Awesome Auli

Day 1
Reached Delhi and felt the cold air nip our tropical selves.A quick night trip to Chandini Chowk , Sis Ganj Sahib Gurudwara's langar dal roti was sinfully completed with the rich parathewali gali parathas.

Day 2
Early morning train to Haridwar was a delight for the foodies in us as we chomped through all that was to offer on wheels.A half a day sight seeing tour of Haridwar to Chandi Devi and Mansa Devi temples followed by the much famed Ganga Ghat Aarti is a glimplse into the religious fervour of our folks.

Ganga Ghat arti

Day 3
From Rishikesh the winding roads start and the every bend and turn along the mountains is a still for the nat geo mag.The green waters below and the mighty mountains by the sides interupted by a villages far and few in between kept us company till we reached Joshimath at nightfall. Roadside Dhabas provide simple vegetarian fare of paranthas and Dal Chawal. Potatoes in various forms is an essential ingredient in all meals.

Ram Jhula in Rishikesh

Day4

Snow ball pelting on the rope way

Early morning visit to the winter abode of Lord Badrinath in Joshimath had a little surprise for us. Tamil verses hailing praises of the lord and his abode had an immediate connect of the Tamilian in me with this far away snowy kingdom.

Skiing

A ropeway ride to Auli and the first sight of snow peaked mountains can excite young and old alike.
Playing in the snow and making a snow man is a must for everyone. Riding all the way to the top on a snow mobile felt like I was riding Santa's sleigh, only this ride was far more bumpier. Skiing on the slopes of Auli requires lots more time and skill to learn but we can pose for the snap. With the help of the friendly local instructors even ski small bits of the slope over an hour. Steaming noodles and pasta with a hot cuppa by the Nanda Devi snowy peaks tastes heavenly. So much so that even Gods residing on those peaks must have switched to these yummy treats from their boring fruits and amrut.

Nanda Devi peaks bathed in the golden s

 A travellers tip - Snow and the sub zero temperatures can be enjoyed only if we are adequately wooled and gloved. A bon fire at night and watching the moon creeping from behind the white peaks warms body and the soul alike.We bonded over the fire and songs with our other Cliff toppers. The mountain air has magic in it. Brings out the best in us. Maybe that's why Gods reside there.

Snow Mobile

Ethereal

Day5
Descent from Auli , kissing the snow goodbye was difficult but we were also keen to get away from the cold.
We drove along the holy river confluences Nand Prayag(Alaknanda & Nandakini), Karan Prayag(Alaknanda &Pindari), Rudra Prayag(Alaknanda & Mandakini) and Dev Prayag ( Alaknanda & Bhagirathi). White water rafting in a 16 Km stretch from Sivpuri to Rishikesh was the highpoint of this trip for us. We hit some of the most exciting rapids on the Ganga i.e. Return to Sender, Roller Coaster, Golf Course shouting slogans like Jai Ganga Mata and Dar Ke Aage Jeet Hai. One can try Body Surfing and Cliff Jumping also in this section.The adrenaline rush is unmatched and the experience unforgettable.The drive down the mountainous roads got out my philosophical side. I decided to leave all my troubles and niggling thoughts in those hills and come clean after a bath in the pristine waters of the Ganges. Trust me it had the desired effect when I reached back home.

Dev Prayag

River Rafting

cliff jumping

Day 6
Delhi again and this time we feasted on meat. Nihaari and paaya at Karims at old Delhi with tandoor rotis did justice to its fame. A quick day tour of the Red fort, Humayun's Tomb, India Gate and Qutub Minar is all it takes for us to believe how Delhi truly deserves to represent our vast diversified nation as our capital. And a proud one at that.

Karims @ Old Delhi

Austere Austria

museum quartier

maria teresa

kunsthistorisches museum

Vienna is one of the ageless cities.From the Habsburgs who ruled for eons to the modern Vienna International Centre of the United Nations the city has held on to its Austrian austerity and identity.
Vienna takes pride in all its royal stories and controversies. The pride placed on their palaces, royal treasury, holy religion, Wein cuisine and just about anything Viennese is notable.
Empress Maria Teresa looms large in the entire city. She assumed power by default but proved her mettle by sheer grit and shrewd political strategies. Though she married her children only to meet political ends she did not do so without the insight of a mother. She once apparently remarked that if her young Daughter remains true to her husband and God even if her matrimony leads to unhappiness it is good enough. With equal pride they celebrate the enigmatic albeit eccentric Queen 'Sisi'  whose rebellions against the courtly duties are famous. An audio guided tour of the Schonbrunn palace, formerly a summer palace of the imperial family is an absolute must.
A ride on the horse carriage on the cobbled  Viennas Ringstrasse helps one soak in the viennese delights in a short romantic ride. An ariel view of Vienna from the Danube tower against the setting summer sun late into the night is a magical display of lights on the horizon. A bungee jump for the adventurous is also available. Just the ledge from where jump begins sent a shiver down my sissy spine.
Vienna has over a 100 museums. Weird ones like the funeral museum, globe museum included.
We chose to visit the Sigmund Freud Museum and were richly rewarded.His ideologies, his couch, his travel acessories and the table specially designed for him while he wrote his journals are brilliantly showcased in the house he lived till the the Nazis invasion.
Vienna is beautiful ,clean ,precise and brilliant

Road trip to Raigad

Disclaimer - Do not read any further if you among those who complain about the Goan roads
Day 1-Drive to Ganpati Pule
A pleasant and a beautiful drive that speeds of 100kmph felt like snails pace. Besides driving a few km extra on account of missing the ACTUAL turn to GP from the highway(not really our fault as there were atleast 5 signboards pointing to GP at various points) we had a song on our lips and warmth in our hearts. We saw the sun set on the plateau instead on the GP beach but we were not really far away from the destination and hence not too disappointed.
The hotel accommodation got proportionately better as the distance from the temple increased and probably that was the best night halt in Maharashtra in retrospect.
The temple is by the beach at the heel of a small hill . Circumambulation of the holy hill is a wish granter and we too did our share. The Ganesh idol on a solid rock was probably first sighted by a person with a really vivid imagination but the place does evoke a sense of divinity even in a quasi atheist.
we did get some good Maharashtrian fare but the fact that the entire Maharashtrian coast served pohe and usal wore us down rather quickly.

Day 2-Drive to Nowhere and by the way Harihareshwar
Enthused by our previous day's road time we hit the coastal highway with all gusto and Google maps leading the way. The entire highway is dotted with forts and temples that it is difficult to chose which ones to visit. The Chamundi temple is one of a kind where the deity is in a cave lit only by a soft glowing oil lamp. Fumbling down a few steps in sheer darkness the eyes meet the goddess glowing in all her glory with a child like face. Divine.
For all those men who swear by the GPRS than the simple stopping to ask for directions here is an eye opener. The roads were winding along the coastline and romantic by the morning sun. They were winding and boring by the afternoon. As the sun was fast setting in the jungles of Kelshi Velshi highway the same winding roads got spooky. A hand placed casually on the  shoulder and an innocuous joke about the tress possessing evil spirits riled up the bravest of us in the car. All the while Google Maps kept reassuring us to stay put on K-V highway(not that we had a choice - the options were between the devil and the deep sea literally)
The luckiest part of the day was when we caught an hourly ferry just before it left the jetty in daylight,  that  we were so relieved and goaded our luck. How little it takes for optimistic individuals to forgive bad dusty roads, a day long body battering and the abuse of our much loved new car . And hence un expectantly and forcibly we had to halt at Harihareshwar where the ruling deity is the family God of the Peshwas. We were in time for the Maha Arati and were witness to the Maharashtrian mujra form of greeting used to worship the God by the priest. A hill by the sea where circumambulation is considered holy is present here too. As most of the path is covered during high tide and hence dangerous we decided to give this one a skip.

Day 3- Finally to Raigad
12  hours behind schedule and our expectations of good roads tempered down but not our spirits we saw the sun rise on the Sahayadri peaks. Even the Maharashtrian breakfast options on the highway seemed not so bad. Raigad ropeway and the fort maybe just another tourist attraction for anyone but for the Maharashtrians it is a Pilgrimage. The slogans hailing Shivaji Maharaj and people dressed in traditional attire singing praises of the great Maratha warrior evokes feelings of pride even in the non initiated. The stories regaling Shivaji's valour passionately narrated by the guides on the fort and the great pictures against the sun and the Sahyadris definitely adds Raigad in the bucket list of the Indian tourist.A night spent on the fort helps soak in the sights of the day and the moon buffs it for eternity.

Day 4 - Raigad retains but Goa beckons
 The difficulty of building the massive structure and the far sightedness of  the great king leaves one awestruck. The respect for his mother, love for his people and the passion for his religion earned this King popularity that reverberates even today at the fort and the coast.
The road back was uneventful mostly because we relied on human instinct rather than the maps of Google and the thought of better roads in Goa brought back the joy and song in our hearts again.

Blithe Budapest

Budapest is mass tourism's best kept secret.Every girls dream is to visit the Eiffel tower with her beau but Budapest snakes it way right to the top. Be it the symphony at the St Stephan's Basilica or the wine tasting in one of the cozy local wine bars ( more about both later)  redefines ones idea of the most romantic moments. 
Spend the morning in one of Budapest natural underground caves, which were formed by thermal waters over millions of years. So one can actually touch and feel the earth that was there a million years ago.Stalactites, stalagmites , columns, ribbons and curtains in the caves makes boring geography lessons in school so cool.  Filled with spectacular formations, with even more imaginative names rattled by the friendly guide, the caves provide a cool(the temperature was 10 C inside the cave) respite from the summer sun.
Rise with the sun and head to  the Gellért Bath. Take a dip in one of the thermal baths or enjoy a unique spa experience. Its columned, Roman-style swimming pool looks familiar. Is it because of the historical romance by the pool described in the M&B or maybe it is just the most photographed spa of Hungary.
The Rock Hospital in the Buda Castle is like a cupcake to the history seeking soul. The history of the emergency hospital goes back to World War II. The caves and tunnels, connected and fortified were initially used as an air raid shelter. Then a 60 bedded hospital was built which housed more than 600 patients during the war.The doctors and nurses worked with the state of art medical and surgical facilities and sheer grit during the Budapest Siege of WW II and the Revolution to treat wounded civilians and soldiers. A modern Anesthesia delivery machine with complete Operation Theatre equipment in the winding caves with stories of the war heroism explained dramatically by the guide made my idea of working at a war front even more romantic..Someday me too ,.... Later in the 60's it was expanded to withstand potential chemical and nuclear attacks during the Cold War.Thankfully never once was it used as a nuclear bunker.
The Budapest Parliament building is a beauty etched in stone and decorated with turrets and arches . The nation's home is grand and befitting . Guided tours are done so professionally that the oohs and aahs that the magnificent parliament evokes from tourists seem the norm. What is amazing is that no building was left undamaged after the WW II but they rebuilt it all to its former glory within a year of ending war.
St Stephan basilica, built to match the parliament in height and glory shows the equality between God and the state.The mummified 1000 years old right hand of St. Stephan, the founder of Hungary, leaves one with goose bumps 
Evenings should be exclusively reserved for tasting the wines in one of the local restaurants. 
Hungarians are such sweet people.Am sure it is the lovely wines that flows in their veins. Volcanic soils, balmy summers ,the royal rot and what not. But the Tokaji wine got me at hello. Walks by the Danube hand in hand with the skies changing from yellow to purple and the castles and the bridges lighting up.......time  just stood still ...lo behold ,,,,,this was my Eiffel moment.

The Parliament House

 

The Assembly

Cigar holder with numbers for identification

Shoes by the Danube

St Stephan Basilica

View from the Buda castle

My Eiffel moment

Prague- ooh pure pleasure

Well it is a corruption of the Czech tourism's tag line but there is no other way i would describe it. The cobbled streets , the spires reaching the skies with the stubborn summer sun refusing to set is pure ecstasy. The old town square surrounded by churches, clocks  and chimes with live performances by buskers transport one into a trance.Whoever said love is an emotion. The air in Prague is so laden with it.We can even eat it dipped in chocolate sauce. Drink one of the many beers and feel love wash all over oneself.
Prague is a town to be explored on foot. The place names are so Czech that one cannot say or understand them. How does one pronounce a proper noun with 5 consonants and 1 vowel added as an afterthought.The labyrinthine metro stations tires one out and the steep escalators are a ride direct to heaven especially for a person who has bathmophobia . The trams are quaint and rides romantic.It is so easy to get lost on the right hand drive roads due to the diametrically opposite directions orientation in this part of the globe.But getting lost and discovering another beautiful hidden corner adds to the mystique of Prague .
Local cuisine matches up to the beauty of the place. Cafe Louvre where the likes of Einstein and Kafka dined lived up to its hype.
Charles Bridge at twilight is straight out of a fairy tale.

Charles Bridge

Add caption

Kafka Residence N 22

Prague-the way I remember by

LOve so deep that it can drown

Stairs to hell at the metro

Café Louvre

So much so that one starts to wait for the pumpkin carriage to arrive and whisk us to the midnight party at the castle across the bridge.

Love dipped in chocolate sauce(Trdelnik)

Old town Square

View from the Old town hall tower

Cant get enuf of Old town Square

Beer in a local pub-Drink LOve

Prague Castle

St.Vitus Cathedral
 

dil mange more...mangalore

the net research on mangalore were so boringly unrevealing..........but the place is beautiful.so green so clean n so goan.(i mean the terrain is so much like goa that we loved it all the more)
moti mahal ,the hotel where we stayed was rocking with a disc n a pool n gr8 room service.......
the icecream at IDEAL parlour was yummmmmmmmmmm n needs to b mentioned alongside the dakshin kannad food of mangalore.
hotel malabar , a small but a busy mallu joint offered some gr8 non veg food...dont miss the kebas...slurp.
shopping is for everyone...from malls to cheap wayside shops that offer good bargains..(.i got a kameez 4 a quarter the price i wud v paid in madurai) though i dint get a pair of slippers for the price i wanted;-(
and the auto rikshaws drivers r the most honest people in the entire subcontinent...just the meter..nothing more n nothing less
temples built with the mallu influence r gud places to sample dk food at the dharambhojanalays
well connected by bus n very comfortable (though a durga prasad travels guy drove with the horn more than the accelerator)
over all mangalore is a the just right mix of uncorrupted unpolluted urban holiday destination...
yeh dil mange more