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Disclaimer: The story in this post has nothing to with any real persons, places, procedures and events and any resemblance thereto is purely coincidental.

It all started one fine day, precisely about 3 months ago, when I got information about my name making rounds for a possible foreign trip. So far I have been totally a domestic Ghumakkar who has not had any visions of a ‘foreign’ trip. So having a passport was never felt a necessity and my various identity cards, with a wide variety of addresses, ages and looks have been able to get me green at all the domestic check points so far.

Even after a few of my peers made official foreign trips, I never saw any possibility of myself doing that and shrugged off any suggestions for getting my passport ready with flair. Contrary to popular notions, most genuinely profitable government set ups are stingy about expenses on foreign travel, meaning these are not at all common. That is why, one of my peers had to go out of his way to get his US visa in time for a meeting. Things people do, just for a company sponsored foreign trip! I, would never do that. I believed official trip had to come with a Visa, Ticket and hotel booking.

London Eyes You

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(Edinburgh journey continues)
A quick getaway from the bustling city of Edinburgh is this small town with a very rich history as it was settled by the Romans, yes Romans! After having enjoyed Portobello beach and spent hours on the promenade, we wanted to look out for not so popular tourist destinations. Amy (my SIL’s father’s family lives in Musselburgh) immediately suggested that we will definitely like Musselburgh town. The name Musselburgh, or ‘mussel town’, derives from its history connected to development of mussel beds at the mouth of the River Esk which flows through the town.

Honest Toun as Scots say!

The moment I heard the name being taken by my brother this time over our trip to Scotland I immediately thought of some sumptuous italian inspired food or themed resort. Jokes apart, Portebello is a coast along Leith, part of Edinburgh, just 30 minutes ride from Easter Road location from where my brother and SIL stay( for the ease of the readers who will get various follow ups from me they are Neil and Amy).

Beach view at dusk

Our trip to Scotland this year was meant to be touching upon the nature trail even though we went during the peak of the famed Fringe festival. We, i.e., my husband and I didn’t take our 6 year old daughter for this trip so all the difficult walks and itineraries were possible. Our flight from Dubai to Glasgow was all of 7 hours 36 minutes. As we were staying with my brother and my sis in law, we had to further travel to Edinburgh where they stay on Easter road, easily accessible to all Fringe venues!

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