Sitting in Sitamarhi on my parents couch, i finally have time to update my blog. It has been almost 1.5 years since I last wrote! Its a long due post.
Just after my trip to Corsica in 2016, I switched jobs. Since then I have been so busy that never had the motivation or energy to update my blog. Its not that we have not traveled or explored the world, we definitely have. In 2016 after our Corsica trip, my parents visited Netherlands with whom we went to Switzerland on an amazing 1 week trip. We also visited Berlin for the wedding of Sayantani's cousin sister. Then in November 2016, we went to India for my cousin sister Palak's wedding in Bangalore. It was a one month India trip in which we visited Bangalore, Jaipur and Sitamarhi. On top of all this travel, I was also adjusting to my new work environment. My new job was very demanding and I had to setup the whole program from almost zero. From defining the aims and objectives of the program to building the team (we went from only me to a 5 people team in 1 year) to defining the whole work flow and deliverable. It was a great learning experience for me to work in a multilayered organization as big as Carnival. Its totally different than working in a small company!
Anyways, so much has happened in 2017 itself that I wont write about 2016 in this post. Our first trip in 2017 was to Algarve in Portugal. The sun kissed southern coast of Portugal took our breadth away and this coast line has since become our favorite holiday destination. We went in middle of April and the weather was just perfect for sightseeing! We flew to Faro from Amsterdam via TUI and booked a hotel in Abufeira town right next to the main beach. We rented a car there and drove around the coast for next 2 days. The town is filled with rowdy British tourists and therefore there are plenty of Indian restaurants and the sports bars were showing IPL matches!
Sun baked in Algarve, Portugal
The town of Albufeira, Portugal
Somewhere along the Algarve coast line ...
Wild coastline of Algarve, Portugal
Then a few weeks later, we went to Krakow, Poland with 3 of our friends. It was a long weekend trip and though the weather was cold and rainy, we had a great time. We ate Perogies like there is no tomorrow! Krakow is young and vibrant city. Its not as multicultural as most western European cities but this fact just adds to its charm. Its a great city to go when you are young and single. The women are pretty, dress sexy and drink more vodka than you ever can. The nightlife is just awesome. Don't miss out on clubbing when you are in Krakow!
Krakow nights!
Apart from all the bottles of Vodka we finished, we also ate at The famous grandma's kitchen called 'Kuchnia U Babci Maliny'. Amazing and cheap food and recommended restaurant! Don't miss the soup served inside the bread bowl.
On one afternoon, we went to another landmark The underground Wieliczka Salt Mine. Its a must visit for anyone visiting Krakow. Its was a unique experience unlike anything I had ever seen. The underground cathedral shown below was a masterpiece.
Underground Cathedral in Krakow salt mines
Then we took our most exciting 2 week holiday in end of May. We spent 1 week backpacking in Italy (covering Pisa, Cinque-Terra, Florence, Tuscan villages, Rome) and 1 week on a sexy cruise ship in the Mediterranean sea (covering Sicily-Kotor-Corfu-Crete-Mykonos-Athens)!
Onboard Cruise Ship Royal Princess
The unique architecture of Cinque Terre, Italy
Colorful liqueur store in Greek island of Crete selling Raki and Ouzo
And the prettiest of all, The Mykonos
Shan modelling in Mykonos
Leaning tower of Pisa and Le Pose'
Lost in Tuscan wind fields
Our roman conquest lasted just 1 day!
More recently we attended the Dandiya and Durga Pooja ceebrations in Netherlands. Dandiya was organized by Bridging the Gap and it was as colorful as it gets. The gujju crowd went crazy. Shan gave a stunning dance performance during durga pooja celebrations organized by Kallol.
Dandia celebrations in Netherlands
Shan performing during Durga Puja 2017 celebrations in Netherlands
Then we visiting the Dutch island of Terschelling for a weekend with a bunch of friends. Its a wind swept island with lots of sheep. Its considered a party island for teenagers in Netherlands, they all go camping there and do binge drinking.
On the Dutch island of Terschelling
In the meantime Shan's parents visited Netherlands for 3 months to celebrate the birth of their first grand kid. We spent some great time together and celebrated the birth of Rylie.
My in-laws eating waffles in Bruges, Belgium
A rare family pic with the newest member (Almere, 2017)
Just a few weeks after they left, we started our 3 weeks India trip. We attended my cousins wedding on 29th November in Sitamarhi and I am going to Bangalore on 12th December. We will be back in Netherlands on 18th December.
The bride and the groom! Congratulations!
The perfect family pic!
Shan blessed by ladies of the house :)
And finally, I found this amazing pic of my grandfather! He made a euro trip with his friends sometime in 1970. What amazing swag, no one can match his smarts in our family.
My grand father (2nd from right) visiting Paris sometime around 1970. Such Swag!!
That is all from 2017. Wishing you all a great 2018! Keep exploring...
Its been few months since i made a blog update. So i have enough material to share with you ;)
Some time ago, i and Shan decided to go to Cologne (http://wikitravel.org/en/Cologne) for weekend city trip. Its a big city along the bank of river rhine and almost at the border of netherlands and germany. We had heard a lot about it as its very famous in netherlands for its christmas markets. Honestly we didn't found it so special. It just seemed like a big commercial city with some very old churches. But regardless, it was a nice break for us from our everyday life.
In front of Cologne Cathedral, a very famous gothic church
Happy shan and Köln Hauptbahnhof in the background :)
Posing with the love padlocks @ Hohenzollern Bridge :)
Posing with the love padlocks @ Hohenzollern Bridge :P
If there is one place i have to recommend for an authentic local experience, it will be Päffgen brewery (http://www.paeffgen-koelsch.de/). Just go there. Its an experience! Good food, good beer, big and grumpy waiters, greasy walls and old school look makes it a classic german beer house!
Päffgen!
enjoying Kolsh @ Päffgen brewery ... they serve beer like tea is served in India
The happy couple shot ;)
Then on one weekend, we went to the Texel island. There are 5 islands in the north of the Netherlands. They are Schiermonnikoog, Ameland, Terschelling, Vlieland and Texel. Texel (http://www.texel.net/en/) is the biggest of these 5 islands and also most touristy. Its 20 minutes by ferry from Den Helder. We stayed there in a very pretty small village called Den Hoorn. It was an amazing trip. We cycled around the island, had some great food and spend some quality time together. A tip: If you plan to to texel for a weekend trip during summer, book your accommodation in advance. Germans and dutch are crazy about this island. On most warm summer weekends, not even a single hotel room is available!!
Cheers! :)
Eagerly waiting for food!!
Those panda eyes, I tell you, are like tequila shots...
Beach time @ De Koog
Recently, betiya visited me in Wageningen. He was in norway for work and on his way back to Houston he planned to visit me in holland for few days. Well, long story short, he had not even reached Wageningen yet when he was called back to Norway! Anyways, we spent few hours together and next day morning, he took a flight back. It was great ... thanks to all the effort he took to visit me, we met after 6 years.
no comments :)
At India Port restaurant in Utrecht with beti, shan and my colleagues Elia, Stephane and Pierre
Food and beer, yummmmm ;)
Recently, i went to Parma in Italy for few days to visit my ex housemate Giuditta. It was my first trip to Italy, so i was pretty pumped. Parma is a small town in between Milan and Bologna. I stayed with her for 4 days ... in which we spent 2 days roaming around parma, made a day trip to Venice and another day trip to Monterosso, one of the 5 villages in cinque terre (http://wikitravel.org/en/Cinque_Terre). Well, Venice needs no introduction. The entire city is a world heritage site. Cinque terre consists of 5 amazingly beautiful villages along the west coast of Italy, just north of Tuscany. And you might have heard of parma from the famous parma ham and the parmigiano reggiano cheese. The whole parma region is crazy about ham and they use it literally in everything. It was hard to find bread without pork fat!! So it can be a nightmare for strict vegetarians.
smile please :P me and Giuditta in a castle just outside Parma
Probably the only available sparkling red wine: Lambrusco, typically made from grapes from parma region
My portrait, drawn by a famous painter from parma :P
Dinner with Giuditta's family and friends
Italians are crazy about their tomatoes, no really, they are!!
Venice!!
For most Indians, first introduction to Venice was via a super hit bollywood song from 1979 movie The Great Gambler:
Do Lafzon ki Hai Dil Ki Kahani ....
Ye kashti wala kya ga raha hai? :)
No city in the world can be compared to Venice, and dont ever tell anyone that its similar to Amsterdam!
What a beauty! Probably the most beautiful city ever ...
Venice will not be the same without its small and decorated waterways
Just another beautiful balcony, imagine living there!
The "i was there" pic :P
Another one at Monterosso :)
with Victor, my colleague who came to visit us in Monterosso from Genoa
With Victor, Giuditta and her friends @ Monterosso
Just keep looking .... so beautiful ...
One amazing thing about Italy was the culture of Aperitifs. Basically after work and before dinner, you go to a bar and order a drink. And then you get unlimited small side dishes to eat with the drink for free. The best places for aperitif are generally bars with best/large choice of food. People sit here for hours drinking and eating, before they go for the real dinner :P Its really impressive. See this article for more details.
In the mean time, Sayantani went to India and met my parents for the first time!! I was so scared, but thankfully, it all went well.
Papa greeting her with flowers :D
My mom and Shan ... so much love ... i am jealous :P
So, as you can see, i am keeping myself fairly busy. The coming few month are going to be quiet, before the big storm in January 2015 ;)
Until then, keep travelling, keep smiling and keep loving!
