Sunday, 14 September 2008

• Holiday: Day One

  

  
  

  Day One: Train Journey
  

  Being unable to get the Saturday off from work, I travelled up on the Sunday by train rather than by mini bus with everyone else. There are pro's and con's to this, Pro: I don't have to squeeze into a tiny seat surrounded by eight or nine peoples pieces of luggage. Con: I have to pay for a train ticket, and seeing as something went wrong with the booking, ended up paying more than I thought I would. But setting the ticket problem aside, I love travelling by train. If tickets were cheaper I'd travel train more and get myself around the country. When we left Newcastle, the further up country we got the darker the clouds grew. But the dark clouds didn't detract from the beauty of the countryside, first through Northumberland and then into Scotland. That's the great thing about England, putting the weather aside, the landscape is beautiful to behold.

  
  

  Aside for a few stops along the way to let other trains by, the ride went smoothly. I usually go armed with books, Ipod, PSP, magazine but I always end up just sitting back watching the world go by. Scotland's beauty is breathtaking and it's hard not be captivated by it when you're suddenly surrounded by mountain ranges on either side of you. The various heathers create a patchwork of sorts over the land and up the mountain sides into the craggy grey rocks faces racing up to the peaks.

  Between Perth and Kingussie we had to pause on the tracks for about fifteen minutes due to another train coming down the other track. Where we stopped was a glorious landscape, the kind you see artists capture in their paintings. The rain had cleared up and the grey skies were letting through rays of the hidden sun behind them. The land was flat outstretching from the train tracks and a Loch glistened like a mirror as the light hit it. Sloping mountains rose up from it, with a house in the distance nestled at the foot of it. I could have easily pitched a tent (if I enjoyed camping) and stayed there for the week. It's the kind of view which inspires you to write, which is exactly what I did once I dragged my eyes from the view.

  I've been travelling to Scotland for holidays ever since I was a child, and the beauty and inspiration of the country never gets old. It's simply stunning and I don't have to pay thousands of pounds to get there and enjoy it. I found myself looking at the other patrons of the carriage, some were busy pouring over books, some had their laptops out, doing some work or other. A man a few seats ahead of me on the opposite side was tuned into his laptop via his headphones watching an episode of West Wing. I wondered if they ever took care to look outside at the natural beauty of the world or if they just enjoyed seeing it pass by them in a blur.

  As we pulled through Kingussie and headed for Aviemore it had started to get dark, the mountains ranges rose up like giant thick set shadows amidst the setting in twilight. I was a little disappointed the trip was over but was ready to start my holiday. I had arrived.

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