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 the Italian section of Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat, Love and Pray as a part of my travel research. She definitely ate in that neighbourhood. Well, I wasn't going to say…

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…

Colours of Venetian Isles.

The constant Corona news doesn't let me forget Italy. I hold on to the memories of how I saw it last summer- breathtaking, bustling with life, impromptu street concerts, delicious food and wine to sign off each day. I remember evenings in Venice, shadowy inky gondolas bobbing on the dark blue Adriatic Sea, under the…

Vatican Cameo

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 supposedly designed by Michelangelo. By the way, he didn’t! c) Bramante Staircase or the double helix spiral staircase. d) Michelangelo's Pieta. Everything else…

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) At Ajanta Caves!

Google Aurangabad and Ajanta Caves comes up as a must visit spot, every time! Incidentally the caves are around 110 kilometres from Aurangabad with absolutely no other historic or cultural site to see along the way. I almost missed it but the pressure of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) was tremendous! Anyway Bunker, our talkative…

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 and then it rose like a Phoenix from its ashes and lava to become a legend. Honestly, my imagination had run wild ever since I heard its…

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.…

Reading Challenge Report Card Of a Reluctant Reader

December is here and it is time to take stock of the year gone by, the things I challenged myself to do such as read diligently once again. Sad but true, I lost my mojo to read sometime back. In fact realisation dawned when I noticed that the only books I animatedly spoke of were…