Faces of India - 202

Slightly willing, slightly shy… she could hardly make eye contact with me when I asked for a photograph. Till then she was enthusiastically interviewing me about my Bishnupur experience as a tourist. It was part of project work for her course in tourism.

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various characters of my country whom I met during my travels. See more

The Church of Rotunda, Thessaloniki

An ancient place, Rotunda is definitely worth a visit.It is very much within walking distance from the big Byzantine churches and other heritage monuments. Wiki mentions it was built in 307 AD by Galerius with intentions of it being his mausoleum. His remains got buried in Serbia where he died in 311AD. Constantine later converted this monument into a church.This is the oldest church of

Roussanou Nunnery, Meteora, Greece

A picture of Roussanou Nunnery in Meteora; the weather God was kind to us during our visit to Meteora. It was a bright sunny day. All the Monasteries and Nunneries looked grand and glowing, bathed in sunlight. I think I was really lucky to get this frame of Roussanou Nunnery, bathed in bright white clouds. The sight stayed for a short while. Only a few lucky tourists like me could witness this

Agios Dimitrios - Biggest Chruch of Greece

Agios Dimitrios is the biggest Byzantine church of Greece. We were there on 26th Dec morning and being the day after Christmas there was a good crowd, prayers were on and we stood listening to hymns for some time. The stories about this church and the tons of history associated with it urged us make the visit.

 The church is dedicated to Saint Dimitrios who was tortured and put to death for his

Faces of India - 201

A load is a load is a LOAD, even if it is light sack of bright and colorful flowers. This is a common scene in Bangalore during festival time. The lady was hurrying to get a proper place in the open market so that she could make quick sales.

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various characters of my country whom I met during my travels. See more here.

Arch of Galerius, Thessaloniki

You can never miss this Arch of Galerius while you are in Thessaloniki. It is there out in the open for all to see. I wonder if it has become too ordinary a sight for the locals there. The place did look like a meeting place for all, and they all seemed busy chatting with each other. Only a few tourists like me stood gaping at the crumbling but massive structure. What stunned me to silence was

Insured Dreams

This post is for Indiblogger Happyhours

Everyone has their own share of hopes, dreams and aspirations that drive them to pursue their goals. Imagine a life without any constraints, nothing to hold you back. Well I have mine: these are the top 5 things on my Bucket List that I would do if I were #BefikarUmarBhar (worry less for whole life).

1. Being a travel enthusiast and having traveled to

Roman Agora, Thessaloniki

One of the sights in Thessaloniki, left out in the open free for all to see is the Roman Agora. This forum built in 1st century AD definitely held a place of importance then. The buildings surrounding this heritage site indicate the place still holds importance for the city of Thessaloniki. It is an ‘old meets the new’ kind of place. The site could have been easily toured in an hour but it was

Faces of India - 200

“Wait! Let me pose!” and he placed his hands on his hip, tilted his body a bit and gave a stylish smile. I met him during my tour of Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu. This is my 200th post on this series. Some of you have been following this right from beginning and some of you have joined midway and continued to support this series… I am thankful to you all for this support and appreciation.

Faces of

Thermaic Gulf, Thessaloniki

Our trip to Thessaloniki was badly timed. We reached the city after a long drive from Athens after 4 in the evening when almost all the places of sight seeing, the churches had shut down for the day. Winter timings are like that! We did the walking tour of Thessaloniki on our own with the help of the map provided by the hotel we stayed in. The sights to see are situated so close to one another

The Chandelier in Agia Sophia, Thessaloniki

The most impressive thing I saw inside Agia Sophia Church in Thessaloniki is the big, bright and beautiful chandelier. It had so many Gryphons having a lamp holder on the head. Gryphon is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle's talons as its front feet. I was so fascinated by it that took so many pics of it. I think it is

For Growing Years, lunchboxANDyou

Packing lunchboxes had become a routine affair; I have been doing it for many years now. But ever since my elder daughter has shifted base, moved on to college, the job of packing lunch boxes has reduced to half. But in the past six months even though the job had reduced to half a small unknown fear has begun to grip me. In another 3 years I will be deprived of this routine affair. Kids would

Church of Agia Sofia, Thessaloniki, Greece

The first to top the list of ‘what to see?’ in Thessaloniki are the Byzantine Churches. This post is on 8th century Church of Agia Sofia.

But before that a little bit about Byzantine architecture: It is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Later Roman or Eastern Roman Empire. Buildings have increased geometric complexity compared to the basilicas that existed then. Brick

Faces of India - 199

A sadhu at Barakar, West Bengal. He had come to Barkar walking all the way, resting at various temples along the way. You can see his companion here. 

Faces of India, a series through which I intend to portray the various characters of my country whom I met during my travels. See more here. 

Unboxed the New Britannia Bourbon

So are we ready to unbox the surprise?

As I opened the box, little power packs stumbled out! The wrapper was ripped off in microseconds. Out came several chocolaty biscuits. The hand kind of automatically picked one and placed it in my mouth and instantly it was flooded with chocolaty lava. These are energy packets for me to munch on during my hectic blogging. I am loving this chocolaty break!

Drive from Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece

This distance of 500kms was completed in 5hrs approximately. Throughout the journey we were on the highway E75 and we kept paying at toll gates. We drove by the Aegean Sea for some distance. We crossed the well known Olympic beach and could see the yachts all lined up along the shore. From here on patches of dark clouds followed us threatening to pour. But wind God favored us and they were blown

Bon The Original

Bangalore’s so called winters is receding. February promises to be more exciting. Hardly had the first week started I was delivered a midweek surprise! A surprise package!

The cover image is such a tease as you can see; it had me imagining the various kinds of stuff it was holding. Bon6, seems to me as ‘power packed’. I desperately needed one amidst all my hectic blogging. Photo editing,

The Palmyra, Toddy Palm

Mention of this fruit, the Borassus flabellifer, the Asian Palmyra palm, toddy palm or sugar palm in this winter will definitely sound out of season. This is usually available in markets during summers. During my road journey through Chettinad in May 2014, when the summer was at its peak, I spotted this woman selling the edible jelly seeds of palm fruit. The white kernel can be eaten raw. It is

Mix and Match Travel Services

Probably the easiest thing that you can do while planning a holiday is fixing your destination! After

that starts the travails of travel! If the destination is within few 100kms from your place of stay then

planning it out is extremely easy. But if it is an off shore destination, then a lot of planning has to go

into it my dear traveler. The itinerary can be made, the places to halt

Change of Guard, Syntagma Square

WARNING: This post has 21 pictures.

The change of guard takes place at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, in front of Parliament, Syntagma Square, Athens every hour no matter what the weather is. It is said that the change of guards on a Sunday at 11 AM is worth watching, it is more elaborate one. We had to be content watching the simple one as we were there on a week day.

 The monument is