A very good place to start...

Travel, like charity, is best begun from home. It is not until we appreciate what we have close to us that we can truly appreciate what we seek elsewhere. And the farther we travel, the more our appreciation deepens for these sights, sounds, and smells that collectively evoke that sense of 'home'.

Home, to me, happens to be madras (chennai), basking in whose sunshine and sweating in whose humidity i grew up. regardless of how far away from it i happen to be, i feel the wind of its beaches, the sounds of its streets, every time i hear its name. life may take me anywhere, but i think my soul will come to roost in chennai.

it is only natural then, that any attempt of mine to start a travel blog shall begin with sharing an image or two of this city that has seen the best and worst of me.

a twilight view of the iconic marina beach of chennai, seen from the top of the lighthouse.

the kapaleeswara temple in mylapore, the bright electric lights on its centuries old facade reflected in the waters of its tank.

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Prague - Pavements and Patterns

I had told in my previous post that Prague is a very beautiful city. While in any new place it would be common to be told 'watch your step', you should take that literally in prague - for prague's beauty lies even in its streets. Prague's pavements, or sidewalks, (depending on which side of the atlantic you come from) are paved with beautiful patterns in many areas. They are such a work of art, the granite cobbles laid out by hand, stone by stone. So while you certainly have to keep looking at the buildings in every direction around you, make sure you look down too, to this unique form of street art exclusive to Prague. The most commonly found are white and grey stones, but some areas in the heart of the old town also have pink stones. There are apparently 25 or so different patterns, and i was delighted every time i spotted a new pattern, and tried to capture as many as i could. I share a few below. I wish i could know more backgroun...

Petrin Hill and Observation Tower

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...

4 UNESCO World Heritage Churches in Europe

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...

Idle Strolls

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