Any trip to Slovenia is incomplete without a visit to one of the most impressive underground cave systems in the world – the Postojna Caves and the Škocjan Caves. While planning for our trip we read a lot about these caves and were quite intrigued by it. But since we had limited time we could only cover one of these two, and after some research, we decided on the Škocjan Caves.
Škocjan Caves, Slovenia
New York City (NYC)… If anyone asks me to describe NYC in one word, frankly I will be quite lost for words…
When I first arrived in the city, I was exhausted after a 16 hours flight, jet lagged and convinced that it’s just another big concrete jungle. But within a few minutes here I was caught-up in its magic and totally charmed by its sights. Armed with my friend, Archi’s list of suggestions (a perfect guide for any NYC debutante) I walked all around Manhattan to discover the un-discovered! And I was soon caught-up in a magical web of different experiences that are unique and somethings that I would have never associated with NYC.
Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn Bridge, New York
Our trip to Zermatt was filled with many firsts, but it kept the best first for the last.
Ever since we had reached Zermatt, Sonali and I had been hoping that it would snow. But out hosts told us that per their weather forecast the first snowfall for the season was expected to be in about 3 – 4 days after we left. This left us disappointed but since both of us had never seen an actual snowfall, we really hoped that we could see it at least once during our stay. And Zermatt gave it to us as its last present.
My first snowfall, Zermatt
To cap off a perfect day spent in Zermatt, we decided to end it with a trip to Gornergrat. Now Gornergrat or the Gorner Ridge, at a height of 3,089 m, is a rocky ridge of the Pennine Alps, overlooking the Gorner Glacier south of Zermatt. There is a train from Zermatt, run by Gornergrat Bahn, that is the highest open-air railway in Europe. This train ride is one of the most beautiful train journeys that I have made in Europe – with numerous bridges, tunnels, snow-covered trees, forests & meadows, small houses / hotels interspersed in between and of course the magnificent Alps.The panorama here is also considered to be one of the most beautiful and is almost like a close-up to the majestic Matterhorn, Monte Rosa Massif with the highest Swiss mountain (the Dufourspitze at 4,634 m above sea level), the second-largest glacier in the Alps, the Gornergletscher, as well as 29 peaks higher than 4000 m. Between the Gornergrat railway station (3,090 m) and the summit is also the Kulm Hotel (3,120 m) hosting the new astronomical facility – “Stellarium Gornergrat”
View of the Matterhorn from Gornergrat, near Zermatt
“Malaysia” – just the mention of this name is enough to conjure images of a country with a mix of everything – from a multitude of cultures to landscapes to experiences and as a tourist / traveler you are definitely spoilt for choices. Malaysia or “Truly Asia”, as its campaign says, has been on my bucket list for a while, but somehow a trip here has never materialized. Hence when MalaysiaJao Blogathon Contest was announced by Blogadda, I saw a chance to finally visit this exotic destination and hence jumped on the participation bandwagon.
Just like a dream, I was recently invited by Swiss Tourism, Maison de Voyage and Rock-On Holidays by Thomas Cook India to experience Switzerland in a unique way. While enough has been said and written about the romantic / family vacations of Switzerland our idea was to leave out all the famous / touristy activities and instead explore this country through a new lens i.e. through the eyes and activities of a single budget traveler. Hence our itinerary included all kinds of adventure sports, walks and many new experiences that people normally don’t associate with Switzerland. And I continue my tales from where I left it in my previous post.
Zermatt – the first look
Once in a while all of us need a holiday from the everyday mundane that surrounds us, be it work, home, city, etc. But of late I have started feeling that we also need a break from technology :). If you sit back and think you will realize that a major part of our everyday lives is now spent addicted to technology i.e. TV, 24*7 emails (work and personal), Twitter, Facebook, What’sapp, phone calls, etc etc. And this technology addiction follows us on our holidays too, where instead of enjoying the beautiful locale that we are in we continue to live our everyday online existence (of checking various accounts and taking calls). But on the flipside the issue that people like me (with a full time job in these tough markets) grapple with is that we don’t want to be so out of touch that supervisors think that if things can be managed in our short absences then maybe we are not required at all 😉
I recently found this cartoon clip on Phd Comics that perfectly portrays this situation.
I found the topic for this week’s weekly photo challenge – Eerie to be slightly tough. The challenge was to post black and white pics that have a mysterious, otherworldly vibe where the viewer wonders what lurks in the shadows. Something eerie that has a story to tell — one you aren’t quite sure you want to know.
So I kept hunting through my photograph gallery and just couldn’t find anything that was apt for this topic. And then I stumbled upon two pictures that I had clicked of Jellyfish at The Lost Chambers Aquarium in The Atlantis, Dubai. I somehow found their hollow fluorescent look and the movement of the umbrella-shaped bell and the long tentacles quite eerie and mysterious. Somehow I wouldn’t want to know as what is this jellyfish thinking.
Dramatic Jellyfish
This week’s weekly photo challenge is inspired by Evan Zelermyer‘s post on “Shape, Line, Texture, Pattern” . Evan’s post provides insights and creative tips on creating stunning urban, abstract, and architectural images by playing with 4 elements – Lines, Shapes, Textures and Patterns. And my take on each is as follows –
1. Shape – Evan shows a technique to create dramatic images by shooting unique shapes upwards and against the sky. I shot this autumn tree upwards against the sky, where the dry leaves and some bare branches make a beautiful image.
A tree silhouetted against the sky 🙂
After a slight diversion and writing on other topics, I’m back to writing about my favorite place – Europe!
In May this year we started our second Europe trip from Prague again, as we just didn’t get enough of it last time and also the tickets were the cheapest than any other country. As this was our second trip to Prague, we decided to revisit the places we loved during our first trip and also visit the places that we had previously missed. One of the places we missed but really wanted to see was Josefov.
Josefov is a small Jewish Quarter in Prague located between the Old Town Square and the Vltava River. While Jews are living in Prague from as early as 10th century, the establishment of this ghetto is believed to be in the 13th century, when Jews in Prague were ordered to vacate their homes and settle in one particular area. Over time more and more Jews settled in this area, as there were increasing restrictions on their living areas, movements and trade.
Interesting colors and shapes of rooftops and the clock, Jewish Quarter, Prague
getsetandgo 
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