A Potpourri Of Italian Memories.

I flip through my old Italy travel photos and I'm instantly there. Was it just a year ago? My happy place where I frequently disappear. Perhaps this is what is, 'wistful longing'! Then it was euphoria, curiosity and anxiety. My old Whatsapp chats are proof. "Am I packing right? Is it enough or too much?…

Lingering In Lansdowne, India.

Lansdowne is a small military cantonment, tucked in the hills of Uttarakhand, India. I often find myself reminiscing of it, 'a land frozen in time'. It was the last place I visited before the COVID pandemic hit us all. Lansdowne is not flashy. You would recognize it as a small hamlet from a Ruskin Bond…

The Ultimate Guide To Florence.

Ignore everything- Pinterest photos, the blogs, the books. Florence or Firenze as I learnt to call will always remain a whopping surprise. For starters, the city is small but comes with a tall reputation. It is perfect to explore on foot, you never quite know what wondrous things you might encounter. 

Date with David

I was in Florence for David, the one carved by Michelangelo. Well, if like me, that's all what you think you would see, you are in for a massive surprise. Anyway, this post is all about my date with David at the Galleria dell’Accademia or the Accademia Gallery.

Dinner In Trastevere, Rome

"We have to visit Trastevere to experience the real Italian vibe", Mami declared emphatically. Trastevere, in Rome? It rang a bell. I had devoured Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat, Love and Pray. Actually, only the Italian 'eat' section as a part of my Roman research. Trastevere was mentioned in it. Well, I was definitely going even…

Travelling Into The Tuscan World

"A Chinese poet many centuries ago noticed that to re-create something in words is like being alive twice." -Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun Tuscany for me was Florence till I signed up for a day tour with lunch at a winery. I was truly excited! Out of the three places the tour promised, only…

Vatican Cameos

I had a wish list of the things I had to see in Vatican. a) Sistine Chapel, specifically The creation of Adam by Michelangelo. b) The Swiss guards in their colourful pantaloons designed by Michelangelo. By the way, he didn’t! c) Bramante Staircase or the double helix spiral staircase. d) Michelangelo's Pieta. Everything else I…

Pompeii Calling

For me Pompeii always had a mystical aura around it. To think, it was obliterated when it faced the fury of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan himself. It then rose like a Phoenix from its ashes and lava to become a legend. Honestly, my imagination had run wild ever since I heard its story…

Special Spots in Aurangabad

Think of Aurangabad, Maharashtra in India and Ajanta and Ellora Caves come to mind except they are really far from the city. Meanwhile what does one do in Aurangabad other than make travel arrangements to the caves? Well, you pack the family into an auto rickshaw and go see Deccan's Taj Mahal- Bibi ka Maqbara.…

Sleepless In Stockholm

Four memorable days in Stockholm was not a tall order but I was determined to make every hour count. So you can imagine my excitement as I sat peering through the aircraft window for my first glimpse of the city. "Venice of the North", was what my classmate had called it. I could see why.…