Dates: April 29th to May 1st, 2006
My mom was in Paris visiting us for a week, so we decided to go off to Milan for the Labor Day long weekend. We arrived in Milan on Saturday afternoon and checked into our Hotel. Unfortunately, something went wrong when booking our hotel, so they only had one room available. The Hotel Spadari was very nice and payed for our first night's room at another hotel while my mom stayed at their last available room.
We had a great time in Milan; the picture to the right is of the Vittorio Emanuele II shopping gallery, which is a beautiful, glass roofed shopping center built in the 1860s.
We spent most of our time wandering around the shops of Milan, visited the Duomo Cathderal which was built over the course of 400 years starting in 1386 and is one of the largest cathedrals in the world.
On Monday, our last day, we took a tour out to Lake Como, which is a small town about an hour north of Milan. It is the playground of the rich and famous and has some beautiful villas along the shore. We took a boat tour in the lake and saw many of these villas.
Overall, our trip to Milan was great. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Last Supper, but I suppose the good news is that we have an excuse to go back.
May 7, 2006
April 18, 2006
Bordeaux, France
Dates: April 15-18th, 2006
Our trip to Bordeaux was another one of those RTT funded long weekends that make you thankful for living and working in France. We took the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux and rented a car so that we could drive around the wine country and visit Arcachon.
We spent the first night in Bordeaux and ate dinner at a very interesting Fromage restaurant. All of their dishes were cheese based and their cellar had more varieties of cheese than I've ever seen before in my life. The second day, we headed out to visit the Bordeaux wine region. In a nutshell, we spent the day driving around the beautiful countryside, visiting Chateaus and trying world-famous wines.
We then drove out to Arcachon to see the dune de playa (the largest sand dune in Europe) and to spend the night in the quaint little seaside town. The Dune de Playa was actually much more interesting than one would think. First of all, it was packed but, most importantly, it provided fantastic views of the Atlantic ocean from its summit. In Arcachon, we had one of the best seafood dinners of our lives. We decided to splurge a little and have a huge seafood platter with crab, lobster, prawns, huitre, mussels, scallops and a number of other types of shellfish. Dinner was great, and we felt like a king and queen eating a feast that we didn't deserve. The rest of the evening, we drove around the town (I was missing the long evening drives that we used to take back in the day when we had a car) and then walked along the promenade.
The last day, we drove out to Saint Emillion, one of the most beautiful, quaint, hilltop, walled cities in the world - not to mention one of the best wine producing regions in the world. Saint Emillion was a joy to walk around (although a little steep at times). Its narrow cobblestone roads, great restaurants, and wineries make it one of the must-visit wine sights in the world. That night, we went back to Bordeaux and spent the night at a not-so-great hotel. On the other hand, we had a great steak dinner a L'Entrecote - a famous steak restaurant known for having no menu - you get the steak plate of the day, with fries, no ketchup - I asked.
Our trip to Bordeaux was another one of those RTT funded long weekends that make you thankful for living and working in France. We took the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux and rented a car so that we could drive around the wine country and visit Arcachon.
We spent the first night in Bordeaux and ate dinner at a very interesting Fromage restaurant. All of their dishes were cheese based and their cellar had more varieties of cheese than I've ever seen before in my life. The second day, we headed out to visit the Bordeaux wine region. In a nutshell, we spent the day driving around the beautiful countryside, visiting Chateaus and trying world-famous wines.
We then drove out to Arcachon to see the dune de playa (the largest sand dune in Europe) and to spend the night in the quaint little seaside town. The Dune de Playa was actually much more interesting than one would think. First of all, it was packed but, most importantly, it provided fantastic views of the Atlantic ocean from its summit. In Arcachon, we had one of the best seafood dinners of our lives. We decided to splurge a little and have a huge seafood platter with crab, lobster, prawns, huitre, mussels, scallops and a number of other types of shellfish. Dinner was great, and we felt like a king and queen eating a feast that we didn't deserve. The rest of the evening, we drove around the town (I was missing the long evening drives that we used to take back in the day when we had a car) and then walked along the promenade.
The last day, we drove out to Saint Emillion, one of the most beautiful, quaint, hilltop, walled cities in the world - not to mention one of the best wine producing regions in the world. Saint Emillion was a joy to walk around (although a little steep at times). Its narrow cobblestone roads, great restaurants, and wineries make it one of the must-visit wine sights in the world. That night, we went back to Bordeaux and spent the night at a not-so-great hotel. On the other hand, we had a great steak dinner a L'Entrecote - a famous steak restaurant known for having no menu - you get the steak plate of the day, with fries, no ketchup - I asked.
March 16, 2006
Marseille, France
Dates: March 10-12th
Nestled on the Mediterranean in the Provence region, Marseille is a relatively warm destination even in March. The only downside is that it can be a bit uncomfortable if you get caught in the strong Mistral winds.
Since Aliya was in town for Spring break, we decided to take a small trip out to Marseille for the weekend. We took an early morning train from Paris to Marseille at a top speed of 310 km/h. The TGV is really cool and still feels very fast even after a few trips on it. In a mere 3 hours we got from central Paris to central Marseille almost 800 km away. We arrived in Marseille right around noon and quickly checked into the Citadines Aparthotel near the Vieux Port (Old Port). The Vieux Port is one of the oldest ports in France and has been used since the Greeks first inhabited the area in 600 BC.
Marseille is home to some very interesting landmarks, the most interesting of which is Chateau d'If located on a small island just 20 minutes south of the city. Chateau d'If was the prison for the ficticious Count of Monte Cristo in the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Unfortunately, the Mistral winds were out in full force which resulted in very rough seas. The boat that normally takes tourists out to visit the Island was not able to stop at the Island so we had to continue on to the Frioul islands instead. While beautiful, it was difficult to ignore the strength (and cold) of the Mistral winds. I don't think I've ever experienced winds so stong. Even the locals found the weather triste (sad) and generally ventured out into the gusts when necessary. The good news is that the sky was blue and the Sun was shining; a definite solice to those of us not entirely happy in the winds.
Another highlight of our trip was a miniature train ride up to the Notre Dame de la Guard cathedral built atop the highest hill in Marseille. The view from this location was stunning; the hills on one side, the city in the middle, and the sea and islands on the other side. Marseille is truly blessed with a unique location in the South of France.
February 5, 2006
Bangalore, India
Tiger in Bangalore
Originally uploaded by SaurabhA.
We spent the first day wandering around Brigade road, which is the main shopping stretch. We bought some Hindi movies and CDs and had some great Dosas for lunch.
On Sunday (my last free day before heading off to work on Monday), we spent the day at Bannerughatti Bio Park, which is a conservation park that allows lions, tigers and other animals to roam freely in a large forested area. The area is beautiful and seeing these animals in the wild is a completely different experience from seeing them in cages. The 35 tigers they have were playing, running and jumping; they seemed much more at peace then animals you see in zoos. We took a safari, which essentially is an enclosed vehicle tour amongst the tigers, bears and lions. While in one of the tiger areas, our bus broke down. Now this was a truly exciting experience; being trapped in a bus while tigers are roaming around just outside. They sent another bus to pick us up, but transferring from one bus to another isn't as easy as one might think; remember, there are tigers just feet away! In order to transfer from one bus to another, they had to line the vehicles up so that the doors we right up against one another. Then we were able to transfer without anyone being eaten by a tiger (which would have been a likely possibility if we had to transfer the traditional way).
February 2, 2006
London in Winter
London January '06
Originally uploaded by SaurabhA.
Dates: Jan 14th to 17th, 2006
This is one of my favorite shots from London. No monuments, no buildings, just a pretty girl in the Underground.
I actually had to go to London for work, but since I was going to miss Nadya's birthday the following week (I went to Poitiers for the PG Kickoff for four days), I thought this would be a good opportunity to extend the trip and have a nice time with Nadya for the weekend.
We stayed at the Millennium Gloucester in Kensington and spent the weekend eating, walking and touring with Navida. On Saturday, we went walking around central London and had dinner with Navida at a Chinese restaurant in China town. On Sunday, we all went to the British Museum (and saw the Rosetta stone), wandered around town and had fish and chips for lunch.
For the next two days, I had to work, but Nadya was able to see the British Library and do some great book shopping (we don't get a huge selection of English books in Paris).