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Winter morning and chai at an Indian railway station
It is not even 7 in the morning as I turn on the ignition of my car. In Bangalore, the weather reading on a cold January morning hovers around 15 C or thereabout. Outside, there is a blanket of fog that is so thick, I can barely see beyond a few meters. Onward I muster to the nearby railway station, barely a 15 min drive away. I have promised to meet a friend for early morning chai there. The drive is dangerous in the thick fog. As soon as I get out of the car, the dew drops condensed on the eucalyptus tree branches above patter down on my windcheater.…
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A colonial stay in the Nilgiris – Sinnadorai’s bungalow, Mangorange
It is the end of April. Although intermittent rains bring some respite from the summer heat in Bangalore, the heart longs for the solitude and bliss of the hills. Especially the Nilgiris, for I haven’t been there in 4 years. Thus, when the chance of spending a weekend in the lower reaches of the Nilgiris presents itself, I do not waste a moment. This bungalow, approaching it’s 100th birthday, is the oldest of the Murugappa group’s lovingly restored colonial heritage stays. It dates back to a time when tea first came to these hills, and in it’s heydays, housed the deputy manager of the estate. Bangalore to Sinnadorai’s bungalow, Mangorange We start…
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Italy’s restaurants and cafes – A photo essay
A short photo essay on the sights we saw on Italy’s streets. “If your mother cooks Italian food, why should you go to a restaurant?” -Martin Scorcese Also read, my experience spending a day in Venice Also read, a whirlwind tour of Tuscany’s countryside towns
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A walk through the touristy sights of Rome
Rome is the last city on our European travel ticket. We have saved the best for the last, the grandest of all the sights and the most ancient of all the historical places we’ve visited so far. We alight from the notorious Bus no 64 with our pockets intact and start walking. Our trolley bags make quite the racket as we drag them towards our hotel on Via Giulia, the cobbled roads proving to be the most difficult surfaces that we’ve faced till now. These square stones are quarried from volcanic mountains and our luggage wheels going down and up the gaps between adjacent stones, emanate sounds that remind me…
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30 photos to make you want to visit Venice, Florence and Rome
Here is a photo essay on Italy’s famous troika of Venice, Florence and Rome that is sure to incite travel pangs in people who already have or are yet to visit Italy. Venice Read more about what to do when you have only 1 day to spend in Venice Florence Also read, Exploring Florence in 3 days and Making a day trip to the Tuscan countryside from Florence Rome
