Munchausen Adventures

Notre Dame de Paris

2009-10-29T23:04:00.005+05:30

The silhouette of Notre Dame in the setting sun

A single post on Paris (my first post on Paris) does not do justice to this lovely city. I found a video which we had shot in the summer of 2004. That had been our first visit to Europe. We had taken a tour from Cox and Kings. It covered Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Holland and England. We had taken great pains at that time to shoot videos, to show it to the family back home. We had fallen in love with Paris during that trip.
The advantage of going on a guided tour was that we were provided with the services of a qualified guide, at all the places. We had a nice guide in Paris. She gave us insight into the lives of the parisians. I particularly loved the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It has innumerable stories attached to it. This video shows Cathedral Notre Dame from inside also.

The Notre dame de Paris ('Our Lady of Paris' in French), also known as the Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic Cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France.
Besides the cathedral there is the Cathedral tower visit The Notre-Dame tower visit is a trip through all of the upper parts of the western façade, dating from the 13th century, where visitors can contemplate the gargoyles and chimera built by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century and the 17th century Emmanuel Bell. 387 steps (there isn’t an elevator) to the top of the South Tower. It’s best to be in good shape !

Crypt of Notre Dame de Paris

Under the square in front of Notre Dame de Paris is one of the largest archaeological crypts in all of Europe. Before the 1860s, the area in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame was filled with buildings, some dating to the middle ages. When the buildings were torn down remnants of foundations and artifacts dating back to pre-Roman times were discovered. This area on the banks of the Seine has seen human habitation since the early Paleolithic Period, some 500,000 years ago.

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Traveling to the moon

2009-10-23T17:49:00.005+05:30

This is a video we shot at the Kennedy space centre in the summer of 2007. That was our last day in Orlando. Shaleen drove us in our rented car to the Centre. After 6days of covering the theme parks, one on each day, we saw the Space Centre on our last and seventh day. It was a fantastic experience. I am sharing this experience of the Apollo 8 launch with you.

The furthest destination for a human spaceflight mission has been the Moon, and as of 2009 the only missions to the Moon have been those conducted by NASA as part of the Apollo program. The first such mission, Apollo 8, orbited the Moon but did not land. The first Moon landing mission was Apollo 11, during which—on July 20, 1969—Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to set foot on the Moon. Six missions landed in total, numbered Apollo 11–17, excluding Apollo 13. Altogether twelve men walked on the Moon, the only humans to have been on an extraterrestrial body.
Apollo 8 was the first human spaceflight mission to achieve a velocity sufficient to allow escape from the gravitational field of planet Earth; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to return to planet Earth from another celestial body - Earth's Moon. The three-man crew of Mission Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to see the far side of the Moon with their own eyes, as well as the first humans to see planet Earth from beyond low Earth orbit. The mission was accomplished with the first manned launch of a Saturn V rocket. Apollo 8 was the second manned mission of the Apollo Program.
After launching on December 21, 1968, the crew took three days to travel to the Moon. They orbited ten times over the course of 20hours, during which the crew made a Christmas Eve television broadcast in which they read the first 10 verses from the Book of Genesis. The crew timed this reading to coincide with a full view of planet Earth hanging in the empty blackness of space, clearly showing the rich diversity of the living planet, as indicated in Earth's colors, seas, landforms, and weather patterns, rising over the dull gray horizon of the lifeless Moon. At the time, the broadcast was the most watched TV program ever. Apollo8's successful mission paved the way for Apollo 11 to fulfill U.S. President John F. Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the Moon.

Problems with Indian credit cards while traveling esp. in Paris.

2009-10-16T04:36:00.001+05:30

Special chip missing in Indian credit cards

While boarding from Paris' Gare du nord we almost missed our Thalys train to Brussels because of our credit cards not being accepted by the ticketing machine. During international travel we usually ensure that we reach the airport or railway station well before time.

Gare du nord, Paris but this is a photo while arriving via the Eurostar from London

But somehow we got delayed the day we were leaving Paris and barely managed to reach the station about half an hour before the train was scheduled to leave. At the station in Paris one usually does not come to know the platform at which the train would be arriving till the very last. So the kids and all our luggage was near the ticketing windows and we had to walk a bit to reach our train and the reserved compartment. We had bought our tickets in India through the net and now we just had to retrieve our tickets from the machine. We tried to get our tickets from the machine without any luck and we panicked as there was very little time left and we were carrying loads of luggage.

Meanwhile Anupam, our friend had already joined a queue at the ticket window as he had lost his wallet with credit cards to a pickpocket in a parisian metro!! Yes a man had taken advantage of Anupam as he was traveling with family, a baby and a stroller and was a tourist - yes this also happens in Paris and we thought that rogues were mainly confined to Italy!. The story goes like this - As Anupam with family was entering the metro station his paris visite card got folded in his pocket and the machine would not accept it and would not allow him to enter.

This particular man helped Anupam with his card and the stroller and all. He walked with them till inside the train. Now most Paris metro trains open from one side only. At this particular station the doors on both the sides were open. At the last minute the man picked his pocket and ran out from the other side. Meanwhile Anupam came to know immediately he got his family out fast and followed the man. But he lost him in the crowd after a while. It was a planned and targeted pickpocketing.
Coming back to the original story, Anupam joined the queue immediately as we entered the station and so he got his tickets just in time. Meanwhile we tried at the machine and lost precious time. Then we joined a queue and were literally going berserk at the slow pace with which it was moving. It seemed that no one was in a hurry except for us. The clerk would exchange pleasantries with each person first. We were literally jumping up and down with frustration at the etiquettes which the parisians were observing and we were wishing that alas they would behave like Indians. (Do Indians need lessons in etiquettes?) There was no provision for providing tickets to people whose trains were leaving first. We would have stood on the station and watched our train going by. But it was not to be so and we managed to get tickets in the nick of time. With our friends help we got our luggage and children near the train and literally threw our luggage in the train and got in.

We could not get our tickets from the machine because our cards, which rely on magnetic-stripe technology for transactions, lacked an embedded microprocessor chip, which stores and processes data and is now commonly used in Europe. Such chip-based cards — commonly referred to as chip-and-PIN cards because users punch in a personal identification number instead of signing for the purchase — offer an extra layer of protection against the theft of cardholder data and counterfeiting, and they are designed to replace magnetic stripe technology and signature payments.

The chip-and-PIN technology usually isn’t much of an issue when making purchases at a store, or paying for a meal in a restaurant, as most of those merchants still have credit card terminals that can read the magnetic stripes. Likewise, A.T.M.’s typically recognize and accept many cards whether they have a chip or a magnetic stripe. We could easily draw money from the ATM almost in all the cities we visited.

But Indian and American cardholders have had their cards rejected by automated ticket kiosks at train stations, gas pumps, parking garages and other places where there are no cashiers in Europe. Yes americans are in the same boat as us. It is also important in so much as we had no problems whatsoever in travelling across America in 2007, our credit cards worked everywhere.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

2009-10-13T18:21:00.007+05:30

Yesterday we were searching for travel videos to upload to a website as an entry for a competition to travel to Philadelphia. As usual it was the last day, when we got round to doing it. But in this confusion I discovered a treasure of travel videos very carefully shot in 2004. I am posting one of them here.
This was a trip to Europe. We started from Rome to Pisa, then Florence and onto Venice. This video has been taken in the field of miracles.

The Stonehenge tour

2009-10-08T00:51:00.001+05:30

It was possible for us to visit Stonehenge this time in UK, because of The Stonehenge Tour. Most of the tours going out from London leave in the morning as a full day tour usually also covering Windsor Castle and Bath. But as we had to reach London from Hull, it was not possible to reach London early in the morning. We decided to take this tour from Salisbury.
We faced the toughest part in London (which is usually so easy to move around) because of a metro strike. We reached London - King's Cross Station. Here we deposited our luggage in the cloak room at 8 pounds per suitcase, there were four pieces. Then we took a taxi to Waterloo station @22pounds.
On reaching there we bought our tickets from the counter as the ticketing machine was not accepting our credit cards. The ticket to Salisbury which the machine was selling us was costing us 88pounds for a family of four, where as at the window we got it for 55pounds because of discount for the family. This option is not available in the machine. If you are traveling as a family preferably buy at the ticketing window you will get at a discounted rate.

On reaching Salisbury the bus was standing just outside the station and left exactly on time. Salisbury is a quaint town, most famous for its cathedral but we were did not get down to see the cathedral. Inside the bus there was a recorded commentary about all the sights we crossed.
At Stonehenge we got down and had ample time to explore at our own pace. The audio guides provide a wealth of information. It was quite windy over there. We sat down on the grass and enjoyed a snack as well. In the summers there is a bus almost every half an hour back to the station. It has a stop at Old Sarum, where one can get down and then again catch another bus back. The tour is well organized and punctual and we enjoyed ourselves on this trip.

Oyster card London

2009-10-01T01:30:00.002+05:30

We went to meet my husband's colleague who is working at Royal London Hospital, London. When we reached the tube station 'Whitechapel' and came out of the underground it seemed like we had stepped in Aminabad of Lucknow. Inside the tube station the officials were extremely helpful as Shaleen had to swipe his oyster card twice to come out. An official came forward immediately and checked his card in a hand held machine and told him that he had been charged twice for the same journey. At the ticket window he requested the clerk to return the money to Shaleen's card and meanwhile he saw that we had been charged extra for our first trip from the Airport to Embankment that was because we did not know that the card had to be swiped again at the exit and with a lot of luggage we had got out from another gate meant for luggage and handicapped people. The nice clerk at the ticket window returned the money back on all our cards. They also told us that we need not have bought an oyster card for my eleven year old son. We could have bought a one pound ticket everyday for him for the whole day. If you are traveling to London and plan to use the metro a lot, its best to buy an oyster card from the VFS-UK. The card extracts the minimum fare from you for every journey you make and a maximum of five pounds in a day.

Despite the surroundings the Royal London Hospital itself was an amazing piece of architecture. It was beyond what we thought possible inside especially the labs and the lecture theatres.

Below are the labs and there are lecture theatres above, suspended, all in the shape of organelle's of a cell.
From the Royal London Hospital we went to St. Paul's cathedral. The cathedral was grand and I was particularly awed by the crypt which is the cathedral's foremost burial place, and the place where those who have made an outstanding contribution to Britain now rest. Chief among them being Admiral Nelson.

The ceiling of St. Paul's Cathedral
From St. Paul's Cathedral we walked across the millennium bridge to Shakespeare's Globe theatre.

We were lucky to see the rehearsal of "As you like it" which was going on at that time, but we were not allowed to take photographs of the rehearsal. The guide at the theatre was very amusing and told us some remarkable facts. One of them was that the costumes which the actors were wearing had never been washed and that the actors wore a slip next to their skin which was washable and the costumes were never washed. The Globe theatre was strange because the stage had no props no background scenery. The actors costumes and their dialogues were the only things available, for the rest you have to use your imagination. This is one theatre where the audience is fully visible to the actors and if you fall asleep you may be pointed out by one of the actors in the middle of the play. The people standing in the front are very close up to the stage, so much so that they run the risk of being sprayed by saliva.
Then we went to Kensington Palace and gardens. I loved the palace it had an exhibition on debutantes and many of Lady Diana's dresses were on display. The exhibits at the palace gave a closer view of the life during Victorian times.

The ceiling of one of the rooms in Kensington Palace.

This was clicked by Shaleen in the gents toilet at Kensington Palace. I on the other hand had found a very sweet notice stuck on the door of the Ladies toilet which related the details of the first meeting between Queen Victoria and prince Albert as entered by the queen in her diary.
We enjoyed the gardens as much as the palace. They were amazing and everybody seemed to be having a gala time there cycling, skating, etc.

London Pass

2009-09-27T02:06:00.001+05:30

Our second day in London. We had already paid for London passes from the VFS-UK centre in Delhi, but they had to be collected from the British Visitor centre at 1 Regent Street. In our previous trip also we had taken London passes but I think this time, with children, it may not have been such a good idea. Anyway we started from Trafalgar square towards Piccadilly Circus and the centre is just walking distance from the circus.

Piccadilly circus

The Criterion theatre is south of Piccadilly circus

British Visitor Centre

After getting our London Passes from the British visitor centre we also purchased tickets for a musical "WICKED",I had really wanted to see a play this time in London. We went straight for Tower of London, using the tube. The London Pass helped us to just walk through without standing in line for tickets. We went to see the Kohinoor and as this time it was not so crowded we could go round and see it again. We came out from the Tower of London towards the Tower Bridge and there was an exhibition of Bridges which we decided to see, but the elevator was out of order and it was not such a good idea with a stroller. The exhibition was good and going up the Tower bridge was a unique experience but we got exhausted going up the stairs. The entry fee was included in our passes.

After crossing over from the Tower bridge and walking towards HMS Belfast

Photogragh taken from HMS Belfast as the Bridge is being lifted

After coming down from the bridge we went to see the HMS Belfast a world war II warship which has been converted into a museum. The children enjoyed themselves thoroughly. We even met a sailor on the ship who showed us how things had been during the war times.

As we were walking towards an underground station we came across Borough Market London's oldest food market. We bought some fruits and vegetables from here and decided to call it a day as we had to go for a play as well in the night.

Borough Market

London - a home away from home

2009-09-22T19:22:00.001+05:30

For Indians traveling abroad to the western world, London is like another home, for me it seemed a bit like Mumbai. You can easily hear hindi being spoken on the roads at various places. Saree and salwar suit clad women are seen at shopping areas in plenty. Numerous small general store sort of shops being managed by Bangladeshis who on first appearance look like Indians.
You can roam all over Europe but once you come to London you feel relaxed and at home ground, the reasons maybe loads of relatives and friends in London, familiar language, lot of asians around and friendly english people. I have experienced this thrice that when I am standing (with loads of luggage) at the bottom or top of an escalator in a tube station an englishman would come and help me with the luggage of his own. If you are looking lost and trying to decipher your way around with a map invariably the passers by on their own try to help you out - this happens only in England believe me.

Our stay this time was at Citadines Trafalgar Square Aparthotel, quite centrally located and walking distance from the tube station. We took the underground from the Heathrow airport to our hotel, which I thought was too much adventure considering the amount of luggage we had and a baby on stroller. We had our Oyster cards with us which we had purchased from VFS-UK,Delhi. We had even got one for my son who was eleven at that time and
the officials at the tube station in Whitechapel told us that we need not have got one for him, we could have got a day ticket worth one or two pound a day for him which would have been cheaper or us. We caught the Piccadily line the only one from the Heathrow Airport it was a rush and we changed from Hammersmith to the District line (green). Luckily we had to just walk across the platform for a change in line and not go up and down on escalators or stairs and the station was not crowded, phew! that was really lucky!! Though we had got down on the station after seeing that it had facilities for handicapped people. Then we got down at Embankment and just around the corner was our hotel.
It was chillingly cold that day and it had just rained. We settled down in our rooms which were miniscule, as compared to other aparthotels where we had stayed esp in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. After that we wore our jackets and walked across the pedestrian bridge to London Eye and took a flight.

Pedestrian Bridge

Inflight London Eye
After that we again crossed the bridge and went across to Trafalgar square. It was lovely.

Nelson's column

Just before going back to the hotel we bought some provisions from TESCO. We were staying in London for 4 days and we had to arrange our own meals.

Paris - I love this city

2009-09-04T00:22:00.004+05:30

There is something about Paris (पैरी) which bewitches me, despite the snobbish french people, the language barrier, the difficult to pronounce street names or maybe its because of all this. Outside of India the one place which feels like home in the western part of the world is London. I adore London, but the fascination with Paris is much more.

This second visit to Paris was different from the first as we tried to cover the places where we had not gone before, chiefly Musee de Louvre, Chateau de Versailles, Musee d' Orsay and The Moulin Rouge.
Then there was some which we had done last time also, Seine river cruise was as mesmerising as before

The Notre dame at sunset

and Notre dame was as fascinating, Eiffel tower looked great and this time round I appreciated the view of Eiffel tower from Trocadero much more than the last time.

The Eiffel tower from Trocadero

There was so much we could not do, which we had planned. But thanks to Shaleen I managed to buy a purse from Galleries Lafayette, also something which had been overdue from last time. We were overawed by the dome at the Galleries Lafayette

The dome at Galleries Lafayette

The major let down was Eurodisney, we went there because it was here that we had sorely missed our children last time and almost cried for them at the gates of this amusement park and we had promised ourselves that we would get them here surely, but in all this we forgot that we have already been to the Mecca of theme parks and nothing can beat Orlando.
We loved walking on the Champs Elysses (शौंस एलिसी ) and standing at the Arc de Triomphe like the last time. We found our way around Paris using its metro but I think the stations were undergoing renovation, and if not they surely needed to be renovated. The musicians in the train were a novelty and I was fascinated with the different instruments which they used, with which I was not familiar except for the Piano Accordion. The french people we met on the train were mostly forthcoming and strangely we struck up more conversations with strangers on the parisian metro than on any other metro in the world. If you're planning to visit Paris the "Paris visite" is a must, it is the metro pass and it fetches discounts at many tourist attractions, we got a discount at Eurodisney.
A museum goer should get the museum pass. The Louvre (लूव)museum was all that I had expected and more.

The glass pyramid is the entrance to the Louvre Museum

It is a great museum, though we were living at walking distance from the museum we managed only a single visit there much to my disappointment, that too we just made a beeline for Mona Lisa and after that we saw a few more galleries. Musee de Orsay a railway station converted into a museum starts where Louvre leaves off. It was a beautiful museum with lovely paintings.

Musee de Orsay

Going to Versailles (वरसै)was also something which we had planned for days and stupidly I had booked the tickets for Versailles on the net for a week earlier than when we actually reached, so when we reached Versailles the tickets were of an earlier date. Shaleen had done his homework well and right at the entrance where hardly anybody was going, was a small office for redressal of problems with internet tickets and there our tickets were validated for the same day. The palace was magnificent and the gardens were huge we had to take a golf buggy on rent to see the gardens and we also saw the Marie Antoniette's palace.

Versailles

The Moulin Rouge (मूला रूज़ ) was a great show. I enjoyed myself immensely and it had the distinctive french flavour which is not possible in other shows however great.
The most beautiful building in Paris is the Opera house.

The Opera house

Brussels to Brugee

2009-08-11T00:35:00.007+05:30

The best way to reach Brugee (the most visited town in Belgium) from Brussels is by train, an intercity train. There are numerous trains and tickets can be bought at the station at the time of travel, as advance purchase is not cheaper and there are no reservations on the train and children travel free!!
This leg of our journey took the most time to plan and we still were not able to purchase tickets beforehand. We would have bought the tickets at home on the net, except for the unpredictable Belgium railways website. Contrary to our expectations we saved money on the journeys where we did not book tickets from before at home. As in Belgium, so also in England ,while going to Stonehenge. The people at the ticket windows in both places were very friendly and helpful, though I cannot say the same for France. In Belgium, the trains were good and we were issued a ticket on which we could make 10 journeys from anywhere to anywhere in Belgium, just fill up the details with your pen and the let the ticket conductor punch it. When we were going by train to Amsterdam from Brussels we saved money by traveling till the last station in Belgium on the same ticket and had another ticket from that last station till Amsterdam which was little costlier than traveling in Belgium. And this was possible even when the train did not actually stop at that last station in Belgium, from where our onwards journey supposedly began.
We reached Brugee and en route we spoke to an Indian settled in Belgium. He told us to take a horse buggy to see the town. The horse buggy cost us 45 Euros and frankly I thought Brugee was a let down, considering the amount of money and time we spent to go there.

On reaching Brussels and the Grand Place my thoughts were reinforced, I found it better than Brugee. Maybe a previous visit to Switzerland had taken away from the old world charm of Brugee. Maybe the lovely waffles and chocolates we had in Brussels had something to do with it.

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I can say the same for myself. We studied the locations we have to go to in such details that we memorised the names of quite a few roads and places in distant countries. Google maps has made distances disappear and the uncertainties of travel can be reduced drastically. The level of confidence is much more after studying the satellite view of a location you are planning to travel to.
Sitting at home you can map the distance from your hotel of various locations and the easiest route to it.
In our trip to US in 2007 we used the google maps extensively to get directions to various places.
Another thing which we take care to do is to study the metro map nicely of cities where the network is good.
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Letterfinlay Lodge and hotel

2009-06-30T02:32:00.006+05:30

The journey by car from Inverness to Fort Williams via Eilean Donan castle was picturesque. We were three cars going one after the other. As we passed through the lovely countryside

From Fort Williams

we wished we were staying at one of the lovely hotels in the shadow of the mountains, besides a loch. We could not almost believe that the lodge where we were staying, the Letterfinlay lodge and hotel could be at such an amazing location. It is on the A82 about 7 miles from Spean Bridge and 17 miles from Fort William.
Everybody told me that they wished that we were staying at Letterfinlay lodge for more than one day. We revised our plans for the next day but all of us had prebooked connections and accommodations from Glasgow the next day, when we would be dividing into three groups and going to London, Hull, and Windermere.

After checking in the hotel, we drove to Fort William for dinner. We had traditional scottish food Haggis, neeps(turnip), tatties (potatoes).We shopped from tesco and also got Indian food packed for people back at the lodge.
We were fortunate to see the Lochaber school band performing that day at the market square.

From the lounge at the lodge we could see the sheep up on the hills. The lounge had recliners where one could relax.

The other side looked over Loch Lochy. It was an amazing view

Jacobite cruise - The Lochness experience

2009-06-28T18:15:00.000+05:30

We went to Fort Williams from Inverness. Left our hotel, Express by Holiday Inn after having breakfast. We decided to take a Jacobite cruise on the Lochness. It was enroute so we decided to do it on our way to Fort Williams. The route was beautiful. We stopped to take photographs on one of the layby (space next to the highway where you can stop the car)

Except for a wrong turn due to some confusion because of the GPS, we reached Clansman Harbour situated opposite the Clansman Hotel. It cost 34 pounds for a family of five for the cruise. The cruise was a great experience.

There is a stop at the Uruqhart castle where you can get down and the ticket costs 10 pounds per person, and take the next cruise back. We did not get down at the castle, instead we came inside the boat from the deck it was warmer inside and enjoyed a cup of warm coffee. As most of the passengers had disembarked at Uruqhart castle we had more space to ourselves, on the way back, in the boat.

Uruqhart castle
After the Jacobite cruise. I thought we might as well may see the Eilean Donan Castle. It was about an hour and a half away. We set our GPS to Eilean Donan castle. The route was beautiful but the castle was a let down especially as we had come a long way to see it. It seemed very small and not at all grand.
Most of our group did not go inside the castle. There was a family ticket of 13.5 pounds and five of us went in. The inside of the castle was interesting and well preseved. The kitchen was especially good.

Eilean Donan Castle

Inverness - area around the river Ness

2009-06-20T03:15:00.001+05:30

Our Guide in kilt told us the literal meaning of the word Inverness, the highland capital. It is one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. We reached Inverness by car and the route was beautiful.

The best part of going to Europe in summer is that one has a very long day at one's disposal. The sun rises very early in the morning and sets around 10pm. It looks like its evening time from 4 pm right through to 10pm an endless evening especially for us Indians for whom the length of the day hardly varies with seasons and very often we do not need to see the watch to find out the time, we just look outdoors and can pretty much guess what time of the day it would be. In Europe, in summer your times sense goes awry and many a times you have to draw the curtains to go to sleep at what seems like 4pm time here. In the birthplace of Golf you can tee off at 12 midnight there is still enough light and usher in the sun at 3am by the time you finish your game.
The delay caused in the car rental meant that we reached our destination quite late in the day. The day or rather the evening we reached there we took our cars along the river Ness. We walked along the river, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the crystal clear water. As it was a weekend the parking along the river was free.
The banks of the river Ness beyond the Inverness Castle were known as Ladies walk and the Ness Walk. It was a very picturesque area. On going futher away towards the Eden Court theatre it became lovelier with a number of small islands accesible by small pedestrian bridges, this area we actually explored the next day. The air was chilly.

There were numerous rabbits (and there burrows), living wild on this slope.

We walked upto the Primark store. The market was closed at that time. We saw an Indian Restaurant here. It was called the Shapla ( meaning Lotus?) Indian Restaurant. We had dinner there. It was not excellent stuff but good enough.
Next day we took our cars into the city and parked in the multilevel car park which charged 20pence per car for two hours. The catch was that you could only increase the time of parking after 2 hours. So at the end of 2 hours Shaleen and Anupam had to rush back to increase the time. We walked down to the town centre from the car park but missed the 11 am Happy tour. The Primark store was just 2 shops away so we all went on a shopping spree. The clothes were even cheaper than what we get in India. A shirt with tie for 1 pound. Children's jeans for 3 pounds. Unfortunately we did not buy much due to lack of time and space in our suitcases.
We then went on a walking tour of Inverness - Happy Tour.

Walking tours are fun. A good way to get a feel of the city and also a chance to interact with a local . We did not walk for a long distance but we came to know a lot about the folklore, the history of the city. He told us about the Mac Donald clan. The guide was friendly and humorous.
We headed back to our hotel Express by Holiday Inn which was outside the city towards the Culloden Battlefield. Our group being so large we had not been able to procure accomodation at a B&B as had been our plan initially. The hotel proved comfortable, as Tesco was nearby. For the first time in a hotel we saw that a Microwave was provided for the use of the guests in the common area, where the breakfast was served daily, and there was crockery and cutlery with it. Guests could get food from outside, heat it and carry the food to their rooms from this area if they wish.
Next we went to the Culloden Battlefield. Where the Jacobites had fought with the british army. The battle lasted for about 2hours and there is a tour there now which lasts for almost the same duration.

The tour has GPS facilitated audio tour. On reaching a particular spot the audio guide automatically tells a story related to that location. Here we realized how the golf buggy which we had taken on rent in Versailles used to give us automatic commentary on reaching a particular place.

Scotland one of the most beautiful places on earth

2009-06-19T02:27:00.002+05:30

We are back from a great vacation. We had planned to see Scotland in the latter part of the vacation. It was a novelty for us, Shaleen and me, rest of the cities we had already been to before, (except for Brugee). So that part we planned to visit in the end.
To keep the anticipation going till the end. I think when you plan a vacation, the sequence in which you plan your holiday locales is very important, if you are covering more than one place. If you see the best in the first go, the rest pales in its comparison. During our USA trip the trip ended in a grand finale, the best, the Niagara falls.

I found Scotland quite overwhelming. As I had mentioned in my previous post we took car rentals in Scotland. We were three cars going one after the other. Shaleen had purchased a GPS from London with maps of the European union. His colleague Amrita helped us with the selection of GPS which she had already purchased on the net at Amazon.com.
The car rentals gave us more freedom as we were not bound by any particular schedule, except that we had our hotel and apartment bookings done from before. We got the best deal from Alamo and it got better with Etihad Airways Partnership.
We reached Edinburgh from Amsterdam by flight. It took us quite some time to get a taxi for 8 persons as we had a lot of luggage. On reaching Grove street Apartments, we met the rest of our family. They had arrived the same day by train from London. Grove street Apartments proved to be a great stay. It is a daily serviced apartment!! After Citadines stay everywhere else --London, Paris, and Brussels. Grove street Apartments exceeded expectations.
We were so hungry on reaching Edinburgh. The one and a half hour flight had been without any service and the costliest leg of our journey at 80 Euros per person. We feasted on fried Bhindi and Theplas from India and by that time Suhani and Nalin had convinced us to go to the Ghost walking tour. In retrospect I think that was one of the most enjoyable and happening excursions of the trip.
We met our guide outside the Starbucks cafe on the Royal mile. 10 pounds adults and 8 pounds child was the cost and we got a free torch and a drink at the local pub each. He was a good story-teller. We came to know that suicide is legal in Scotland. He told us about the witch burnings, and about Mary Queen of Scots .

The pub where we got a free drink each

He told us that a Scots believe that after death their souls come back to Scotland and therefore at the graveyard there were many memorials of scotsmen who had lost their lives in other countries, made by their kinsmen so that their souls would have a resting place in Scotland when it came back.

We walked a few kilometres and saw few of the greatest views of the city.

Inverness - Things to do

2009-05-22T09:49:00.002+05:30

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We were chalking out as to what our itinerary would be in Inverness.
Things to do

1. Culloden visitors centre.
reviews
The timings are 9am - 6pm Summer (April - October)
The prices are
Adult - £10.00
Family - £24.00
Concession - £7.50
Single Adult Family - £20.00

Hire of a battlefield tour PDA is included in the price of admission.

Weekly off: Battlefield open daily, all year

2. Happy tours
reviews
History Walking Tour of Inverness,
through heart of the City
The tour begins outside the Tourist Information steps
The timings are Every day at 11am, 1pm or 3pm!
The prices are Adults £10, Super Adults £8, Kids are Free
Discounted rates for larger parties.
Weekly off : they operate 365 days a year.

3. Lochness tour
Still to be researched
The timings are
The prices are
Weekly off

4. Floral Hall
review
The timings are Easter to October - Daily, Floral Hall & Gardens 10am – 5pm, Coffee Shop 10am -4.30pm
Last admissions to Floral Hall & Gardens, 30 minutes before closing time.
The prices are
Adults £2.00
Under 18s Free of Charge
Senior Citizens £1.50
Weekly off : it seems that there is no weekly off.

Cawdor castle is privately owned and extrememly expensive at 30 pounds per person. we decided to give it a miss.

VFS UK Delhi

2009-05-10T03:08:00.003+05:30

We reached the VFS UK, (Upper Ground Floor, S-2 Level, International Trade Tower, Nehru Place, New Delhi 110019) without appointment early in the morning at 7:30 am there was already a queue. We got a number for waiting for paying the visa fees at the cash counter.
In case of USA visa this fees can be paid by applicants in their hometowns at a HDFC , specified counter.
After 3 emails to UK VFS we got an appointment for a date other than the 3 dates we had requested.

Although not mentioned in the required list of documents a Bank statement is absolutely required to be submitted at the time of application.
In 2007 when we went to USA we had been sure that we would be refused visa. But they had told us not to buy flight tickets or pay for accommodation before getting the visa. For the UK visa you have to purchase tickets before hand and also book accommodation. What happens when they refuse visa? I found the Working of US embassy much smoother and systematic than UK VFS.
After submitting all documents and after hours of standing in, this queue then that queue, we were told that we may still be required to come for an interview, that was ultimate especially for us, coming from another city.
We proceeded to Biometrics where we had to give finger prints of all 10 fingers. They took photographs also. AVOID MEHNDI (Henna) application on hands if applying for a UK Visa, otherwise you might have to postpone your visit to UK.
First time visitors to UK and less frequently travelled people should be prepared that their applications would take a longer time to process.
Collecting the passports afterwards was again not easy. I suggest you stand in line by 5:30 pm otherwise there would be a long queue.
Pankaj had last year applied for a 5yr visa to the UK. The family had a history of travelling to UK for 3 times in the last 4yrs. He had payed the hiked visa fees only to receive a visa for 2years. In contrast one applies for a tourist visa to the US embassy for 6 months and they even give you a 10 yr multiple entry visa in the same fees.
I think UK VFS seriously needs to revamp the processing process which they are currently doing for visa applications.

Visit Scotland - planning a trip

2009-05-05T23:12:00.005+05:30

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Planning a trip to Scotland has turned into a daunting task, with so many inputs from so many forums and the wish to see as much as possible. Expectations are high as we have been told that it is the most beautiful place in the world. I got this map from visitscotland.com a truly great site.
The best car rental site is Arnold Clark rental.
I found a tour appropriate for us at Globus.

Day1 Hull – Edinburgh, Scotland.
(Sat.) This morning a magnificent highlight visit to see the lavish ALNWICK GARDEN, where the fountains and waterfalls are a breathtaking feature. Take your photos of the castle, ancestral home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, setting for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the recent Harry Potter films. In the afternoon, distant views of Holy Island and Lindisfarne, then cross the border at Berwick-on-Tweed and head for Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city. Optional Scottish evening with Highland dancers, bagpipers, and the Ceremony of the Haggis

Day 2 At Leisure in Edinburgh.
(Sun.) Morning city sightseeing of the 200-year-old “New Town” and famous scientists, inventors, and novelists. In the “Old Town,” drive up the narrow Royal Mile to EDINBURGH CASTLE to admire Scotland’s Crown Jewels, then explore HOLYROOD PALACE (except when the Queen is in residence). The afternoon is free to enjoy this “Prince of Cities” at your own pace. Later, a unique optional experience: board the former Royal Yacht Britannia, once the perfect royal residence for the Queen’s glittering state visits and family holidays. Tour five decks and see how the Royal Family and crew of 240 lived and worked on board. Dinner rounds off this optional evening.
Day 3 Edinburgh–Pitlochry–Braemar–Inverness.
(Mon.) Over the elegant Forth Road Bridge and into the Highlands. Stop at the Victorian mountain resort of Pitlochry, then head for Deeside with its royal connections and visit pretty Braemar, home of the Royal Highland Games for over 900 years. Cross heather-clad moors for a visit to a WHISKY DISTILLERY, see the ancient art of converting barley, water, and yeast into a heart-warming liquor. Spend the night at Inverness, the Highland capital.

Alternatively
Edinburgh–St. Andrews–Braemar–Inverness. (Wed.) Over the elegant Forth Road Bridge and through Fife to St. Andrews, whose Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, has given us the rules of golfing. Cross the Firth of Tay and from Dundee head into the Highlands with a lunch stop in pretty Braemar, home of the Royal Highland Games for over 900 years. Drive through the Grampian Mountains, following the River Dee in the area where the Royal Family spends their summer holidays. Later, visit a WHISKY DISTILLERY, see the ancient art of converting barley, water, and yeast into a heart-warming liquor. The next two nights are spent in the Highland capital.

Day 4 Inverness–Isle of Skye.
(Tues.) A leisurely day with a stop first at CULLODEN VISITOR CENTRE, which sets the scene of the crushing Hanoverian victory over Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scottish clans. Plenty to focus your camera on as you follow the shores of Loch Ness, keeping a lookout for the mysterious monster.
Then call at CAWDOR CASTLE, setting for Shakespeare’s Macbeth and for over 600 years home to the Thanes of Cawdor. View the castle rooms and take a stroll through the gardens. Back in Inverness, the rest of the day is free to explore this compact city. We can have the Loch Ness Experience excursion including a cruise on the loch followed by supper at a local inn.
After a lunch stop in Fort Augustus, cross onto the Inner Hebridean Isle of Skye, the relaxing setting for tonight’s stay. Before dinner an optional excursion to spectacular Eilean Donan Castle.

Day 5 Isle of Skye–Fort William–Glasgow.
(Wed.) Call at the Clan Donald Centre for a visit to its MUSEUM OF THE ISLES and an insight into 13 centuries of clan history before boarding your FERRY at Armadale to sail across the Sound of Sleat. Rejoin the mainland at Mallaig and follow the “Road to the Isles,” pausing at Glenfinnan, the site where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s standard was raised in 1745. More scenic highlights this afternoon: Fort William beneath Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain; the shores of lovely Loch Linnhe; the mountain pass known as Glen Coe, where the MacDonald Clan was treacherously massacred by the Campbells; wild Rannoch Moor; and the “Bonnie Banks” of Loch Lomond. On arrival in Glasgow, your orientation drive takes in the 12th-century cathedral, imposing university buildings, and elegant Georgian squares built by the wealthy tobacco barons.

Optional
If possible
Glasgow. Excursion to the Isle of Bute.
A worthwhile last day’s excursion out of Glasgow with a short drive and FERRY crossing to the picturesque Isle of Bute. The highlight is a visit to the Marquess of Bute’s MOUNT STUART HOUSE, Britain’s most spectacular Victorian gothic stately home, built in the 1880s in breathtakingly grand proportions. Here you’ll be welcomed in the family’s private sitting rooms for morning coffee, see this amazing house. Back in Glasgow, the rest of the afternoon is free for last-minute shopping before enjoying a farewell dinner at your hotel.

OPTIONALS
CITY: Edinburgh

Scottish Evening April 1 - October 31
No visit to Scotland's capital city would be complete without joining a Scottish evening with dinner, wine and a show featuring singers, dancers, bagpipers and the Ceremony of the Haggis.
Approximate value: GBP £50 per person

Rosslyn Chapel
Take a short trip from Edinburgh to visit Rosslyn Chapel, featured in the best selling novel The Da Vinci Code.
Approximate value: GBP £18 per person

Royal Yacht Britannia and Dinner
A visit on board the Royal Yacht Britannia, now moored at Leith docks, is followed by dinner with wine and coffee at a local restaurant.
Approximate value: GBP £47 per person

CITY: Isle of Skye

Eilean Donan Castle and Pub Visit
Enjoy a visit to spectacular Eilean Donan Castle followed by a drink of your choice at a local inn.
Approximate value: GBP £19 per person

London Paris Brussels Brugge Amsterdam Scotland

2009-04-26T03:12:00.003+05:30

Our itinerary for the summer. A lot of planning has to be done as yet. Main areas of concern are the connections and the stays. Our group has slowly increased to 15 people.
In London we plan to see the Tower of London, British Museum, Madame Tussaud's, London Eye, London Aquarium, Changing of guard and Buckingham palace, nearby Windsor castle, Westminster Abbey. I want to go to the Hyde park, Leicester square, Trafalgar square,

Selfridges. I want to watch a play in London this time round. The list is endless. London is a travellers delight because of the metro. Take a cruise on river Thames.

Easiest and cheapest way to cross the English channel would be by Eurostar. In Paris we are still searching for apartments for our stay. Things to do in Paris are Grevin Wax museum, Louvre Museum. In our last trip we had been amazed to find out that the Glass Pyramid was actually an access from the metro. We had just by chance taken the metro station to th e Louvre and we had been quite in awe of the shops which we saw at the station as if in an expensive mall, and to top it all as we ascended the escalator we realized that we were coming out through the glass pyramid! It had been a windy day.

Musee de Orsay, Eiffel tower,

stroll on the Champs Ellyses, Versailles, Eurodisney,

Notre Damme.

From Paris via rail to Brussels. The Grand place, Mannequin pis and then the freshly made waffles and lovely home made chocolates which cannot be carried home because of their short shelf life.
Brugee would be a new place for us. It is a medieval city preserved in time. Belgium's most visited city. We plan to see the Town Hall. Roam about and enjoy the feel of the place. If we have time and folks are interested we'll see one or two museums.
From Brugge to Amsterdam again by train. Accomodation is tough in Amsterdam. We will enjoy a family trip to Amsterdam. The Dam Square and the Vondelpark. Anne Frank's House and a canal cruise. Some coffee and chocolate at the coffeeshops. Van Gogh museum maybe.
We are taking the night ferry to New Castle upon Tyne. Then to Edinburgh. On Divya's suggestions we'll do 2days in Edinburgh, one each in Fort Williams, Inverness, and Glasgow. Then return to London for our flight back.
Everything is in planning stage and can be altered as and when the need arises.

Cheap flights -- Delhi to London return -- Etihad Airways

2009-04-16T01:28:00.007+05:30

Any of you guys, if you have any miles in Etihad Guest, the reward programme of Etihad airways, now is the time to use them. A family of 4, three adults and 1 child can get a return tickets to London from Delhi for as little as Rs. 26000.
The tickets we purchased in May 2004 to US of A have given offsprings it seems. We thought that Etihad had a great reward programme but this beats everything.
After great deliberations and thought as to where we would be going for summer vacations. Etihad decided for us.
We had planned for

Australia and orNew Zealand, Shaleen was not keen on it. Singapore airlines has not given us a single frequent flyer mile!! it has a lousy reward programme. We did not much care for the planes either.
For America as the visa is at hand. Only thing is the enthusiasm was lacking for a repeat visit, so soon to America.
For Manali, Shimla, Mashobra, Dharamshala, Club Mahindra let us down. The call centre is in the habit of refusing initial requests for booking without rhyme or reason. In one day their whole resort gets booked.
We planned a road trip to Leh Ladakh via Srinagar. Or rather thought about it only.

Zeroed in on London, Paris and Scotland, god willing and if the passports (renewal) and visas go through, we would be on our way.
We will again stop at the doughnut shaped airport of Abu Dhabi.

From New York

We love the planes that Etihad Airways has because the screen on each of the seat is big. We truly appreciated them only after we travelled by Singapore Airlines later on, when we went to Singapore.

Caught in the Making - Club Mahindra resort at Corbett

2009-04-04T00:00:00.002+05:30

While roaming on the streets of Paris in the summer of 2004, we had just been on top of the Eiffel tower, having arrived the same day by coach from Germany, Shaleen and I had been both dumbstruck by a large framed photograph of Eiffel tower built just half way up. It was kept in the show window of an expensive store dealing mostly in rare photographs. That particular photograph had been very heavily priced. Till then the very idea of a photograph of a half built building had seemed repulsive to me. Looking at that photo we marvelled at the uniqueness of it, frozen in time.
It was this photo which came to my mind when on 29th March while walking along the river just beyond the Wood castle resort, we came across the under construction Club Mahindra resort. The whole family got excited and we decided to go have a look inside. This resort is probably scheduled to start in May this year.

As we roamed over the place one of the staff came forward and showed us the rooms from inside as well. One fully furnished room was locked and another almost done one could be seen from the window.

I realized that our search for a good resort for future stays in Corbett ended right here. With a Club Mahindra stay a great holiday is almost a foregone conclusion.
People interested in Club Mahindra can weigh their options here.
A site selling and buying used Club Mahindra memberships

KGMC '86 Batchmeet contd

2009-04-03T01:51:00.002+05:30

During these two trips to Corbett, so close together, I realized that it was a great place for family and or friends to spend time together esp people living in Lucknow, Delhi, Moradabad, Barielly, Rudrapur and nearby places. Its advantage being that no hilly drive is involved. A number of good resorts are there and you are away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Its close to nature and quiet. A nice place to catch up on things, meditate etc. One or two Jungle safaris would provide the excitement. Last year Bhabhi's batch had organised a meet at Woodcastle resort which was just adjoining the Corbett Riverview resort where we were staying. The previous day we had by mistake reached Corbett Riverside retreat instead and that resort was poorly maintained.
Next day, morning of 29th March 09, most of our group had gone to the jungle in a canter leaving early morning. We decided against going for a jungle safari. Just a few days back we had done the safari. We walked down instead to the river from the resort itself. It was lovely walking along the river. The resort itself was quite picturesque

Along the riverside we went across to have a look at the Woodcastle resort. It is one of the better and costlier accomadation available in Corbett. We were interested to have a look at the rooms after hearing about the open to sky, shower stalls in the rooms. To our disappointment all rooms having this feature were occupied so we were not able to see that from inside, instead they were just pointed out at from the outside.
Adjacent to Woodcastle resort there was another one coming up. We were very pleased to know who that belonged to!!

More pictures of Corbett Riverview resort (Leisure hotels)

Photographs of The Woodcastle resort

The Class of '86, KGMC - countdown to the 25yrs reunion

2009-04-01T08:53:00.007+05:30

Last weekend saw us again at Jim Corbett Park!! This time it was the reunion of the batch of 86 KGMC, my batch. Organized by Dr. Sarvesh and Dr. Rajshekhar. We thought it was a trifle expensive at Rs.6300 per couple and Rs.900 per child. But noneteless we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
It was an, on the spur decision, to go to the batch meet, because we came to know that both the children had holidays in those days. Train reservations were not available, we had to go by road. Shaleen had to take an exam in Barielly. We started early from Lucknow, though we had planned to leave at 4:30am we left by 5:30am. We reached Barielly at 9:30 am despite getting caught in a massive 15km long jam at a railway crossing just before Barielly. Shaleen used his driving skills to the max to get out of this jam at the earliest which still took 30mnts.

We reached Barielly and were received by Dr. Gaekwad and while Shaleen and Dr. Gaekwad took exam we stayed with Dr. Gaekwad's family. His in-laws had come visiting from Pune via Mumbai. We were lucky to eat the season's first mangoes at their place, that too Alfonso mangoes, straight from Ratnagiri and strawberries from Mahabaleshwar and sea water fish got in ice box from Mumbai. Soumya had a great time playing with the children. As we were about to leave Barielly we discovered that our Qualis had a punctured tyre pointed out to us by a three yr old "Innova doctor", Dr. Gaekwad's nephew.
We left Barielly for our onward journey. We reached Corbett Riverview retreat, Corbett Park around 5pm.

After freshening up we joined the group in the conference hall in the resort. On our way to the conference hall from our cottage we saw a hot air balloon inthe sky from the neighbouring Wood Castle resort. This is the resort where Bhabhi's batchmeet will take place in the Easter holidays in the coming month of April.

Only three female counterparts had come to the batch meet including me. Kusum Gahtori now Oli from Haldwani, Usha Rawat now Bhandari married to a batch mate also settled in Haldwani.

After introductions the children did several dance numbers, songs and jokes as well, some of them were really good. The paper dance was the most enjoyable part of the evening. Food was great and the atmosphere was great also.

We retired early because we were so tired after the long drive from Lucknow. We missed out on the discussions which took place later on, and also the distribution of momentos. I really liked the momento which was given to me later on by Ratnesh in Lucknow. Next year the batch is planning to meet in Mussorie, a reunion to be organized by Ratnesh I think. I hope the girls join in greater numbers.
Lets start collecting the details of all our batchmates.

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To enter your details and your friends fill in this form. This would help us in gathering information about more and more of our batchmates.

The Lake Resort - Naukuchiatal

2009-03-31T22:47:00.002+05:30

From The Lakeside resort, Naukuchiatal

When we were at Naukuchiatal we stayed at Dancing waters, Club Mahindra's resort. It has well appointed rooms, but the it seems more like staying in a hotel, than a resort. We spent most of our second day at The lake side resort which is nearby. It is just at the lake and one can go boating from the resort itself or just walk under the trees and enjoy the feel of the lake. When I had first seen this lake side resort I had been absolutely enamoured by it. This time round the location was unbeatable and the staff very friendly but the resort seemed lacking in upkeep.

In the afternoon we lounged about in front of the lake enjoying tea and excellent cheese chilly toasts while the children went for paddle boating yet again. We decided to return to lakeside resort for dinner later.

From The Lakeside resort, Naukuchiatal

As we entered the premises of the resort later in the day it seemed quite deserted and if we had been alone we may not have ventured there, in the dark. We had already placed our order in the restaurant. We initially decided to sit outside but changed our minds because of the cold breeze. The food was great and we had a great last evening together.

The Strawberry farm at Kiccha

2009-03-27T18:54:00.001+05:30

One of the attractions while going to Kumaon region by car is the strawberry farm at Kiccha. This farm is the source of strawberries for fruit marts of Lucknow, Delhi etc. The climax of our La Martiniere break is this farm, esp as Shaleen is extremely fond of strawberries. While returning home we stop here to buy strawberries in wholesale. It is situated between the 2 and 3 km milestone while reaching Kiccha from Haldwani on the right side.

From Strawberry farm at Kiccha

After entering through this gate we go about a half a km inside and have to look around for the farm because every year the position of the farm is changed to another plot near by.

From Strawberry farm at Kiccha

We bought 14 kgs of strawberries, all freshly picked in front of us. It took us 2hrs to collect these delicious strawberries. Costing us Rs.60 a kg

Dancing waters, Naukuchiatal - Club Mahindra resort

2009-03-19T23:31:00.002+05:30

This time of the year is a good time to take a break for parents of children studying in La Marts, as it is the only school whose session starts so early. While the rest of the schools have exams we can chill out during Holi Holidays. Many years back it was Reshu who enlightened us with the idea of taking a short break at this time of the year.
Thanks to Club Mahindra this year we had a ball. A great time with friends.
We started from Corbett after breakfast for Naukuchiatal. We went via Haldwani, it took us almost three hours to reach there, Dancing waters, Naukuchiatal. It is a school converted to a resort. The restaurant and activity centre are on the second floor. It would be wise to ask the management to reserve lake-side facing rooms to make the stay delightful.
We had a sumptuous lunch and then waited for Anupam and Shubhra and kids to join us.
In the evening we decided to walk down to the lake but half way down, it became too dark to continue so we came back and enjoyed the dinner spread.