A swan song to Florence

I guess being a transit point in the summer, I took you, beautiful Florence, for granted. Throughout the summer, you were nothing but a place I needed to use to get to Naples, Bologna, Zurich or Rome. I'd glance at the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo as my bus from Siena moved towards the Santa Maria Novella Station.

Tired after long journeys, all I would want is to take the first train back 'home' to Siena. Then came the day I had to leave Siena and a wonderful summer behind. The heavens opened out in a Bombay Monsoon-type downpour, in what looked like a last futile attempt to keep me in the city. Perhaps the rush with which I left my Tuscan home, kept my mind off the fact that I was leaving a place so dear to me.

When my last train from Siena arrived at the Santa Maria Novella station, there was a strange kind of homecoming. It was my last day in the beautiful country and what better to soak it all in than the city of Dante! As I walked through the old city and climbed all the way to the top of the Duomo, I felt a sense of calm and of being at home. The last wonderful gellatos that I ate, the last conversations with strangers in Italian and the last evening run I had in Italy were all in Florence.

As I walked past the Ponte Vecchio and some of the other bridges during the Fiorentine twilight, all I could feel was grattitude for a country that made me feel at home. My last Tuscan meal was a fitting end to the wonderful month in the beautiful province and the icing on the cake were my last few hours in Firenze! The openness and warmth of the great Tuscan capital is something that I will always cherish..

Mille Grazie Toscana! Ti Amo!! Sempre.

Sintra: Where Spirits Roam

Perched high above the capital city of Lisbon, Sintra is a charming town that feels more like a northern European town than something you'd expect to find in "warm and sunny" Portugal. The town is full of turn of the 19th to 20th century mansions, each of which has a chequered history. If those walls could talk, a lot of shocking stories would come out.

The compound of the main palace in Sintra is definitely a roaming ground of spirits. They say that Sintra is an entry point to another dimension the same way Mt Kailash and Lake Mansarovar are in Tibet. I couldn't help but feel the wild mood swings as we walked around the area. The statues in the compound are creepy and so are the wells, where you can climb down.

Many strange incidents have taken place in Sintra and there are many legends. There was one particular house, inhabited by evil witches and the energy from that house was strong.

After a gourmet Portuguese lunch, we were up in the magnificent garden of the Pena Palace. I felt like I was in a Brother's Grimm fairly tale. I could feel the aura of peasants and princes, carriages and witches. Such a fairy tale land did exist at one time and this garden gives one the feel.

From the highest point in the garden, you can see Lisbon and the blue Atlantic Ocean. I can't help but think that the elements can drag people away with ease by just fine tuning the frequency of the wind.

The dead of Sintra wake up at night when the Pena Palace is the only building that is illuminated. I honestly feel sorry for the security guards who have night duty there. The mind can play the most terrible of tricks and it's hard to know whether the images that flash before your eyes with a stroke of lightning are real or figments of one's imagination.

It was a beautiful moonlit night at a fortress in Sintra. Below me was the city of Lisbon and within view the westernmost point in continental Europe. Such a spectacular sight to cap off what was one of the most amazing trips of my life.

I love Portugal!