Zoobi doobi Zoobi doobi ZOOOO..:)

What color animals have you seen? The monkeys are brown & the crocodile is green.. Zebra & Panda are black & white.. the yellow giraffes are a beautiful sight..

This is the song from R's fav choo choo train.. In order to figure out if R really liked animals yet, we headed to the zoo.

As we entered the zoo, we were reminded of London…thanks to the street artist singing outside…don't remember hearing Malayalam melodies at London though ;) ..

 The colorful birds were most fascinating, especially the ones that were hanging out in pairs.  While the African grey parrot addressed all the visitors with its loud voice, the storks were, true to their style, standing still on one leg…I did ask Archana 3 times whether they were for real :).  We did wildlife photography in not so wild a surrounding and  managed to get some good shots.  The hippos were completely immersed in water for their noon siesta and all we could make out were their backs barely peeping out…plenty of deers, buffalos, barking deer (with a new hairdo :)) and our very own desi langoor…oh!! also, to be fair, we did hear the KING roar.

 I think R liked the animals outside the cage more (those who had paid tickets to go in…) than those inside…guess, in a year from now, he would know the bark, the roar and the tweet better :)…fun day out in nature's lap.

 An awesome lunch followed at a small restaurant named Flavours…the best Broccoli soup (the best any soup) we have ever had…jalapeno + cheese dollops, mexican wraps and appam…quite impressive…

The first holiday with our prince!

 The first holiday with our prince…we were keen to get it right…not too far, not too packed…nothing much to do and so Alleppey was selected.  A drive of 4 hours from Trivandrum brought us to the offices of the resort in the town of Alleppey.  

The Lake Palace Resort is scenically located in the middle of Vembanad lake, (which happens to be the longest lake in India) with their offices and parking space conveniently located in the city at the jetty.  We could park our vehicle and get into the boat which then ferried us to the resort.  It took us just 15 minutes to reach the resort passing by numerous house boats of all shapes and sizes.  

The resort lived up well to our expectations with us having a choice of 3 kinds of rooms to select from.  Nice lake view room with a hammock right outside our room…the boat comes to our door for pick up and drop…a luxury house boat anchored right next to us…awesome setting for a holiday.

 Unlike most of our holidays in the past, we just took time to unwind and relax.  There are not many things to do either so chilling out is the name of the game.

The food was swell as well…the biriyani was the best we have had ever and the chef was kind enough to share the recipe.  

We did the sunset cruise on one day and a canoe ride on the next.  The 2 hour canoe ride was truly relaxing…we could take the canoe through narrow canals and all the way to the shop sides…had tender coconuts and biscuits while enjoying the ride.  

These were R's first boat rides and he enjoyed thoroughly.  All in all, an extremely relaxing holiday – quite memorable especially considering the long gap after which it had come.  

Romancing Rome..

 Rome is timeless with it's ancient history, art and architecture containg more treasures per square foot than any other city in the world. 

Our walking tour took us through the treasures of the city such as the Colloseum, Roman Forum, Trevi fountain, The Spanish Steps and The Pantheon.

Our visit to the Vatican included the Museum containing Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and such other jaw dropping art and antiquities collections.

Our trip ended at St.Peter's Basilica, which is the largest church in the world.

We left Italy for London the next day.  Italy is a feast for the senses and intellect.  The 10 days there, helped us absorb the rich treasury of art & architecture while enjoying the cuisine, countryside and Italian lifestyle.

As we leaned over Pisa and Florence...

We had gotten so used to not seeing vehicles around us in Venice that seeing them after 3 days on our way to Florence hit us with quite a disappointment…felt like coming out of a dream into the real world. Passing through some really pretty landscape, we reached Florence…city of over 100 palaces and 70 museums. The Renaissance began here. It is said by UNESCO that more than 50% of the world's great art is found in Italy and half of Italy's great art is found in Florence!

After settling in to our Victorian residence (a bed & breakfast in a cosy ancestral house), we headed to Pisa. The leaning Tower of Pisa was true to it's past of being a wonder of the world – one of the most instantly recognisable buildings. The fact that the tower is leaning sinks in, when you enter it expecting the floor to be flat but find it to be inclined. The view of the town from the top was picture perfect with the houses and landscape spaced symmetrically.













The next morning, our day started with the walking tour through the markets lined with leather goods. Walking through the cobbled streets, we got to see some grand palaces and churches, highlighted by Michelangelo's distinct architecture. The Duomo, Campanile and Baptisteryat Florence is the crowning glory of the city, breathtaking with geometrically patterned bands of white, pink and green marble. The tour ended at the Petite palace where we were amazed to see the splendid porcelain, gold and silver collections. Behind the palace are the Boboli gardens filled with fountains, which are supposed to be the inspiration for the Versailles gardens in France. From top of the Boboli gardens, we could get a dazzling view of Florence. Next on the agenda was the world's oldest museum – containing some of the world's finest art collection - the Uffizi Gallery. Our extraordinary tour guide had been a teacher for 9 years and took us through the marvellous journey of the evolution of art. Developments such as humanising of God, 2D to 3D with geometrical calculations coming into play; shadows etc (something which we take for granted today) were explained.













The next morning, we took a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano. Siena is surrounded by olive groves and the vineyards of Chianti, and is one of the most beautiful cities of Tuscany. Set on three hills, the city is drawn together by winding alleyways and steep steps. It is famed for the "Palio", the annual historic *horse-races.












San Gimignano – the golden lily of middle ages is called the Manhattan of Tuscany since it preserves 13 of it's noble towers giving it a sky scraper skyline. We left for Rome the next morning.

*Catch a glimpse of horse races in Siena in the first few shots of the movie Quantum of Solace!

Dream anniversary in Venice!

Someone asked us the other day, ‘Is Venice as romantic as people make it out to be?’ and we answered, ‘Well, Venice is a dream, except that in this case, the dream has come true.’ This unique masterpiece was built entirely on water and managed to survive the 21st century without cars. It has canals instead of streets, boats instead of buses (even the police and ambulances) and ornate bridges instead of subways. No city in the world possesses such an awesome line up of sights for visitors.

We arrived at the Venice airport on May 2nd and a 10-minute walk took us to the waterfront where we got into a vaperetto (waterbus) heading to St.Angelo – our bus (water) stop. We managed to find our way to the hotel after winding through narrow alleyways and bridges. It was a pleasant hotel with helpful staff and most importantly just few minutes away from most of the popular spots. We headed out for a pizza. And for all those who think Pizza Hut and Dominoes rule, you really haven’t had a pizza if you haven’t had it in Italy. The crust was so thin, the cheese so tasty, the olive oil flavouring so tantalising, ummmm…….it was unbelievably good.

 

We lazed around the colourful neighbourhood markets and quiet backwaters before heading to Shri Ganesh – the only Indian restaurant in Venice. We were seated alongside a small canal and could see gondolas (Venetian wooden boats) passing next to us while having tasty Indian khaana.

We had the next day to ourselves and went to the Jewish Ghetto…old time Venice…with many small shops selling masks, flowers and bakery items. Also lined were a number of coffee shops. We bought a blue feathered, stone lined mask and got back in time for our walking tour, which took us through St. Marks Basilica, Doges palace, Bridge of Sighs, Casanova and Amerigo Vespucci’s homes. It was an informative walk lasting for 2 hours after which we went up the tower of St. Marks Basilica and saw some stunning views of Venice from high up…came down to St. Mark’s square for an experience which can’t be described in words. Couples, pigeons, ice cream, live music…all set amidst the beautifully symmetrical St. Mark’s square.

 

The next day took us first to Murano, famous for it’s glass. Glass blowers have for centuries performed oral gymnastics to turn out those fantastic chandeliers & glassware that Victorian ladies used to prize so highly – ruby red, indigo blue – colours you name it, you have it. We saw some of the best jewellery, photo frames, and souvenirs – all made in glass - and could not resist buying a gold film embedded bright red glass frame. Next was Burano, famous as a centre of lace making, a craft that reached its pinnacle in the 18th century. We were rewarded with a charming little fishing village, far removed in spirit from the grandeur of Venice. Houses were in varied colours – sienna, robin’s-egg or cobalt blue, barn red, butterscotch, grass green…I bought a red, hand made, glass bead work, velvety shawl with peacocks on it. On our return to Venice, we undertook the most eagerly awaited journey of our holiday – a grand Gondola ride. An hour’s ride through the Grand and narrow channels of Venice listening to the sweet whistling music of our Gondolier, transported us to a different world from which we just did not want to return – a perfect way to celebrate our second anniversary.

We left for Florence the next morning. We will share our journey there and to Rome in the coming days…