Bird watching at Linlithgow

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: Feathered ones, by the way. Given that it is only 20 miles west of Edinburgh, Linlithgow is an extremely popular day-trip from the Scottish capital. I recently decided to visit it and see what the fuss was all about. Being in weather-unpredictable UK, I know not to see the weather websites the previous day and instead make the decision on the morning of the trip itself. That particular day seemed like a sunny one (a rarity), so after a bit of self-deliberation, I decided to take the plunge. But this early-morning indecision about whether to go or not resulted in my doing impressions of vintage Seb Coe or Milkha Singh on the streets of Edinburgh as I just about caught the bus to Linlithgow.

The first few minutes on the bus (when I was purchasing the ticket) reminded me yet again of how difficult a thick Scottish accent can be to crack. After a long (only because of the misunderstanding) discussion with the driver regarding the change for the ticket, I was off on the one-hour bus journey to Linlithgow. Any ride through the Scottish countryside is always a feast for the eyes — gently rolling green hills, dotted with sheep and cows, with the occasional castle and church completing the picture postcard-ness of the ambience. The only noteworthy incident of the bus ride was that the driver honked once (yes, he honked). I even noted the time (10:41 am) and the place (Kirklisten) of this momentous occurrence.

Linlithgow’s claim to fame is that Mary, Queen of Scots was born here. There is a beautiful palace (“Linlithgow Palace”. Duh?) built in the early 15th century that dominates the town. This palace was destroyed in a fire in 1746. However, walking through the remains of the palace, one can feel its glory and grandeur during its heydays. The galleries of the Great Hall were breathtaking and the courtyard of the palace has an elaborate fountain that is thought to be Britain’s oldest surviving fountain, commissioned in 1537. In the past, this fountain used to flow with wine on special occasions. Unfortunately no such spirit materialised the day I was there.

The crowning glory of the town is the lake upon which the church and the palace are situated (“Linlithgow Loch”. Innovative name?). This Loch is a bird sanctuary with a large number of ducks, swans and other birds — I say ‘other’ because I am no ornithologist but my untrained eye can report that the variety was mind-boggling. As I made the leisurely walk around the loch, I was surrounded by birds on all sides and I felt as if I was part of Hitchcock’s movie. Fortunately, these birds were of a friendly demeanour and did not attack me even though I was the only one not feeding them! And despite their not-so-apparent displeasure, I hung around the birds for a very long time enjoying the views of the Loch, the Church, the Palace along with the background music of the ducks and swans.

But something had to go wrong with an ideal day. Helios was playing hide and seek with Zeus — and it soon started to rain (so much for a ‘sunny’ day) and I sought the dry safety of the indoors of a shop. But as soon as I reached inside, the sun came out again. And the moment I stepped out, it started raining again. This conspiracy between the sun and the rain thrice made me run inside and outside of shops (different ones, btw). But then, I decided to use my umbrella and when I produced it out of my bag with a flourish, the rain stopped and it remained sunny for the rest of the day. Useful invention, this umbrella.

‘Fall’ comes late to Scotland and I was privy to the leaves doing an amazing dance of colours. Everywhere fallen leaves of all hues and colours added a touch of surreality to the beautiful countryside. I refused to believe that the beauty of the fallen leaves was natural. I am sure there is an army of people who work at night and arrange the fallen leaves casually, yet artistically, on the green meadows, pavements, and roads. And that day, the intermittent dew and rainwater on those leaves made every nook and cranny a photo-op.

Then it was off for a dekko of the Union Canal, which is a 32 mile narrow canal that links Edinburgh to Falkirk and passes through Linlithgow. There is a narrow path along the canal that is very popular with cyclists for a day trip from Edinburgh to Linlithgow and back. There are Canal Boat Trips, which unfortunately I missed that day but a walk along the canal was extremely picturesque and made me forget that I had almost broken my foot as I tried to take a photo of the canal from a precarious position.

After this extremely satisfying walk, which also afforded me long distance views of the Palace and the Loch, I ambled back into town. Surprisingly, the town has an extremely busy main street (High Street) with traffic that would rival some places in India. I was pleasantly surprised to note that even a small town like Linlithgow (Population: 14,000) had at least three Indian restaurants. However, I visited a recommended pub called (no no not “Linlithgow Pub”) “The Four Marys”. The baked macaroni and cheese was simply the best I have had in a long while.