rajeevsanam.com Blog

after 6 months of jackets and coats, finally the spring arrived! cherry blosssoms, tulips, T-shirts and shorts..time to head to the beaches. Newport, RI , about  an hours drive from  Boston was our first outing of the spring, known for its piers, clam chowder and antiques.in the end we ended up doing less of sight seeing and more of shopping ..but hey i wasnt complaining!

Driving to the southernmost tip of US was a treat to the eyes..across the ‘keys’-the islands off the mainland Florida, as we drove over the dozens of bridges, past the clear blue waters. Known for its living coral reefs, the trip to the Key West would have been worthless without taking a snorkeling trip. And the peek below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean left us spell bound..the sight of the stunning fish and the coral left us absolutely mesmerized and wanting for more..

the best part of my trip…getting together with friends..catching up past one year!

Armed with the map of the metro rail and a 3day rail pass we began our exploration of Paris. And ofcourse Rajeev having been there before obviously helped!

For the first glimpse of Paris, we decided to head straight to the Eiffel tower. Just a short walk away from the metro station, we found ourselves next to the river Seine with a stunning view of this famous Paris landmark.  With the rugby world cup going on in France meant increasing lines to climb the tower, which is why we decided to come back again in the evening when the Parisians were busy watching the rugby matches.

Instead we stepped across the streets down to the banks of river Seine and hopped on one of the cruise tours. As we cruised through the intricate networks of canals, crisscrossed with bridges and walkways dotted with myriad of Parisians and tourists and most of the landmark monuments of Paris.

Next on the agenda was the cathedral of Notre dame, which looked even more serene in the twilight. The sheer scale and the intricate decorations inside one of Paris’ oldest structures is impressive, especially with the lighted candles and the beautiful stain glass rose windows. Later on that night we went back to the Eiffel tower to look watch the tower all lighted up and twinkling.

The next entire day was marked for the Louvre museum. The whole place looked all too familiar all thanks to the movie Da Vinci Code, the grand old palace with the contrasting glass pyramid in the centre.  But nothing was as overwhelming as the enormity of the collections housed inside the museum… you name it and the Louvre has it -paintings, sculpture, archaeological works and even a part of the palace dedicated to recreating napoleons’ living quarters. Now I know why Rajeev used to rave about the Louvre. And ofcourse we saw the famous Mona Lisa. But I must say, even in person, i still wonder why its got so much hype.

I also found out that day that Rajeev has much more patience for art appreciation, especially becoz after about half a day amidst the beautiful paintings and sculptures, I found myself in the museum gift shop! And what would a trip to Paris be without sampling its street life. A walk down the Latin Quarter, down the narrow cobbled boulevards lined with restaurants with a wide selection of cuisines and curio shops and teeming with people. Weven managed to catch a fascinating street show.

The next day we finally got around to climbing atop the Eiffel tower. The elevators were so crowded and it took forever to get down and up on them, but the view from the top was worth the wait.

On the last day we took our final journey on the Paris metro rail to the gare du nord station to catch the high speed train Thallys across the picturesque Europe back to Amsterdam. If this was just a vacation, I would have been a little sad as we left Paris…but we had a whole India trip to look forward to…

The Niagara falls may not be the biggest falls in the world, but you can’t not be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the waters cascading down the rocks. To me the Niagara falls was all about the amazing experiences – the up close look of the falls aboard the ‘maid of the mist’ boat, aboard the hurricane deck wrapped in plastic raincoats, feeling the force of the water hit you as you stand below the falling water and watching the gorgeous rainbow spray across the splashing waters.