Nuances

The Cricket World Cup is here again. This time, all the action is happening in the country I live in; how lucky! My husband, I and little man were lucky to get tickets for India’s first match which was against South Africa in Southampton. There was some rain the previous day and more was predicted for the next. However, match day remained rain free. Again, what luck!!! The match provided everything one could expect - exciting moments, heart stopping moments, emotional moments and of course boring moments too. The result was definitely what we were hoping for - India won the match. Hang on, the actual game is not the topic of this blog. As I looked around the sea of people amongst whom I sat, a few characters caught my eye. This blog is dedicated to those individuals who bring a smile to your lips and make you raise your brows. Selfie Queen: Selfie Queen caught my eye very early on in the day. She was sitting with her family in the row right in front of mine. From an overheard co...

Longleat was not even on our itinerary but we ended up spending an entire day at the Safari, zoo and park. Oh! Are you asking me why I am saying this to you? Fair enough; let me rewind a little bit. After wrestling a lot with the idea of visiting Scotland during the late May bank holiday I managed to convince the better half to visit the Eden Project in South Wales. It had long been on my wish list but we had never managed to visit the place in spite of visiting Wales a number of times. Thus spawned the travel plan for 3 nights and 3 days. For a change, the idea was not to visit a single farm or zoo this time as they have always been included in our travel plans to keep the little man happy. But, it was not to be as you shall see. We began our 600 mile round trip road journey on a Friday evening to avoid tiring the little one with 5 hours of journey. On second thoughts, was it to avoid him getting tired or avoid him tiring us out with his constant whining? Anyway, the break journey...

I am writing this blog at the risk of forgetting some very good moments that I had in the Netherlands; or can I? After two hectic but very satisfying trips to Rome and Paris, we were least prepared for the trip to the Netherlands. A busy day at work and a rushed train journey to London culminating in me sprinting to Stanstead set the tone but the next 48 hours could not have been more different. My better half had succeeded in getting us premier tickets on the Eurostar to Amsterdam. It was indeed a treat! There was a delicious and nutritious meal offered on board which made us repent our decision to grab a quick bite before hopping on the train. The coach was lightly occupied and therefore we were offered a complete cubicle for ourselves with retractable tables and spacious seats. We spent most of the time admiring the views outside and playing cards. We reached Amsterdam at half past 10 in the night and were immediately greeted by scores of people riding bicycles outside the sta...

Our visit to Rome is still fresh in my mind. The backpacks were still partially unpacked, and photos were still being viewed. This did not stop us from exploring another jewel of Europe – Paris. The journey to Paris was made by train. We took the Eurostar from London to Paris and zipped into the Gare du Nord station in under two and a half hours. Apart from the fact that we had to go through passport and security checks, it was like any other local train journey. People were busy on their laptops, headphones, books or simply dozing. I did not realize when the landscape from England merged into that of France. The same green meadows, distant houses, rows of trees and fog – nothing to differentiate the two land masses. The Gare du Nord train station has an impressive façade and opens its doors to let you abruptly into the hustle and bustle of urban Paris. We were welcomed by a Burger King, a Chinese restaurant and a Mc Donald’s outlet. Nestled in between all these big shops was a tin...

“Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta I am surprised it has taken me 7 years to set foot on mainland Europe since moving to the UK. For somebody who enjoys travelling and visiting new places, this seems crazy; but hey ho! Better late than never! I finally managed to hop across the ocean and landed in Rome over the Easter weekend. Leaving behind Junior felt odd but there is no way I would have troubled him on such a journey. He will find his way there some day in not a distant future. Rome - is it a city or a never ending live museum? It certainly is a confluence of opposites. On one hand you have the grandeur of the past being painstakingly taken care of and on the other you have the more recent habitation which certainly could benefit from a touch of TLC. There is evidence of a well intended city structure which is crying for maintenance. Taking a cue from seasoned travellers, we travelled light which helped us sail thr...

Hello everybody, it's me Junior Solitary Reaper here. A big thank you to all of you who sent your compliments to amma on reading my earlier blog. It has inspired me to write one more in quick succession. I have realised that writing about my adventures gives me more pleasure than singing Old Mc Donald. Yes you read it right; I can sing that nursery rhymes and many more. I have gone a step further and added wild animals into it. Why should kids sing only about farm animals? The poor wild animals were getting really sad that they were not invited on OMD's farm. So I thought "hey, I play with both farm and wild animals in the bath tub while I take a bubble bath therefore I should include both in the song". Now I have Moo cow playing together with Roar lion. All the animals are very happy now. Talking of being happy the other day I was happily watching an episode of Lion Guard when I saw something very funny. A long haired guy with only his under pants was jumping from ...