand years ago.

Oxford was chosen because few of Harry Potter filming scenes were there, good price for the train ticket, only an hour from London Marylebone. The city also has one of the 2019 best Christmas market in UK and Oxford Central Mosque is available. Many good reasons to make a visit to this city.

I planned to visit three colleges : New College, Christ Church College, and Magdalene, but only managed to visit two : New College and Christ Church. Is it free? Surely not. Budget for college entrance should be prepared when you want to visit this city.

In New College, we only visited the Divinity School, it costed £5 for family ticket. It’s only a small half-empty room which used as hospital wing in Harry Potter movie and several other movies. We had made our way to Magdalene College but, they only opened at 1 pm, so we left and didn’t comeback.

Au contraire, we went back and forth to Christ Church college three times. The first attempt we didnt buy the ticket because the great hall opened at 2 pm. The second time we came back after lunch, there was a very long queue to buy entrance ticket. We chose to leave for Oxford Central Mosque first and came back for the third time and got our ticket. It costed £25 for family ticket. Christ Church is the most popular more because of the potterhead wants to see the staircase where Harry met Draco for the first time and the Great Hall which resembles of Hogwarts Great Dining Hall.

The market is also full of eye candy stuff. As we love food, we bought home a pack of jam and coffee beans from Oxford Coveted Market. Oxford University souvenir shops spread everywhere and each of the store sell different uniques kind of souvenirs. Compared to Bath which feels like a city for older people, Oxford suits the young people like us (lho?) better.

Also, the House of Wonders in the city centre, a shop where you can get Harry Potter things, is also different than the Harry Potter shop in Kings Cross and House of Spells in London.

The only downside was the weather. It was freaking cold. It was such an achievement to survive a whole day 12 hours winter trip in feels-like-two-degree weather, especially for Langit who managed roaming around the city here and there with her little scooter, enjoyed Thai food for lunch, Libanais for dinner, without any whining. I am very proud of my little girl.

A silent pray spelled wish she had a chance to go back to this city for studying one day.

Amin.

We have one destination that we always visit whenever we travel : Market. In Paris, we visited Bastille Market, in Tokyo there is the famous Tsukiji Market. In Seoul, we plan to visit more than one market, but we ended up visiting Gwangjang Market twice! Among all the destinations, in 5 days, Gwangjang Market got the honour to be visited twice😁.

Now we are living in London, it’s the heaven of markets. From touristy markets until local farmers market, we have visited few of them. Some of markets are also tourist destinations. While the markets we visited near our house are more of the local one. These markets have been there since hundred years ago and they still keep running until now.

Some of the famous tourist markets in central London we have visited so far :

1. Borough Market

Located near London Bridge and London bridge station. This one is also famous because of Harry Potter shooting location.

2. Covent Garden

Covent Garden is torn between sophisticated, artsy, and parish. It smells, sounds, and feels like mini Paris when I visited it for the first time. The second time I went with the doctor during his day off, we ended up buying two real leather made in England jacket and coat from one of the sellers whom we really admired his sales skill. We only wanted to look around at first but ended up bought TWO leather jackets. Me, who is rarely tempted buy anyone or anything, finally made my most expensive purchase during three months living here. Regret? Obviously, NO. I got a new nice leather jacket!

3. Shoreditch and Old Spitafield Market

These two located in East London and could be reached within walking distance. Shoreditch is bigger and full of mouth watering street food, vintage and second hand things and also street musician. Old Spitafield is full of cute things that you rarely found in other markets. Like these first pictures below.

I once visited Shoreditch when we came here in 2017 like written in my old post. The second time, almost no picture taken. Beside, Shoreditch on weekend is totally crowded!

4. Greenwich Market

When other three markets above are all in zone 1, Greenwich Market is in Zone 2. Although it’s not that very central, but this one could be included as a tourist market. Greenwich itself is worth yout time visiting it. I have written this before.

I have visited this market twice and it turned out maybe there are different tenants on different day. These pictures below were taken when I visited the market on Wednesday. When the second time I came on Saturday, some tenants were totally different.

5. Portobello Market

This one is also in central London and it sells lots of antiques. It is located near the famous Notting Hill. Among the five, this one is my least favorite.

Some of tourist markets are still on the to-be-visited list when we have some time to be tourists again later. This December is about Christmas Market and so far we have only visited one in Hyde Park. Looking forward to visit the other markets when the school holiday is here!

Sabtu lalu, sesi playground gratisan ditiadakan. Kenapa?

Karena :

1. Weekend perdana dibukanya Winter Wonderland di Hyde Park.

2. Udah gajian (🤭).

Alesan pertama ngga ada artinya kalo ngga ada yang kedua karena Winter Wonderland ini cukup mahal (buat saya), seperti halnya museum-museum berbayar di kota ini.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland buka setiap hari jam 10.00-20.00 dari tanggal 21 November 2019 – 5 Januari 2020. Tutup di hari Natal. Masuk ke Winter Wonderland ini gratis. Jadi kalo cuma mau liat christmas market dan keliling tanpa beli dan naik atraksi apa-apa, bisa ngga keluar uang. Ada beberapa atraksi berbayar seperti ice skating, sirkus, Paddington on Ice, dan lain-lain. Wahana permainannya pun cukup banyak dan semua berbayar. Sistemnya adalah kita beli token di loket khusus baru bisa digunakan di wahana tujuan.

Tujuan utama dateng kesini adalah mau coba ice skating. Saya ngga pengen-pengen banget sebenernya. Selain ngga bisa, dingin, trus ya lumayan harganya.

Satu sesi ice skating adalah 50 menit. Sebaiknya booking tiket dulu via website. Satu tiket dewasa harganya £14.50 dan anak £9.50, kalo booking slot di jam standar. Jam standar artinya yang ngga terlalu ramai. Kalo weekend ada di slot jam 10-12. Hari biasa juga dihitung waktu standar. Slot peak bedanya hanya 1 pound dengan yang standar.

Tadinya kita pengen dateng malem karena pasti lebih bagus dengan lampu-lampu dan hiasannya. Tapi dengan pertimbangan baru pertama kali, akhirnya kita pilih slot pertama jam 10. Udah dateng dari jam 9.30 dan antriannya udah lumayan. Jam 9.45 gerbang di buka dan sebelum masuk semua tas diperiksa.

Buat ke Ice rink bisa masuk dari gate 5. Saya lupa biru atau ungu ya warnanya. Masuk ke ice rink dan langsung ada backdrop foto berikut fotografer dan mesin fotonya. Pasti difoto, diambil atau ngga terserah kita. Kemudian lanjut ke ruang penyimpanan sepatu dan tas. Tidak diperbolehkan bawa tas apapun. Handphone boleh di kantong. Jadi semua disimpan di loker. Enaknya di eropa, ukuran kaki saya yang ngga lazim pasti ada. Setelah simpen tas yang kalo ngga salah bayar juga mungkin 1-2 pound (karena liat ada kasirnya), sepatu kita dituker dengan sepatu ice skating. Pinjem sepatu sudah termasuk di tiket.

Buat anak seumur Langit dan lebih kecil, mereka tetap menggunakan sepatu biasa lalu dilapisi dengan sepatu besi khusus buat skating. Jadi, kalo main ice skating sebaiknya pakai boot yang plastik. Kalo kata Langit “muddy boot” kaya Peppa Pig.

Setelah ganti sepatu bisa langsung menuju area ice skatingnya. Untuk anak-anak disediakan pinguin doll buat membantu mereka jalan di es. Jadi bisa sendiri. Banyak juga anak-anak yang lebih kecil dari Langit main. Sekecil yang sepertinya bener-bener baru belajar jalan.

Satu yang saya kagum dengan orang-orang eropa ini, anak-anaknya kecilnya agile banget. Awal-awal sampe suka bengong liat anak yg ukuran badannya setengah Langit tapi kemampuan naik skuternya tiga kali dia. Luwes banget dan kaya bener-bener tau mengendalikan skuternya. Saya kadang-kadang ngeri sendiri tapi orangtuanya pun keliatan biasa aja. Di playground pun gitu. Anak-anak umur 1,5 taun manjat sana sini pun terlihat fit banget. Ngga heran sih mereka soal fisik dan mental jauh dari kita. Dari kecil udah disediakan fasilitas dan terbiasa sama aktivitas fisik seperti ini dalam cuaca apapun.

Balik lagi ke sesi ice skating. Seperti yang sudah diperkirakan, Langit keliatan hepi, Pak Dokter juga jelas karena ya dia yang paling pengen, saya ngga bilang ngga enak, tapi menikmati banget juga ngga. Saya menghabiskan waktu dengan mengelilingi ice rink pegangan di pinggiran sambil berusaha jangan sampai jatuh. Sesekali ikutan pegangan di penguin Langit karena ternyata enak banget. Langit juga pas tingginya buat penguin itu, meskipun beberapa kali tetep jatuh.

Satu yang ngga boleh adalah foto di es. Ngga boleh sama sekali keluarin hape dan foto waktu di es. Kalo mau foto kita keluar dulu dari ring, trus yang foto berdiri di luar. Saya dan Pak Dokter sempet kena tegur sebagai orang norak yang baru pertama kali main skating outdoor denga dekorasi bagus😣.

Di arena ice rinknya ada selfie spot dimana kita bisa foto kaya foto box. Kita foto juga disitu. Di slot yang kita pilih cukup enak karena ngga terlalu rame, jadi yang amatir kaya saya gini ngga terlalu khawatir. Saya benar-benar menghabiskan waktu dengan pegangan di pinggiran box. Pernah beberapa kali pegangan tangan sama Pak Dokter yang sedikit lebih jago, yang ada malah hampir jatoh. Di film sih keliatan romantis ya. Padahal mah kalo jatoh yang ada keliatan konyol.

Setelah selesai ice skating, kita ke ruangan ganti lagi dan kembalikan sepatu juga ambil tas. Di ruang ganti selesai ini juga ada kasir buat ambil foto. Kami ambil tiga foto dan bayar £25. Keluar dari ice rink, kita keliling buat liat atraksi lainnya. Langit sempat naik beberapa wahana kaya komidi putar anak-anak, bom-bom car sama satu lagi kaya apa ya. Muter-muter juga cuma agak ekstrim. Cuma tiga aja karena satu wahana lumayan juga harganya. Sesi Winter Wonderland ini ditutup dengan beli lolipop warna-warni.

Kalo ditanya, sebanding ngga sama harganya? Kalo buat yang pertama kali, belum pernah ke winter wonderland dan budgetnya ada, boleh lah. Apalagi kalo cuacanya cerah. Waktu itu kita malah sempet hujan-hujan main ice skating. Anak-anak sih pasti suka ya. Orangtuanya tinggal bayarnya aja sama harus berhadapan sama sakit badan dan kaki setelahnya. Pegelnya ampun.

Jadii, kalo pas ke London akhir taun sama anak ataupun ngga, Winter Wonderland bisa dimasukan sebagai salah satu itinerari.

Satu highlight di hari itu : banyak sekali yang bilang kostumnya Langit lucu banget. Dimana orang-orang pake jaket bulu angsa penahan dingin lengkap, dia pake daster winter beli di Myeongdong karena mamanya pengen dia pake itu yang mana agak susah occassionnya. Maaf ya be.