Monday, August 15, 2005

Bhaarathame !

Nedunthooram Sendralum
Ninaivazhaigal Oyaathu ...
Naatkal Karaindhalum
Yen Nesam Maarathu ...

Yendrum ...
Khadhaludan

Vande Mataram !

posted by ATS @ 9:51 AM 4 comments

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

"... life is short and the world is wide ... "

Long voyages, great lies. - Italian Proverb

Back again .. with updates on another adventurous tour. We 5 girls: Indu, Rathi, Sheeba, Sumi and me started the journey on July 21st morning from Stockholm and reached Rome by 11 AM. We took a transport bus to the city (as Ryan Air terminal was a wee bit away from the city centre ... as usual). We were lucky tht we got dropped somewhere close to our hotel. Checked in and sat down for our kattu sooru when the cleaning lady comes barking asking us to clear off soon. We try explaining to her telling her to give us some 15 mins ... but she wants us to speak in spanish or italian 8-. Then our great Sheeba comes to the rescue, and to the woman she says, "NOW U GO ... 30 MINUTES AFTER ... WE GO YOU COME" (Thalaivar style eh!) ... MANN! She understood it ... :-)) and left us in peace ...

Now a detailed report ...

21.07.2005
Equipped ourselves with tram tickets and headed straight to The Vatican, St. Peters church. We made an entry into John Paul II Tomb and phew ... ! Were there so many Popes !!! Having never been an ardent history student ... couldn't make out much of the Popes ... just passed through the innumerable tombs and was happy to be out finally in fresh air ... Then we went into St. Peters Church n was mesmerized with the architecture. Mike is Dheivam !! His Pieta ... I dont have words to describe it. Mary was serenely sitting, holding Jesus in her arms. Hes given thought to so many minute details such as Jesus's veins running through his hands and legs, the folds in Mary's dress ... to the expression in her face. All I can say is ... I was stumped ! Anyone planning to be here ... take a free guided tour ... it was very informative. We then roamed till we saw every inch of the church and we accidentally met a Srilankan guard there ... who always seemed to be everywhere ... inside and outside the church .. calling to us to say "Chennaiiiiiiiii !!!" ... ;-)

And it was scorching hot almost like Chennai. Thank goodness ... Rome had cool drinking water running down from pipes in every street corner. Actually ... Romans built the water pipes with taps for people to quench their thirst in summer. Since they were all copper pipes ... the water was nearing boiling temp making it unfit to drink in peace ... so the clever Romans removed the tap and the water keeps flowing down like a fountain always ... Being chennaite I actually panicked a bit when I saw that there was no way to stop the water ... then later realized it ... hehehee

We planned on trying out an Italian Pizza for lunch ... im warning the Veggies ... if ur bent on havin a pizza in Italy .. find out a decent restaurant here ... else be happy that you hav tasted the most spicy and yummy pizza at Pizza Hut back home ... Italian (Veg) pizza sucks !!! We then headed to St. Mary Maggorie church ... this happens to be the first church built for Mary.

From there we reached The Pantheon, a Pagan temple that was later turned to a Chirstian church. The speciality abt this place .. well it has an open dome that lets light into the church and during rainy season, they hav very tiny holes on the floor that drains water from inside the church. We then walked to Piazza Novonna ... another fountain .. From there ... straight towards Piazza Venezia ... spent some time relaxing in the lawns and headed to Trevi fountain. The fountain depicts Neptune,the sea god(Ruler of Pisces), riding a winged chariot driven by sea horses through the gushing waters from the Acqua Vergine aqueduct. Legend has it that if you throw a coin into this fountain it guarantees your return
to Rome. And then ... we proceeded to the most happening place in Rome ... the Spanish Steps. Scalinata Spagna (Spanish Steps - a gathering place for foreigners) was built with a legacy from the French in 1725, but named after the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See. The steps lead to the French church, Trinità dei Monti. Foreingers gather here and get to meet their life partners and propose at this place ... we actually saw 2 proposals happening in a span of half an hour .. :-)) We called it a day and left to the Hotel.

22.07.2005
Headed straight to the Piazza Venezia (a monument for great warriors of Rome) and then to Colloseum. Took a guided tour. Tour'a vida guide super'a erunthan ;-). Pity that the great historical structure got destroyed and is still getting eroded away by pollution. Next continued to the Arch of Constantine, the Palentine hills nearby and then to the Roman Forums. I got carried away by them and not realizing in my excitement to picture them... actually somehow got out of the Forums through some stupid exit which was a waaaaaaaaay bit far from the entrance (were the other 4 were resting). And since it was almost evening, n my bad time ... they closed the exit and refused to let me in. Atleast I had my brains to take my mobile with me, so finally got in touch with them and we headed straight back to the hotel after booking tickets to Pisa.

23.07.2005
Left to Pisa early in the morning and reached there by 11 AM. Got the tickets to climb the tower (@ 2:30 PM ... no other go :-( .. it was time stamped ) and spent time looking around the church and the museums. Had a better Pizza from one of the shops(like r muniyandi vilas) and started the photo sessions .. pushing the tower, holding the tower .. phew ! Crazzz ppl ! ;-) Climbed the tower at 2:30 PM. Some got slightly dizzy when we rose up the tower cos of the inclination. View atop was amazing. Photo sessions again and we climbed down after 40 mins. Mini shopping spree and we left to Pisa Centrale.

Luckily there was a train to Florence immediately and we ran to catch it just in time. There was an hours time in Florence and hence sumi sheeba n me went again for a mini shopping nearby the station and was back in time to take the next train to Venice.

Reached Venice by 11:30 PM and passing time by bullying Sheeba throughout the journey. The city was buzzing with activity and was full of lights. Venice was glowing from the reflection in the waters. We took a water bus and checked into the dorm. Took a short break and started touring the city, to satisfy the souls who were dying to see the city at night. We took a ride through the Grand Canal and got off at St. Mark's Square. The bustling people everywhere and the soft lights with romantic tunes from the orchestra gave us a feel we were in a wonderland.

By 12:30 our bus tickets expired and we had no other way than to walk back to the Dorm. We waded our way through the streets and bridges trying to read our thundu map under the street lights. We crossed the Rialto bridge and somehow made it to the dorm.

24.07.2005
Checked out of the hotel. Myself, sheeba n sumi checked in our baggages into the train station and the rest at the hotel luggage room.(This created a mega fun at the last minute). We first visited St. Mary Salute, Bridge of Sighs and the prison, St. Mark's square, The Doge Palace, The Basilica of St. Mark. After shopping, we hurried back to the station with 20 mins for train to leave. Myself and Rathi made a sprint to the hotel and returned back with the luggages rite in time to catch the train to Milan. phewwww ! Did some more shopping at Milan and took the flight to Stockholm.

Finally I made it to ITALY :-D ... And now my soul will rest in Peace !!!!

posted by ATS @ 6:30 PM 4 comments

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness. ~Ray Bradbury

Sorry guys/gals for keepin you all waiting for this post. My trip to Denmark proved a perfect example for this quote.

We decided on making this expedition a memobrable and exciting one .. and hence decided driving all the way to Copenhagen. It waaas very funny ... since not many where used to right driving ... So ... we, a group of 15, set to Denmark with Venkatesh, Girish and Magesh at the wheels.

It was a gr8 feeling driving through the Great Belt Bridge and tunnel(World's second longest suspension bridge,with a span of 1,624 meters). We reached the capital in the evening after much of sightseeing (by trying to find the rite way to the hotel ;-) .

Around 5:30 PM ... we drove to the sandy beach near by and had some fun in the water. The waves were a little bit wild but the water was very clean. Spent some half an hour watching the local teens sculpt a horny female in tha sand ;-)) ... i shud say ... they got everything rite !

Then started to Copenhagen and found an Indian restaurant ... had a sumptuous dinner and had another great adventure trying to get back to the hotel in the dark. With Venkatesh, Sumi, Srini, Arthi n me in the car ... we had a hilarious time with Srini trying to ask someone the route, get back into the car, give directions to Venkatesh (asking him to take a series of lefts and rights) and after some 5 mins he would say "The lady/thatha doesnt know to speak english at all. Didnt even know Left and Right" .... :-)) We took nearly 2 hours and 30 mins trying to trace our way back to the hotel which was just 30 mins drive ... phewww!

The next day we drove back again to CPH and visited some building ... that looked like our government office ... but was cooool ... we shot some snaps and moved on to the museums : The Mystic Adventure, The Guinness World of Records, The Hans Anderson Museum(author of The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's Newclothes, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina etc.). Hans Anderson got to fame after he came to CPH ... There were automated puppet setup for each of his stories in that museum and there was also one story (Paati) translated and displayed in tamil :-D ... mannn ... we went crazy over it ... It was also Hans who started the idea of Tivoli and of all the Tivoli's the one in CPH is widely known for the first of its kind and its dare devil rides.

We then hunted for another restaurant to fill our tummy. But this time planned on trying out some danish food ... but gave up the idea after finding that most were non-veg. So back again to another Indian Restaurant for a buffet ... its was heaven to taste crunchy papad n aalo mutar after ages :-)

We then proceeded to the shopping center of CPH .. satisfied with collecting enough souviniers drove staight to the Statue of Zephion. Legend has it that it was she who created Denmark.

Zephion approached the then King of SWE pleading him for some help for survival. The king wanting to witness some talents of hers before rewarding her, told her that in one night how much ever land she could plough would be given to her. And she ... ploughed the entire land,now called Denmark, by changing her four sons as bulls. Interesting rite ... The statue was just too cool ...

From there we headed straight to The Little Mermaid, the national symbol of Denmark. It was a beautiful sculpture along the seashore. Spent an hour there taking snaps and was thinking if ... foreigners namma ooruku vantha Kannagi selai, Gandhi selaiku munadi ninnu epadi snaps yeduthupala .... !!! ;-))

Then after a filling dinner at Mc D ... started back to the hotel to gear up for the next day's adventure .... but this time we made it rite!

The last day checked out of the hotel and started towards SWE. On the way visited Denmark's Aquarium and was awed at the 6 foot octopus, innumerable varities of fishes, sharks, eels, star fishes and yea ... 'course ... the sea horses. There was another bewitching beach nearby the aquarium that compelled us to spend some more time. And so we try to find a place to park the car ... and Yo! there was another Restaurant serving Indian food (Biriyani to be precise) :-D. Nalla kattu kattunu katinom ... and started to the beach. This one was more clean and calm than the one at Brondby. The Great Belt Bridge was a spectacular sight from here.

Finally... with our hearts not willing to part from there ... we had to start our journey back as we had to get back to work on Monday. But we alreay lost lots of time but roaming around DNK till the evening ... so we decided on taking the cruise back to Sweden. So rushed our way back to port, put our car into the cruise and took the way back to SWE by water. Took some 30 mins to reach Mälmo ... and there ended our tour.

The next day ... back to work and routine life ... awaiting eagerly to plan for the next trip ... ;-)

posted by ATS @ 5:14 PM 7 comments