A line through the Land of the 5 Rivers

A blood-red moon was visible on a late-autumn night in the holy Sikh city of Amritsar. This moon was symbolic of everything the land of great philosophers such as Guru Nanak and Baba Waris went through 65 years ago when a line divided this land of big strong men and beautiful women on the basis of religion.

Amritsar is not as dirty as many people believe. It is a city with a very distinct character and a very friendly local populace. There is still so much of small-town India here and the warmth that comes with the real Indian soul.

It's nice to see so many Sikhs in colourful turbans. I feel for the wonderful Sikh community, which has a large number of its holy sites in what is now Pakistan. As I watched a tractor on the Pakistani side of the River Ravi and the electric fence on the Indian side of the border at Dera Baba Nanak in the Gurdaspur District, I couldn't help feel for the pilgrims who could see the Kartarpur Gurudwara, which was 3 kilometres away but now in another country.

As the Sikhs at the viewpoint fretted the impossibility of just walking across those lush green fields to pay obeisance, an eagle flew over the border into India, spent 10 seconds here and flew back. It felt like the bird was mocking the Radcliffe line that divides the proud and beautiful Punjabi race. 

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!

Weekend in Portugal-3: Finally in Lisboa

It took very little time for this beautiful city to win me over. We started off the day in Belem, which has the Hieronymites Monastery, where the great Vasco Da Gama is buried. The church, like most in Europe, is more a tourist attraction than a place of worship.. Nearby is the Fort of Belem. It was from here that the brave voyagers and adventurers set sail to conquer the world and change the course of world history.

Da Gama set sail from here to Kerala, where I trace my roots. Say what you want about the Portuguese colonisation of some parts of India, I think they did a good job and enriched Indian culture. They gave us even more diversity and created a beautiful composite culture of the Indian Catholics, many of whom live in Bombay. Bandra is a result of Portuguese colonisation of India.

We drove to the beautiful city centre of Lisboa as the Portuguese call their capital. There are definitely many similarities between the capital of this great nation and San Francisco. Both cities are hilly and have a nice tram system (although in San Fran, they are wrongly referred to as cable cars). One of the to-do things in Lisbon is to hang off a tram for a free ride. It's important to get off at a red light and climb back on when the signal changes.

There is so much history in the city. So many buildings are worthy of being photographed. I can't help but note the calm in the capital city. Lunch was at a pastaleria, again a very genuine Portuguese experience. A beef-stake sandwich with Super Bock!

As we walked up and down the hills of the beautiful city, I soaked in on the history and culture of Portugal. I became a fan of the legendary Portuguese singer Amalia Rodrigues. This was August in Lisbon, a summer say when temperatures were about 15 degrees cooler than they were in Siena. Lisbon has the most ideal climate in the world. Heck, if I lived there, I would be in the best shape of my life.

As the afternoon wore on, we had some sweets and walked through more historical areas. We also went to the church, where the Lisbon Massacre of 1506 took place. That was Portugal's worst anti-Jewish progrom and there is a memorial outside the church that calls for tolerance. Lisbon now is proudly the city of tolerance. The church still has a very negative vibe.


The day in Lisbon was capped off with baby sardines and a Super Bock in a very traditional Portuguese tavern.

I also got my first glimpse of the gorgeous town of Sintra.

Weekend in Portugal- 2: Expectations and Reality

Being almost completely ignorant about Portugal, I kind of expected to see a bit of Spain, a touch of Brazil and Goa in the country. I expected to see a bunch of very loud people, with a great sense of national pride. After all, their country ruled much of the world in the past.

The reality kind of hit me hard. The Portuguese are a warm and friendly lot. The service culture is wonderful. The smile is very genuine. But the country is quiet... very quiet. Maybe going from loud Italy to quiet Portugal gave me a bit of a cultural shock.

Lisbon and the surrounding areas were more beautiful than I could have ever imagined them to be.  The first port of call was the municipality of Cascais. Full of red-tiled roofs and antiquated avenues with beautiful homes and a marina, this is one of the most beautiful places I saw in all my travels in the European summer.

There was such a purity in the azure blue waters and a gentle Atlantic Ocean breeze put me at ease. Again, I was struck by the whole quasi-silence of the area. This is where the wealthy of the country had palatial homes. I didn't exactly stand out as a foreigner in this country, where I was more or less the average height and my skin and hair colour didn't put me aside. The Portuguese genuinely love when you make an attempt to speak their language.

My wonderful hosts cooked a feast and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner in my first night in Lisbon. There was a lot to see and taste in the next two days.

Weekend in Portugal-1

When it comes to sheer exoticism, few places can captivate the Indian mind as much as Portugal. The westernmost country in continental Europe had a huge impact on Indian history ruling certain parts of India for centuries, but we know so little about Portugal and the Portuguese.

I couldn't contain my excitement when I took a TAP Portugal Airlines flight from Bologna to Lisbon. The aircraft had a fair share of Portuguese people, who were friendly and wanted to know if was Goan. The low-flying plane flew over the coast of Italy and then crossed France and a completely barren Spain before reaching the beautiful country of Portugal.

While landing in Lisbon, it's impossible not to miss the city's beautiful suspension bridge that looks very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. As I was to discover over the next 3 days, there were many similarities between the Californian city and the capital of Portugal.

Sunday Morning in Zurich

It was a perfect Sunday morning when the city's fountains quenched our thirst and we sat at a nice cafe in the Old Town overlooking the river and the Gross Munster. Zurich had been kind to us. I sat with my wise vegan Polish friend, who after spending a few years in Italy, reminded me that the best part of Italy besides the people were the great pizzas, wine and gelatos.

Thank you Paani! You are an inspiration!