La Italia

 After hours of internet research to plan our trip , Venice was the place to land in Italy to sweep us off our feet. Pre monsoon winds in Goa diverted our flight and threw us off schedule.We did land in Venice albiet a little later after an extra flight , another place thrown in for free and finally lost luggage at destination.The tourist information closed at the airport at 12 midnight and reviews of Italians fleecing tourists nearly made us lose our bearings.But the smart Indian travelers that we were , the last bus to the city and the last water bus to our hotel and the numbers on the walls identifying every dwelling unit in Venice landed us in Locanda Correr. A quaint hotel room with Venetian blinds after flying for nearly 24 hours looked like a room in paradise.










Landing at night robbed us of all the awe of landing in Venice but that was the end of all the bad things on the trip.With the daybreak Venice in the warm Italian summer lived upto the years of expectations of a giddy headed love lorn fool like me.The water soothes. Dont let anyone fool you that the gondola ride in the alleys of Venice is very touristy and only for the honeymooning money throwing rich tourists.The gondola ride is one of those moments that I would want to take to my grave.


The bridge of sighs is a misnomer and nothing romantic that I had conjured up in my head after years of M&Bs. It is a small window overlooking the canals through which the prisoner could catch a glimpse of freedom before being locked away in his dungeon.

The Doge's palace is magnificent and was my first visual introduction to the renaissance art and culture. Piazza San Marco is lined by the Cathedral, bell tower, clock tower and all the prominent structures of an European extravaganza.

As the night falls the cafes around the Piazza come alive with music, serenades which when coupled with local Italian cuisine makes one feel like the luckiest person on earth.


Vicenza
A short train ride to Vicenza w
Florence
Lake Como
Milan

Dreamy France

Title disclaimer-I have grown up on a more than required dose of Mills and Boons / romcoms.  France with my beau has always been my cherished dream. From the beau days I have transformed into this family of three, brooding mother hen but the dream always remained
If Amol had to write this blog he would have titled it France - A Drive in holiday A6/Quattro/3L/330hp.
BTW he can't pen anything more than official letters but thinks a lot otherwise. Ahem!.

Nice---pronounced as neece
French disclaimer #1 - लिकते कुछ हैं और बोलते कुछ अलग ही हैं

A coastal town by the famed French Riviera , a hot bed for all my teenage M&B on a sunny yet cool day is where we began. Amol incensed with his dose of Bond movies vroomed to Antibes . An ancient village , white brick walls, a road that winds around the Riviera and a food van that served lovely fish n chips had got all our elements covered.

 Every single pebble on the coast was rounded. Mother nature has been indeed very kind to them.

A looong night drive to Montagnac- Montpezat.
A cardinal sin on the day one has just landed in the country with barely a few winks of sleep between a movie marathon on the Qatar infotainment in the past 24 hours.
But God is also kind to tourists in France....
We were richly rewarded by the most succulent lamb(slow cooked for 7 hours apparently) accompanied by the French red wine n slipped into a quick food coma.



Drive to the Verdon Gorges-

French disclaimer #2 - One wants to stop at every passing scenic spot for a picture but keep driving on  with a steel grit. The final destination can blow you away (literally)
Patience pays

A narrow ledge overlooking a very deeeeep gorge with green water flowing down and wind that was blowing so strong that I had to hold on to dear life on the railings.

Col du Galiber
A spine chilling drive to the heights of French Alps. Missed lunch due to the very strict French policy of no food outside 2pm and missing Adi's cues of La La Laa La at every restaurant point before 2pm.

 Hot omelette n coffee served by septuagenarians at that height, peppered with his stories told with a toothy grin, heightened our experience at the Col

The Final Destination - Valmeinier

the Nordic bath

The autumn colours were at its best on the Rhones Alps...coloured, shaped, crisped to perfection

The best host hosts of our trip prepared a Nordic Bath ( an open air hot 38 C bath with a 5 C cold mountain air blowing on the face) and a hot dinner of tartiflette (a traditional Rhone French recipe with potaoes ,cheese and ham) to follow, in a cozy yet all containing stone and log cabin. We set new standards for our European holidays with this single day in our trip

French disclaimer #3- The French are thin because they eat up their consonants in the words - calorie free ; guilt free
(Saint Lazaras-  pronounced as Salazar)

Col de Iseran
Coldest day of the trip 0 C

a young man in shorts clicked this photo at 0 degrees

Roads- windy and drive into nothingness on the mountains ,as if we would fall over at the end of it. The feeling that sailors must have had while sailing in vast oceans , when theydid not know the world was round

Chamonix
A charming valley in the Alps that has a view of the snow capped mountains from every single spot in the village.

Hike to glacier Bossons

A trek to humour me in the morning and an amazing paragliding off the peaks  in the afternoon (more about it later) rounded off with pulled pork burger and steak n fries in the evening. Net flix in the Air B&B accommodation scored over the lovely view of the bossons glacier view from the balcony
Paragliding - the HIGHlight of the trip
A cable car ride to Plan de Aiguille normally would have had us all excited . But what followed with our 3 copilots for  the tandem flight was breathtaking. Refer French disclaimer #2
A cool 30 minutes flight like a bird with wind beneath the wings.Over the glaciers ,valleys, tutorials about the thermal currents lifting us HIGHER, letting us maneuver the flight, some mid air acrobatics(felt like a cool roller coaster) . an item ticked off the bucket list.


Drive to Borges-

French disclaimer #4-  100 residents ,a dozen villas , 1 castille, lots of hiking paths n cycling trails and a big car showroom makes for a French village 

A long drive through the French motorways, toll gates intercepted perfectly with a nice coffee break in a sleepy village Paray-Le-Monial
we ended up with beautiful fotos , designer shoes for Amol and the coffee was btw
We reached our destination accomodation real late and the place was deserted.
Barking hounds, creaky iron gate, broken dongless bell, empty estate, wind rustling up the fallen autumn leaves, horse piss suddenly filling the air and a really wrinkly old lady as the host. She ran her bony gnarled fingers up Adi's cheek and said,"you have a nice face". I was sure she had marked her meat for later. That dark night had all 3 of us cuddled up in a  single bed . By the morning we saw the autumn leaves had carpeted the ground in multiple hues, 2 real horses by the stable and real big lovely dog called Nyha. But "you have a nice face" will remain as a Mahaldar heirloom spook.



French disclaimer  #5
From the French revolution till now the French common man is still troubled by their huge taxes

On to Paris
Lake Geneve/ Lac Leman as the French call it- The French border is midway in this lake ,more so  a fresh water sea. I ran along its shore and emerged with the distinction of running between 2 countries. Amol humoured this too.

Stopped at Versailles for a half day tour of the palace.Crowded, Arty, historical and very huge.A train ride around the much touted gardens gave some solace to our aching feet.


Pari finally......................

Eiffel...The first thing we saw as soon as we entered the famous city
Traffic ...what we saw after the excitement of Eiffel settled


The city was all that I grew up on.The books and the movies showcase the city and the city has lived up exactly for so many years, in the same way.Amazing
River Seine intercepted intermittently richly with the archaic bridges
The love locks wherever Parisians can find a hook(much like our holy threads around our banyan tress)
The Notre Dame Cathedral- (translates to Our lady ie Paris) the stain glass and the facade
The Louvre-The Monalisa and the pyramid
The Arc de Triumph- like our Gateway of India in Delhi- similar history too
Champ de elysse- The shopping mecca
All by foot powered with different flavours of crepes
Lived the dream ..... will continue living the dream

sunrise over the river Seine

An early morning jog to the Eiffel and back through the grand sights of the city chuffed the runner in me . The dream was getting dreamier. Is that even possible...is that even a word...{the lady Bard in} me

Jog to the Eiffel 

by the night

View of the city at sundown from the Eiffel is for the luckiest people on earth and I knew 3  that day.... lights , cold crisp winds, more lights and more cold crisp winds, the dazzle every hour on the Eiffel, Adi clicking snaps of Amol n me ,uncaring of his cold fingers time has frozen that moment forever for us.


The mandatory flea market shopping in every city , lots of the famed French beauty elixir shopping for me , a little of the French moda for the fashioista in me were the final parting shots of the city daylights.
Sundown from MontParnasse and to see the Eiffel light up and even glitter for a few moments is what we will remember this holiday by......glitteratti  #  dreams do come true # 

The mango pilgrimage

A little bit of history to start with. A good 80 years ago my grandma with her brood including my dad, then a toddler was travelling by train from Chennai to Kolkatta. Leaving out the gross details (how it is always narrated by my aunts), my dad cried from the word go. His elder sister found a way to calm him by giving him a mango to suck on. This worked. A toddler dad  polishing a crateful of mangoes and the gastronomic consequences thereby have been anecdotal in my family ever since.

Fast forward to 2003. Me a young bride then, confessed to my family how mangoes talk to me and how the urge to eat mangoes mindless of  the time of the day cannot be supressed. The Chandran Mahaldars have always taken their Mango very seriously.I have the annual Mango weight gain going up a few dress sizes, resulting from indiscriminate consumption of atleast a dozen mangoes at one go. I battle the extra baggage over the next 10 months till it is time for the next season of sheer golden fructose bliss. My cheeks glow golden and the house smells ethereal with the ripening mangoes.

Goa, a former Portuguese colony has a special variant of the alfonso mango called the Mancurad. For the non initiated there is no tangible difference between the two. The mancurad has a golden yellow  fibrous mantle but is nectar sweet  upto the seed and comes in the market before the other mangoes of the season. In Goa they are sold at the price of gold and a exingency mango budget in the summer months has to be allocated if my mango cravings have to be satisfied. An hours drive out of Goa into Maharashtra takes one into a mango haven for lesser mortals.In Vengurla  the Goan Mancurad is sold at half the price and being a port town fresh fish is an added bonus. we do this annual Mahaldar Mancurad route to maharashtra and this time we were rewarded with the  pristine beach with shimmering golden sand against the setting sun.

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