Idle Strolls

  This is not quite a travel post - let me begin with that disclaimer. And yet, i'm parking this here for now, because i dont know where else to.  Also, slightly long read - second disclaimer.    Today, April 16th, 2023, marks 170 years since the first train service began in India, between Thane & Mumbai. And it has grown into something much more than transport, becoming an inseparable part of our lives, memories, and even social fabric itself.    So many of us in India grow up with a certain fascination for trains and train journeys - it evokes in us the nostalgia of looking forward to holiday travels, memories of watching random villages, towns or fields roll away in the distance and wondering how life is for people in all these unknown places.           View of the Chennai Central Railway Station   There is a lingering feeling that is a mixture of romance, expectation, and dreaminess that most Indians associate with trains - it is little wonder then, that India’s fi

Europe is full of historic churches anywhere you go and it's hard to pick just a few. During this Christmas weekend, i chose to write about these four below which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and have been important centres of history and culture. Since Prague was the first european city i saw and the one i spent the most time in during my trip, i have grown partial to it and hence will start from there :)  St Vitus Cathedral, Prague   St Vitus’s cathedral is at the centre of Prague, situated inside the Prague castle grounds. When you catch a glimpse of ‘Prague Castle’ from any other far off point in the city, it is in fact the tall towers and spires of st vitus church that you are seeing.  The church was founded in 1344 on the site of an earlier 10th century church in the same place. Construction of the church went on over the next six centuries, halting in between for wars etc.  some of the major work, and the ultimate completion of it happened only in 1929. St Vitus Cathedral

Petrin hill is one of the slightly lesser known spots of Prague, often overshadowed by its more popular touristy sights. It is, however, the perfect place to spend a few hours among greenery, maybe pack a picnic lunch for an afternoon and stroll around, and best of all, take in awesome views of the city and the river.    Petrin hill is by itself 318 metres high, and top of it, has a viewing tower that rises up 63.5 metres, so once you get to the top, there are beautiful unobstructed views of the city all around.  Reaching petrin is very easy - the foot of the hill is located at the tram stop called Ujezd. (Prague trams have a display board which shows the name of the upcoming stop and it is also announced. But if your tram is crowded and you cant see the board, watch out for the announcement - when it is pronounced it sounds like “Uyez” .) Ujezd is only a couple of tram stops of away from the Malastrana Square - in case you are in that area for the  Charles Bridge or castle.  Once you

The Old Town Hall in Prague is one of the two most visited sites in the city, with the other one being Charles Bridge. It is most known for its famous feature, the astronomical clock, but there is so much more to it.  The oldest part of the town hall is the town hall tower, which is also the tallest part, constructed in 1338. The rest of the entire town hall today consists of multiple different houses adjacent to the tower, which were bought over different periods of time and integrated as a single unit. the old town hall tower, to the left and the tyn church behind it, centre. The tower is about 70 metres tall, and the astronomical clock dominates its facade. It was installed in 1410, and has a dial showing the position of the sun, moon and other astronomical objects. Beneath it there is a calendar dial, installed later, showing the months. The clock is most famous however, for the ‘parade of the apostles’ - where the figures of the 12 apostles pass by a small door above the clock w

This is the fourth and final part in the series of posts about my trip to Guruvayur and Thrissur. Click here to read all earlier posts. Our second day in guruvayur began early, in the wee hours of the morning. The temple opens for nirmalyam , which is the darshan of lord krishna in the previous day’s decorations, at 3am. We had hoped to see either the nirmalyam or the vakacharthu that happens right after, but despite reaching the entrance line shortly after 3am, it was 3.30 by the time we entered the passage to the main sanctum and just a few minutes later they closed the shrine. So it happened that around 30-40 mins we had to stand in the narrow passage, being neither inside nor outside, but after the wait we got to see guruvayurappan looking splendidly beautiful in his first alankaram of the day. The early morning hours have the least wait times, except you have to take care not to get caught up roughly in between 330-415. The crowds probably start increasing after 7.