Wild Atlantic Way - Ireland

Gaelic signboard

My 4 day long trip to Ireland can be called unusual in a number of ways. February is less than ideal to tour Ireland, owing to the winter cold accompanied by pouring rains. Add to the mix a raging storm and you have all the makings of an adventure holiday in your hands! Temperature-wise it was not freezing, but it was definitely winter coat weather. From London Stanstead we took a Ryan Air flight to Shanon airport. From there our trusty hire car took us all along the Atlantic coast for a full 4 day holiday. 

Ballinskelligs Castle

Ring of Kerry, our first stop was breathtaking to say the least. We first embarked upon a beautifully still beach at low tide, complete with the Ballinskelligs castle ruin in the background. What is an Irish holiday without a rainbow, we were blessed with two! The beach itself was a nondescript location, as there was no one but us. From there we drove to our accommodation, the Tig An Rinse bread and breakfast at Dungeagan for the night. All along, the views were so beautiful, we kept pulling over to take tonnes of pictures.

View along the Ring of Kerry drive

The cottage was better than perfect. Rooms were very clean and superbly cosy and the breakfast was sumptuous. All through the night a storm was building up which gave us the jitters about how much we were going to be able to see the next day. True to weather reports, a yellow warning to be potentially updated to amber (higher storm alert) was issued. We later found out that the extra-tropical cyclone had been named Imogen. 

Killarney castle

The second day, we again drove along the west coast soaking in more views. On the way to our second cottage, we drove into Killarney, to visit the castle. By now the weather had gotten super crazy, the wind was very strong and rain kept lashing in intervals. But we persevered. However several of our plans had to be dropped, such as a visit to the Dingle bay to see the dolphins, due to ferry services everywhere being cancelled.

A beautiful driving route

We drove further north to our accommodation for the night,. The entire way was pitch dark with not a street lamp in sight. We kept going in circles unable to spot the cottage and even the owner of the place was unsure how to lead us from where we were! I still remember him saying on the phone "Past 7pm, it is very difficult to find the cottage, it is up a steep cliff". After help from some locals, we reached the cottage, there was no light but for the car lamps. Getting off of the car was a task in itself as the wind would not let us open the car door. It was all rather spooky. 

The night was spent worrying about whether the roof would stay intact at all! Come morning it indeed was. We were invited to the most breathtaking views from the kitchen. The house was right on the edge of a cliff with endless views of the ocean! It was quite surreal, seeing the ocean churning huge wave one after another, tens of Irish cows busy grazing, giving a hoot about the storm.

Home during the storm

Irish cows

The day was again spent driving along the coast. What shocked us was the condition of some of the beaches we had visited the previous day, an entire car park was strewn with huge boulders overnight.On the way a huge wave reached over the cliff and splashed our car scary, it was atleast a 30 feet high cliff, the notoriety of the wave became apparent. 

A number of attractions were closed on account of the weather. The cliff of moher ferry service was off, so we saw the cliffs from the view point and could not walk close by. One of us was even pushed into a wall by the wind! 

Cliff of Moher

Overall we did not do a lot of the touristy things one is meant to do in Ireland. But I truly got the experience of a lifetime, seeing the Atlantic from close quarters in the middle of a storm. The entire experience was surreal and I definitely plan to visit Ireland when it is more sunny to see the country's beauty in calmer weather.

Weekend in Paris!

Living in London makes a weekend trip to Paris almost inevitable. And if it is a bank holiday weekend, Paris seems like the ultimate destination. It is that city, which from London, you can reach sooner than reaching Lake district and gives you the feeling of having gone to a glamorous foreign country. We booked tickets a month in advance and that gave me enough time to build up my excitement as I kept reading blogs and books on Paris tourism. We reached on a Friday night and had three full days in the city. One of the best parts of the trip was the flight. It was from City airport which saved us the hassle of travelling to Heathrow which would have been more than the flight time itself. City airport is an absolute no-nonsense airport, where you do only the things that you must do to eventually get on a plane. From the flight I got a bird's eye view of the Eiffel tower all lit up. It was just so fabulous and magical!

We stayed at the All Seasons hotel near a metro rail station called Gabriel Peri. We took the RER from the airport and then changed to the metro. There was a really long walk to the hotel from Gabriel Peri and made me weep at the thought of having to walk that much twice everyday, but to our greatest relief we found a train station much closer to the hotel, Asnieres-Sein-Sur. This was more like a national rail stop and had fast trains connecting to all the major metro stops. We bought a bundle of 12 tickets to travel back n forth and that lasted the two of us almost the entire trip. 

After a good nights sleep, we started off to collect tickets at the Louvre. After a bit of struggle trying to remember my credit card number (Yes I forgot to carry my credit card!), we managed to collect the tickets from the Virgin megastore right next to the Louvre and entered the museum. The crowd was not bad at all and we got ample time for photographs or to read the various descriptions. To be completely honest, I did not enjoy the sculpture section of the museum that much. But the paintings section was brilliant. Each painting was a masterpiece and the scale of some of them for example the last supper was mind blowing. Some of the ceiling arts were breathtaking too. As expected there was a big crowd surrounding the Monalisa and I had to have a picture of her, although I failed to understand what the fuss was all about. There are many many more mesmerising paintings all over the place some of which did not have a single admirer! Following the Louvre and after some pictures next to the glass pyramids outside we decided to walk to the Luxembourgh Gardens. The garden is a good place for someone wanting to take a break from all the tousists and signtseeing. After some pictures in the sun, we started walking towars the Eiffel tower.

The Eiffel tower is something I have been really looking forward to seeing and it is one of those monuments you have been seeing in so many books and movies, you feel like you already know how it is going to look. But the first glimpse of it made me want to scream. I never imagined it to be that huge and it was nothing like how it looked in the pictuires or movies! After gaping at the metal wonder for a while, we went up to the second level to get some breathtaking views of the city. The whole Eiffel tower experience was totally magical to me. I highly recommend walking to the opposite side, a place called Trocadero which gives you unparalleled views of the tower. The most magical part was the tower being lit up at night and the sparkling lights. Just beautiful! No matter how much you try to capture the moment in a picture, it ends up not doing justice to what your eyes behold! That spectacular sight marked the end of our first day in Paris.

On our second day we decided to visit Versailles, Champ D'Elysses and the Arc De Triomphe. We took the Paris metro to reach Versailles. Even with the pre-booked entry tickets we had to stand a long queue in the sun to enter the palace. Once inside everything was a grand affair, the ceiling art, the sculptures, Marie Antoinette's room and the passage she used to flee the palace during the French revolution, it all felt very surreal. The room of mirrors was just as you see it in the Dior Ad! We visited Versailles on a Sunday and the local market was such a treat, the grapes we bought there were some of the best I have ever tasted in my life! From Versailles we went staright to the Champ D'Elysses and Arc De Trimphe, took some pictures, did some people watching and went back to the hotel tired and in need of sleep! To any beauty addict, Champ D'Elysses offers great window shopping experience!

Third and the last day of our trip was kept aside for Sacre Coure, Notre Dame cathedral and the cruise on the river Seine. We travelled around on the Paris metro to reach Sacre Coure and Notre Dame, both of which have great architecture. The Sacre Coure is set on the top of a hill and offers good top views of the city. The cruise down the river Seine was a great experience. It gives a different view of all the monuments that you visit in Paris, escpecially the Eiffel Tower. We took the Bateaux Mouches cruise and would recommend it to anyone since the English commentary was pretty good. We then went straight to the hotel and setout for our flight journey home in a very happy mood since the journey from the City Airport home would take us less than 10 minutes on the DLR.

In retroscpect I would say Paris felt exactly like London but with everything written in French! It is a good weekend getaway from London if you are looking to fill your sunny weekends with lotsa people watching, good food and some sightseeing.

Italy Again?! (London -> Rome -> Pisa -> Vatican -> London)

I just got back from a 4-day trip to Rome and I am blogging my experience swiftly when it is still very fresh in my memory. Since this is my first time in Rome my focus was on the standard touristy stuff and not so much on the off-the-beaten-track things one could do in Rome. I had a month before my trip to come up with the itinerary and being the planning freak that I am, I had a plan for every single day. Of the 4 days, one day was dedicated to a day trip out of Rome. After considering Naples, Ostia Antica and Pisa, I decided on Pisa, since Rome itself has enough to offer in terms of ancient ruins and an Italy tour is not complete without a picture next to the leaning tower. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Rome guide book really helped us get around Rome very easily. It has a concise pull-out map, streetfinder maps, metro and bus routes, history on all the sightseeing places in Rome and much more and was extremely easy to use.

We flew Alitalia from London to Rome and stayed at Hotel Colosseum. Hotel reviews to be added towards the end!

The first day was filled with the usual sightseeing including the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Navona of which I was awestruck at how much of the interiors of the Colosseum is still standing. It is such a magnificent structure and  gives you goosebumps to think you are standing in an arena which was actively in use 2000 years ago! I took a zillion pictures in the Colosseum. Although I could have stayed there the whole day, I was forced to leave by the scorching mid-day sun. I read in several places that August is off-season in Rome but there were tourists everywhere and all the tourist spots were massively crowded. It was very difficult to get a picture of yourself without 10,000 strangers in the frame. I cannot imagine how crowded Rome would get during the peak season. Nevertheless, the Colosseum was awesome to explore. I booked my tickets to the three monuments here. The queue to the ticket counter was unbelievable and I was so thankful I did not just turn up at the Colosseum. For those without pre-booked tickets, I recommend getting it from either the Forum or the Palantine hill because queues there were much shorter compared to the Colosseum. We then moved on to the Roman forum which is right next to the Colosseum. Going through the ruins at mid-day wasn't fun. The heat was pretty intense and the entire Forum got quite dusty from the wind. Still I was looking forward to seeing the pillars of the temple of Saturn. It helps to have a good idea of the layout as it is quite huge and you could end up going in circles! If I had known better I would have visited the Forum after the Sun had gone down, but the good thing was there were drinking-water fountains everywhere and having a bottle to fill up is a must. This was followed by lunch and some cooling off in the hotel before heading to the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain.

The Spanish steps is a set of steps leading up to a nice church and overlooking a small fountain. We took our first metro ride to Spagna, the nearest stop to the steps. The metro lines are very easy to master as there are only two and switching between them can happen only at the Roma Termini station where they meet. They are considerably cheaper than the London metro and cost only €4 for a day ticket and €1 for a one-time journey and to our surprise the trains were air-conditioned. We walked most of our first day and walking between the tourist spots could take up quite a bit of energy and most of them could be reached on the metro. The Spanish steps is an ideal place to end your first day in Rome sitting lazily with a gelato and doing some hours of people-watching. Trevi fountain was well-lit and looked very grand in the evening. I did not do the much hyped coin throwing since it was too soon to decide whether I wanted to go back to Rome in future! We had no energy left from the sun and the walking hence decided to do the Pantheon some other day.

Our second day was Pisa day! We travelled to Pisa on a Saturday mainly because trenitalia has a buy-one-get-one-free offer on tickets and that is a good €84 you can spend on something else. The train journey takes almost 3 hours one way. Once at Pisa Centrale station, we walked 20 minutes to reach the tower (yes more walking!). The first sight of the tower was superb. The basilica and the Duomo add to the beauty of the tower along with the lawns which have some of the greenest grass I have seen so far. The tower offers wonderful photo opportunities and if you have sometime to kill before your train back to Rome, people-watching is an absolute must! You are sure to see some really funny poses of people trying to get a picture of them leaning on the tower or trying to straighten it up! Don't shy away from taking this picture of yourself, trust me you wouldn't be alone! Our return train was not until late in the evening, hence we took a quick bus trip to Tirrennia to see the much famed Italian beaches there. The bus ride took 15 minutes and costs €5. Be sure to carry your swim suit as everyone there was heavily under dressed! The beach was beautiful and the sun was ideal for sun bathing. We went back to Pisa for some night shots of the tower and headed back to Rome.

Third day in Rome was planned for the Vatican, the smallest country in the world. We took the metro to Ottaviano San Pietro and walked to St Peters Basilica. The queue to the Basilica wasn't bad at all. But be sure to dress sensibly if you don't want to be asked to cover yourself up by a guard in tuxedo and RayBan's in front of so many people! The basilica was extremely huge and the domes had some really awesome paintings. Under the main dome was Bernini's baldacchino which looked majestic and exquisite under the sun rays falling through the dome. We went up the cupola by climbing 551 narrow and claustrophobic stairs to see the stunning top views of the Piazza and the city which made the climb totally worth the effort. For those determined to climb the cupola, I suggest skipping going up the elevator in Vittorio Emmanuelle II monument. From the top of the basilica you can even see the monument in a distance. Outside the basilica there is a line of tacky souvenir shops selling the usual ghastly souvenirs like the laced hand fan with the pope smiling on it! But if you look around patiently you will find some really good pieces for a bargain.

After the Vatican, we headed to the hotel for the much needed escape from the scorching sun, rested for a while and started towards the Colosseum to capture its beauty at night. This is one of the best things I did in Rome, aimlessly walk with just the camera and the tripod from the Colosseum to the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument. I highly recommend everyone going to Rome to do this, not only will you get fantastic shots which expose a completely different view of the monuments but also enjoy how the pavements come to life with colourful fruit shops, painters, write-your-name-in-Chinese stalls and a million other small but interesting shops. Even the laid back attitude of tourists sitting along the pavement fills you with joy. The Colosseum looked amazing at night, I have more shots of it at night than in the sun. Going around Rome at night is a must as it makes you look at the city in a completely different light.

On our last day in Rome we tried to cover the places we had kept for later, the first stop being the Pantheon. The pantheon aka "temple of all gods" is almost 2000 years old and is the world's largest unreinforced dome. It was being prepped for a mass and was unfortunately not open for visitors. From a glimpse of the interiors, the floor looked very intricate and we got a few pictures of the altar. From there we moved to Piazza Navona mainly to see the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi translated to "fountain of four rivers". This is a Bernini designed 16th century fountain in a very lively piazza and offers good photo op. We then went back to the hotel to head to the Fiumicino airport for our flight back to London Heathrow. We took the metro to Ostiense and from there took the FR1 line to the airport.

My Rome holiday was more a tourism trip than a relaxed vacation. There is always a lot to see in Rome and it depends on how much you are satisfied with, else there is going to be more and more churches and museums to visit and you are going to have to leave unsatisfied and frustrated. Try not to pack your day with too many things to do, have enough breaks, always carry water and dress sensibly.

As for the hotel, I was not very impressed with. The reception staff seemed kind of rude at times and the double room had the smallest shower one could fit in a corner. Breakfast was very average and the least one would expect in an Italian hotel is good Cappuccino, but the coffee was terrible and we happily skipped breakfast 2 days out of 4 knowing we weren't missing anything. Still I would recommend this hotel if you are just looking for a clean place to spend the night and it is ideally located within 5 minutes walking distance from the Colosseum and 10 minutes from Termini station. Just don't go with too many expectations and for all you know you might be pleasantly surprised!

Venezia

My first blog is coming in months after my trip to Venice. Recollecting the 5 magical days spent at the most magical, not to mention the most romantic place I have been to so far is in itself a wonderful experience. It is one of those places you hear and read about your entire life, see songs and scenes in movies shot there and to actually visit such a place in my lifetime got me so thoroughly excited.

Venice with its narrow winding streets, studded with extravagant mask shops, moisture-locked walls with an occasional multi-coloured flower basket, numerous bridges to cross the waterways where you spot ever so often a gondola carrying tourists, small gelato shops with gelato in every colour you could imagine, street vendors selling counterfeit Gucci and LV bags, high-end brand outlets in the smallest of street corners and every now n then a couple sharing an umbrella in the rain makes me want to pay yet another visit to this Italian marvel. I know for one that I cannot do justice to the magic this place has in store through this blog. But nevertheless I am going to continue writing my experience!

After much struggle getting to the London Gatwick airport and making the entire flight wait for the two of us, we boarded the British airways flight bound to Venice. It was as though the flight took off the second we got on. Never rely on the London metro when you have an early morning flight was a lesson learnt the hard way. The 2-hour journey was not enough to stop panting from all the running we did that morning. But as the flight was descending, the view of the airport situated right next to the sea was breathtaking. The minute we stepped out of the airport, we were greeted by a stunning view that was worth everything we went through that morning. The water-view was never ending, sure I have seen never ending water bodies before, but the thought that a boat was now going to take us to Venice and that we were going to be surrounded by only water for the next week was so very exciting. I had read beforehand that there were no cars on the Venezian mainland and water was the only means of transport. We took the Ali-laguna boat service to get to the mainland. It was my first time seeing traffic lights in the water and every lamp post had an oil bird perched on it! The first view of the city got me clicking away pictures by the tens. A line of faded pink and blue houses with their doors opening to the water and situated right next to a bridge under which sea water flows into a canal leading to the city was the first view I got of the city. It was just so pretty that I almost started jumping in my seat. Everyone on the boat with us were tourists just like us and I wasn't the only behaving mental!

We got off the boat at San Marco, which is the main boat stop for the city and started hunting for our hotel. The first street we stepped into was flooded and at any other time I would've hated the sight of so much slush. But to learn the fact that at high tide the city gets flooded added to the touristy charm of the place. We waded through the water with the luggage and managed to find our hotel. We stayed at hotel Gorizia A La Valigia. Nothing fancy but the perfect choice for someone looking for a neat, decent size room to crash at the end of a tiring day. It was not a great day to begin the trip as it was constantly drizzling and by the time we settled in, my childishness had settled as well and my dislike for rains started kicking in. Nevertheless we made an effort to leave the hotel and explore the city a little. To our surprise the hotel reception was now empty with all the furniture shifted elsewhere. We were shocked to hear that water had entered the hotel and even more shocked to find the staff not so shocked! We learned that this was the norm in Venice.

A two minute walk from our hotel led us to Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square). The entire piazza was flooded and tourists had to walk on raised wooden platforms arranged to avoid walking in the water. The piazza was well-lit and looked beautiful though the water did not let us do more than just stand around and watch, while making plans for the next day in the head hoping tomorrow is going to be sunny and not so wet. We then decided to go to a pizzeria near the Rialto bridge for dinner. It was a nice candle-light dinner right next to the grand canal with the Rialto bridge as the backdrop. You pay more for the view and the experience than for the food itself, but it is definitely worth it. This romantic dinner ended our first few hours in Venice.

The next morning I woke up with much anticipation of a bright sunny day. But to my despair it turned out to be yet another cold and rainy day. Considering we had only 5 full days in the city, we got dressed, stepped out and headed straight to the piazza. The piazza is always a busy place with tourists, street vendors selling cheap t-shirts, souvenirs and bird food for people interested in feeding the  gazillions of pigeons and gulls inhabiting the area. Unlike yesterday, today we got to see the inside of the basilica as the water had cleared and the queue was not bad. The basilica itself was very beautiful with brilliant ceiling paintings, although I do not quite remember the names of the artists. Personally I am more in love with landscapes than I am with paintings and history!

We then climbed up the 12th century bell tower at the piazza least expecting anything but a few telescopes with 10 heads behind each one of them. But to our surprise, the tower gave a fantastic top view of the city which I highly recommend to everyone visiting Venice. The wind on top was freezing cold, but I enjoyed seeing Lido, Murano, Burano islands (though I couldn't tell which land mass was which island!), the top of the basilica and the innumerable ships, private and vaporetti boats dotting the endless stretch of water from the top.

We then took a walk around the Doge's place. It wasn't until my last day in Venice that I noticed the Bridge of sighs behind the ghastly billboard covering half of Doge's palace. I have cursed that billboard everyday of my stay in Venice, since it managed to spoil every picture that I took of the bridge or of the palace! It would really make a big difference to not have that blue billboard sprawling along the entire side wall of the palace covering the entire bridge of sighs. History has it that the bridge was used to transport prisoners from one cell to the other and they used to sigh every time they caught a glimpse of the beautiful city outside, hence the obvious name.

A stroll along the sea at the other end of the piazza reveals the mainland and the Venetian islands in all their glory. The evening is the best time to soak the beauty of the city since it is so well-lit and looks so idyllic. I felt like I had to capture everything my eye could see. But pictures just cant do justice to what the eye beholds. One thing about Venice that I truly admire is, although the entire city floats on water, the water is still such a beautiful blue and green colour and most of the water is still litter-free. I have read people write about how the Venetian canals are used as sewage ducts and now I am sure those people have not visited Venice in their lifetime. For lunch that day, we went to a very warm and cozy Italian restaurant. The spaghetti in white sauce that I had is the best I have had so far. My search for an equivalent of that in London is yet to prove fruitful.

The next day was the best day of our trip. It was a very sunny beautiful day and this made us so cheerful. We planned to take the Vaporetti routes 1 and 2. Vaporetti is the public transport in Venice, much like the metro trains are in London. The frequency is good and it is a cheaper way of seeing the city than taking a private water taxi which is over-hyped and over-priced. The vaporetti routes 1 and 2 are well-known among tourists since they cover the entire city and the view you get of the Rialto bridge and the Venetian houses from them is nothing like what you see from the land. I promptly went to the front of the boat and it was a brilliant experience. I completely felt like I was shown around the city on a private tour. I fell more in love with the city after these boat trips. Some of my favourite pictures of Venice were taken on these boat rides. On these rides we discovered the more modern part of the city with the Mestre train station and decided to take a tour of it. Luckily we found a buffet place which was called "Buffet" serving good Italian food for a fraction of the price. I suggest this part of the city as a getaway for anyone overwhelmed by the old buildings and too much water as it is more modern and fast paced with buses and not just boats everywhere! On the Vaporetti, there were announcements at every stop in both Italian and English. I loved the way the Italian woman stressed the "R" in words, so much that even days after the trip we kept repeating "Rrrrriyalto" (Rialto) and "Murrrrano" (Murano)!

The next day we went on our boat trips to the islands of Burano, Murano and Lido. Burano is a pretty island with chocolate box houses and glass-ware shops. The entire island is dissected into two by a canal running the middle. Murano is symbolic of the world-famous Murano glass artifacts. On this island, we went to a glass factory where a skillful designer demoed how they make such exquisite art pieces. From here we made our trip towards Lido island. Once on Lido, we were so pleasantly surprised since the island seemed very modern with nice cafes and modern hotels. The Venetian mainland definitely is stuck in history and that is what makes Venice such a gem. But Lido is a good option for anyone wanting to stay on the modern side and travel to the mainland just for the day to soak in the oldness of the city. Since the time we discovered "buffet", we had all our meals there.

Anyone reading this never-ending blog would imagine if we ever did the trademark-of-Venice Gondola ride. Before leaving for the trip, we had decided we wouldn't do it, since it is not worth the money, we see all that on the Vaporetti etc etc etc. But once there, we could not resist but jump into the bandwagon of I-have-been-to-Venice-And-I-Have-Done-The-Gondola-Ride! We sucked it up and paid quite a large sum for a ride along the Grand Canal. The gondola ride, though expensive is nothing like the Vapoterri. It is a one of a kind experience and I am happy I did it. We took around 112245345000 photos on it, off it, with it, with the gondolier, of the gondolier, without the gondolier, of the gondola, of us, of Rialto, us with the Rialto, gondolier with the Rialto and on n on n on! We then wandered about in the fruit and sea food market, saw a variety of fruits and fish (duh???), bought a number of souvenirs, enough to make our home feel like a Venetian souvenir shop and it was then time to pack up and leave to the airport on the Ali-laguna.

Although I was ready to get back home, away from the slow romantic city of Venice to the fast life in London, Venice is nothing like what I have heard so many people say, that it is over-hyped and it is not as romantic etc etc. In my opinion, Venice is a gem of a city tucked away in the middle of nowhere capable of bringing out the romantic even in the most un-romantic person there is! I absolutely loved Venice and would rave about its beauty forever and ever.

Travel Tip: Visiting a city like Venice with someone you truly love makes it more than just a city on your must-visit-before-I-die list!