Tourist

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Rheingau, Germany

Rheingau, Germany- hill country in the region of the River Rhine, one of the longest rivers in Europe.

We got a great opportunity to go on a drive along this river.  Enjoyed the terrific views of charming houses on the hillside, castles &…sparrows.

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Leipzig, Germany

Photos from a very short visit to Leipzig…

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Skid-in! Ice Palace, Jungfraujoch

Jungfraujoch, one of my favourite places in Switzerland was exhilarating to say the least. While  there I visited the Ice Palace, which was super cool…literally too!

The Eispalast or Ice Palace is a terrific experience. After you enter in, the smile on your face gets frozen in time & while you try to oooh & aaah at the novelty of the experience &  ice sculptures around you…be careful. You really have to watch your step else you may just slip,  fall  &  find yourself ski-dding all the way down the icy corridors…nothing like a free ski sans the skis 🙂 Don’t go soooo fast that you frip on srippery glound.

Unsolicited advice – make sure your shoes are able to walk you across ice without slipping.  For the extra care needed to walk on this surface, I wouldn’t encourage elderly folks to try it. 

 

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Guten Tag Berlin!

Berlin, circa 2008…

What I enjoyed about this city –

–  getting to see history at close quarters

–  getting to actually see the remaining parts of the Berlin Wall

–  the graffiti which captures the spirit of the city, carried in an earlier post  Street Art

–  being a part of the 200,000 odd crowd which thronged the Tiergarten to witness Barack Obama’s speech 

–  walking through the famous Brandenburger Tor

–  staying in East Berlin at Prenzlauer Berg,  über cool & youthful spirit,  home to students & artists

–  the sidewalk cafés of Prenzlauer Berg which served those amazing desserts

–  getting to attend George Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess Opera…terrific

–  art, history & culture blend in

–  truly Berlin, truly enjoyable.

Hover over the image for a brief description of some of these pictures.

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Are you a Souveniristic Tourist? Take the test to find out.

                                                                 

Take this quick test to assess just how much of a  souvenir freak you are & if there is any hope left to become normal.

1. Do you collect  magnets of every hill & dale you visit in each country? Yes/No  

 2. Do you collect souvenir spoons as a keepsake of countries you visit?  Yes/No

 3. Do you buy postcards to send friends & family but…like it way too much & keep it for yourself ?  Yes/No

 4. Do you collect foreign coins & postage stamps from every place &  have a neat pile up you know not where to  keep?  Yes/No

 5. Do you bring back a slice of sunshine via a photograph, or a bottle of  sand, or collect shells & pebbles that have that amazzzzing shade you won’t find elsewhere?  Yes/No

 6. Have other people seen your ailment & started bringing back magnets & spoons as gifts for you from their travels?  Yes/No

7. As you flip through books do you discover old tram, train, subway, concert tickets from Godknowswhere that serve as bookmarks? Yes/No

8. Do you preserve museum flyers, local maps as a token of sentiment? Yes/No  

9. Do you have a pile up of mementos of every shape, colour & imagination? Yes/No         

             

10. Do you write blog posts about souvenirs? Yes/No                                                       

 

 

 

Score
Upto 3 Yes  –  You are a happily balanced tourist
Upto 6 Yes  –  You are a tourist tugging away from the rope of normalcy that is trying to detain you
Upto 8 Yes  –  You are a tourist who has broken free from the rope. In  other words you are on the border of souveniritis
All 10 Yes    –  You are a tourist with a case of extreme souveniritis-outta-balancia. Get well soon!

     

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Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary

Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary – situated fairly close to Mysore in Karnataka state, is a bunch of small islets on the River Cauvery. Every year the sanctuary becomes an active nesting ground for thousands of migratory birds from various parts of the world. Photos from my visit.

 

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Seoul Matters

Seoul, South Korea  some years ago.  During my trip to Seoul, I visited Deoksugung Palace, also know as Deoksu Palace, with a history dating back to the  1400’s.

Key photographs below include Deoksu Palace, statue of King Sejong, the Heungcheonsa Bell & Water Clock. While I am no historian, there is a ton of history on the Palace available on the web.

Walking around town, I spotted a man, a real  friend of sparrows –  was amazed watching those birds eat from his hand.. see below.

Photographs apart & strictly for the stout-hearted only, I would recommend  Sam Gae Tang, a form of soup which  consists of a whole young chicken stuffed with rice, ginseng & other herbs…I know not what. It is an experience!

I was also able to attend a great service at the Yoido Full Gospel Church founded by Pastor David Yonggi Cho – it is the world’s largest congregation.

Korea has an efficient subway system to get you across the city – make sure you don’t lose your English-Korean map though! 🙂

 

Statue of King Sejong the Great

Notice the high rise buildings in the background

The Heungcheonsa Bell 

Borugak Jagyeongnu , the Water Clock

Multiple Rocket Launcher

Friend of Sparrows

Calligrapher at work

Yoido Full Gospel Church