Nuances

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 ...

Hello everybody. Remember me? I am junior solitary reaper. It has been quite a while since I wrote about my adventures as a super busy toddler. You see, I have now learnt important things like flipping through my animal pop up books, singing old Mc Donald, eating ice cream and making my dinosaur eat my toy cow. So, naturally I am finding it extremely difficult to write about my adventures. On top of all of this mum and dad have prohibited me from taking an afternoon nap which makes me go to bed early.  Little do they understand that I need more time in the day and not less if I have to keep up my commitments. The other day I stealthily joined the group of kids who were getting ready to take a nap in the nap room at nursery. But blow! Kelly found me and marched me back to the playroom. Drat! I should maybe put on somebody else’s clothes and a mask; then I may be successful at hoodwinking her. At times I think mum is doing this to me on purpose because of the early morning prank I ...

“Sunshine daisies butter mellow Turn this car seat into a pillow” How I wish I could twirl a magic wand and make these words come true? Wondering why??? Well you see, dad and mum took me on this incredibly long journey to Scotland and most of the time I was in the car I was either sleeping or listening to my mum and cousins singing nursery rhymes. If I could only turn my car seat into a pillow I could have slept better. Anyway let me share a few titbits of this trip. I've always heard mum raving about their annual trip to Scotland and how they missed it last year as I was a wee baby (hey look I have picked up a few Scottish words). So I was really curious to find out what makes Scotland such a great place to visit. We started the first leg of our journey from Petey town to Edinburgh by train. Now, it was not as simple as it sounds. As we took a taxi from our house to the train station in the confusion of stuffing in 3 adults, 3 children 2 car seats, a pram and a myriad of...

Hi folks!!! It’s Junior Solitary Reaper here again. It has been a long time since I shared all the giant thoughts in my tiny brain. I have been very busy over the last few months. Appa and amma took me on my first ever road trip to York. We were accompanied by Tata, Pati and uncle Pat. It was uncle Pat’s first visit to the UK and I got a feeling that he had a good time indeed. I was a bit shy the first few days and I did not let him carry me. But after being constantly driven in a car for three days with him, I got very comfy with my dear uncle Pat. He is very good at baby talk and kept calling me “Paapa”! On the road trip I got to experience sun, rain, sand, waves and a lot of greenery. I was lucky to be nestled between Pati and Tata in the car as they kept me very busy and did not let me get bored. Nevertheless I did cry sometimes as the journey was getting very quiet with everybody around me dozing every now and then. So, amma kept singing nursery rhymes to calm me down. I used...