Dubrovnik

I was initially supposed to pack up and go to Hvar in Croatia which is an island of pristine beaches, high cliffs and fewer tourists (if you discount the 300 students from my class who planned a graduation trip there). But the romantic in me decided to give my partner a surprise instead. (The graduation party in Hvar was costing a fortune too ;)) So off I went to meet my better half in Dubrovnik to see all things game-of-thrones in 3 days.

King's Landing aka Dubrovnik Old City is the first city I saw which was walled (apart from The Vatican). Dubrovnik, historically, had been structured to protect from invaders from Venice. Some very high cliffs guard the walls.

Just inside the walls begins the pathway where Joffrey faces rebellion from his people (dung attacks) and Sansa's honour is nearly compromised.

As you move in you discover commercial shops everywhere. Some contrast. These shopkeepers are apparently paid in the order of 20000 Euros a month to stay closed during shoots. Whats more a majority of the locals have never watched the Game of Thrones. Our guide seemed to have had deep conversations with Tyrion over wine (yes the man loves his drink in real life too). Peter Baelish's 'whorehouses' are a makeover from a Government museum further in, and our guide claimed the officials had no idea what use it was going to be put to.
Star Wars have also been filmed in the main street within the walls.



From one side of the wall branches the pier where Sansa and Shae have a heart-to-heart about trusting Little Finger. Sansa's escape route on a boat with the clown is located not far from it.
The magical tower of Qarth where the dragons first breathe fire is a regular looking structure outside the Old City walls. Kudos to cinematographers who made us believe otherwise. On the right most photo is a zoomed version of the left picture of Sansa's pier below, which was where Robert's illegitimate sons are sought and killed in the show.

 



A 25 minute boat ride from Old City takes you to the island of Lokrum. What caught my eye about this island were the peacocks. They strutted around freely, coming close and showing off their plumes. This island has a dead sea, some nice old style architecture and countless coves to swim in.
Some scenes of Jamie and Bran's sword fights were from here.

Old City has no dearth of restaurants. All along main street, several alleys behind, and up flights of stairs.. they are everywhere. On one of these alleys is a fake Iron Throne where you can get your photograph taken.






Our stay was in the new city and atop a hill overlooking the sea, docks and mountains. We walked everywhere, up and down some seriously steep staircases that connect roads along the hill.
The new city has a great dock and downtown around it which is a sight in itself. We actually spent half a day enjoying it.

We took a bus ride that went from one end of Dubrovnik to the other. I have realized that this is a great, inexpensive and A/C-euipped way to discover the index page of a city. At the end of the bus ride, we got off to enjoy some beach time at CopaCabana resort.

                                                     

Dubrovnik proved to be a surprisingly pleasant trip (notwithstanding the sweltering sun). It has some very good beaches, food and views.

Amsterdam and Belgium

On a long drive north from France close to the new year's eve, the two of us set out to visit Belgium and Amsterdam in 2015. As one crossed the border of France and in the direction of Belgium, it was easy to see the shift in cultures. The homes in France are made of stone and look not at all pretty from the outside. But don't be fooled by the rugged walls. Inside they are most upgraded with huge kitchens, pantries and sometimes wine cellars. Belgium, on the other hand, showed more homes made of wood and felt like a bit more out-in-the-wild. Brussels, mind you, went back to looking like France :)

Belgium:
Belgium was a stop on the way to Amsterdam. We grabbed the famous waffles and chocolates in the Grand Place. From here it was close to Mannekin Pis (no wonder - it is a mannequin that appears to be p***ing). We then went to a cartoon museum of famous Belgian cartoons - including Tan Tan (Tin Tin) and the Smurfs. On our way out from here, we crossed Antwerp - which is famous for jewels and jewellers. The diamonds here are arguably the best in the world.

Grand Place

The Belgian Comic Strip Centre

Mannekin Pis

Amsterdam:
Boy, what a city! We had the good fortune of spending 3 days here. Don't ever drive here even if you arrive by car. Parking is non-existant and nearly cost us 30 Euros for 4 hours. We learnt soon enough and used the city Park-n-Ride (we could park here for 2 Euros a day) and take the train from here to most anywhere in town.
We were housed in old DapperMarket which was quite close to the zoo (no jokes please). One of my biggest accomplishments was covering Amsterdam end-to-end by foot. We got off the train near Magna Plaza (mall) and walked in the cold winter wind and drizzles through beautiful canals and shops, farmers markets and boathouses. We rested our feet on a floating garden cafe with some great hot coffee.
This city reminded me of Boston. We fell in love with the houses by the water (which was not a luxury - any house you pick was close to water). I stood gazing at one such beautiful place only to realize there was an old man dancing b*tt naked at one of the windows. No comments.

Speaking of which, on new year's eve, we decided to check out the red light district and I must say I loved how different it is from anything I have ever seen or could have imagined. We were keen to try some 'space' cakes here, but found one that neither delivered nor tasted good.
One the outskirts of the city is Lille, a small village famous for tulip farms (Keukenhof) and windmills. We drove here, but sadly, it was not the season for Netherland's pride.

Amsterdam is one of the cities I can picture myself living in. Something in it for everyone - not to forget old men who like to .. er.. dance ;)

Italy - part 2

This time around I visited Rome, Pisa, Florence, Chianti and for the second time - Venice.
The thing I remember most about Rome is inhaling cigarette smoke with every breath. I tried to dodge, hold my breath, use a handkerchief .. but there was no escaping it.

Rome:
My stay in Rome was close to the Roma Termini (train station) and from here I could take quite a long walk to the Colosseum, Trevis Fountain, Spagna (Spanish Steps), Pantheon and Piazza Navona.
Spagna and Pantheon were definitely top of my list - representing the Rome of my imagination - cobbled streets, pizzerias everywhere, lots of places to shop and petite cafes.
Trevis Fountain was a great place to sit down at the end of a long walk and just relax with thousand other tourists and selfie sticks :)
Sadly, I did not opt to ride the red Vespa they were renting next door to my stay in Rome. They were quite expensive and I decided to indulge in some restaurants instead.
Few places send the chill down my spine and the Colosseum was one of them (the other is Dachau in Germany).  If ever one thinks of the current generation as the smartest, this is reality check. This structure represents architectural and strategic brilliance. Laid out in many floors, it starts at the bottom with a passage leading from the prisoners' city outside, from where potential gladiators would be brought in and ejected a level up on stage. This level was where the shows were conducted. Animal cages opened onto here from carefully managed secret lifts. Next to this is a half level (only half built) which symbolizes religion and prayer. All the levels above housed viewers of different social statuses. Everything in the design of the Colosseum leads up to showmanship. Having been on stage quite a bit, I had to bow to the one that rules them all.

Colosseum

Spagna

Trevis Fountain

The Vatican:
The Vatican, a country on its own, is an interesting place. The city walls face streets that neither belong to this era or that. Most of my time here was spent in the Vatican museum, St Peter's Basilica and eating pizza and pasta.

St Peter's Basilica

Florence/Tuscany:

Michaelangelo's David

From Rome, we took a flight to Florence. Firenze, as it is locally known, this city was a hidden jewel. I loved the Il Duomo, Michaelangelo's David in the Galleria dell'Accademia, Palazzo Vechchio, and most of all Ponte Vechchio. Ponte Vechchio is Florence's answer to Venice's Rialto Bridge. This bridge connects the old and the new city and is lined with jewellery shops, the backbone of which is use to project art and movies in the nights. People line up on the streets from where they can view the bridge screen and it makes for a great conversation place. I had never seen anything like it before.


Chianti:
The best part of my time in Florence was a day trip by car to Chianti. It proved to be the beautiful vine country that it is known for. I stopped at the most beautiful mini-castle I had set eyes on - Vichchiomaggio - for vine tasting and bookmarking (for a future stay).

Chianti

Il Duomo

Ponte Vechchio by night

Pisa:
Yet another day trip from Florence took me to Pisa. I have to say I was not extremely blown away here. The tower itself is commendable, but it proved too expensive to visit/climb it, and it does stand in the middle of nowhere.

Tower of Pisa

Venice/Venezia:
This time of the year (December), Venice becomes the perfect setting for a serial-killer-thriller. The train from mainland Italy chugs to a stop in Santa Lucia station and you set foot into a surreal world. Fog limits the visibility and as the boats wade through the thick layers on the famous waterways, you do feel transported into fiction. On this visit, I managed some time on Rialto bridge which had eluded me on the first visit. I also paid a second visit to the Doge's palace (Palazzo Ducale).

Venezia

France - part 2

So second time round, my affair with Europe lasted a year. I was a student at Fontainebleau in France and apart from studying, I managed to have some memorable escapes.
France itself has so much to offer - museums, opera theatres, jardins (gardens), cafes.

Paris:
My favourite haunt in Paris was Montmatre - the hill leading upto Sacre Coeur. A most artistic alley adorns this ascent and is also home to Picasso's (among others') atelier (workshop). Most weekends at the top of the hill, one could find painters doing their thing around an open air make-shift restaurant and a side of street music.

Montmatre

Quite close by is also an artistic place of a more colorful nature - Moulin Rouge, and oh midway is the famous cafe that 'Amelie' worked at ;)

Another happy place for me was undoubtedly the 'Latin Quartier' (Latin Quarter). Endless restaurants, cuisines, book shops - big ones like Shakespeare's and tiny green book stands with some of the naughtiest ccollections, Notredame, riverwalks, watching cruises of tourists, the Louvre.. whoa. Mouthful.
The Eiffel tower, Arc De Triomphe and Champs Elysses had changed little since my first visit - although Champs Elysses during Christmas is a treat. Look out for the Cartier store wrapped up in red lights and white bow like a huge present. A new place I paid a visit to was Catacombes - a place where a lot of skeletons are tucked away (wouldn't recommend it unless you had a thing for them).

Versailles:
Versailles was a surprise - one can feel the echoes of history walking into the palace. The gallery of lights looked better online than in person, atleast to my eyes. The gardens - huge and peaceful were a whole day's walk. At one remote end was a small 'village' that represented old servants' quarters which I liked most - it being closer to how we folks live today, minus the windmill and turbines and ducks in the lake. A small but busy theatre outside the Versailles walls played 'En Attendent Godot' (Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot') and I remembered my dear partner in theatre (Sid) when I walked past it.

Palace of Versailles

Servants' quarters

Gallery of lights

Normandy:
How can I not mention Mont St. Michel up in Normandy - one of the most beautiful structures on a hill with the city built at the foot of it. Quaint stores line up all the way till the top and it reminded me of diagon alley (Harry Potter). Pilgrims from afar came to this sacred place and it is still one of the top places to visit in all of Europe.

Mont St Michel

Up the Mont

While in Normandy, I also stopped at Omaha Beach facing the English Channel, where US troops fought the Germans in World War II.

Omaha Beach

Giverny, they say, caught Claude Monet's eyes as he travelled on a train. And he loved what he saw so much that he got off and decided to build a house and park himself here for ever after. You will see why when you visit here. Like an earthy retreat, his gardens spread out in front of his pretty pink house (he was an artist c'mon) with green shutters. Walking through the gardens you go over arched wooden bridges standing on a pond with yes - his famous water lillies. There are hundreds of other striking flowers and plants and it is where the word idyllic was born - if you ask me ;)

The house of Claude Monet - Giverny

Champagne was a long, boring ride away and a tiny village at the end of it. I went in a season that is not good to be in vineyards, but it was good to see where the good stuff was made. Some day I would like to go back and rent a cottage for a night or two on that green terrain. On my way to Champagne, I stopped at Reims, another great town, quite developed with many restaurants, urban cafes and bars.
Last but not the least I would touch upon my journey southwards - through Lyon, to Nice, Monaco, Cannes, St Tropez (Cote D'Azur) and back through Annecy and Geneva.
This trip south was a dream. Monaco features in my most favourite places on Earth. I cant place a finger on why - it could've been the sunshine, the sail boats, the bougainvilleas, curved coastline and the most colorful houses tiered up on the mountains.

Monaco

Monte Carlo Casino

Nice, for me was contrast - urban coast line with an old town behind it. One street that deserves a mention in Nice is Rue De La Buffa. Somehow on all three nights we found street parking for free on this fortunate lane :) Parking is a pain all over Nice)
Cannes was a quick stop for photos and the drive to St. Tropez was long and winding and we couldn't figure out what all the hype was about. We sampled some good, new desserts here though.

Nice

Cannes

Annecy is memorable to me because of the shady street on which my stay was. And then a huge wooden door opened into a lane which led to a staircase on the top of which was my attic home for the night. Some experience that.

Annecy

Geneva was a very short visit (half a day) and I saw the downtown, the great watch makers and Jet D'Eau (jet of water). The drive from here back to France was through the breathtaking snow-clad Alpes and Dijon. That was some round trip !

Alpes

The Bobby Contradiction

I am no poet, but you see
since the day I set eyes on you, the truth,
is that words seem to form with ease

I had known love from a distance before
being in love stayed, yet, a lore
I lived in tangles with many loose ends,
forever hostile among friends
I am no foe, but you see
since the day I set eyes on you, the truth,
is that, friendship has been easy

I wonder if I had to ask for something
what it'd be, and if my prayer would it bring
since the day I fell in love
once in a while, I glance up above
I am no atheist, but you see
since the day I set eyes on you, the truth,
is that, I believe

Pen pal-pal

Forever I feel you close to my heart
Insisting on life being this quest

Come dusk and your veil wavers in my eyes
Every night brings a caravan of memories, as I lie
And breathe in, feeling your scent
As if it were a sweet whisper sent
Even my heart beats to a song of you
Forever I feel you close to my heart
Insisting on life being this quest

It may have been yesterday that I saw you close
Implying for us to be bound by oath
A strange relationship this is, and strange dreams
Apart, we are, but belong to each other it seems
I am lost in thoughts and dare say
Forever I feel you close to my heart
Insisting on life being this quest

You may wonder why I love you as much as I do

You may have wanted me to come out and say for good

But someone as smitten as me might know

Burning in the wait is a high, not low

And you continue to light that fire in my dreams

Forever I feel you close to my heart

Insisting on life being this quest