• Cityscapes - Places

    The Turia River Bed Walk, Valencia, Spain

    The ancient river of Turia, right through the Valencia city, would have gone down the history for all the wrong reasons, if the city administration had gone ahead with its initial idea of converting it into a giant highway system through the heart of the city. A river getting converted into a highway, a mistake history would never have pardoned. Thankfully, that did not happen. Turia, the river that ran through Valencia city and drained to the Mediterranean Sea, had a devastating flood in the year 1957 (The Great Flood of Valencia), which changed its course, and well, the course…

  • Cityscapes - Places

    Valencia Oceanografic, Spain – In Pictures

    (Read the post ‘Turia River Bed Walk‘ and ‘One and half days in Valencia‘ before this post) The Oceanografic in Valencia, Spain is part of the larger City of Arts & Sciences. An marine/aquatic museum, the Oceanografic is the largest marine aquarium in Europe. To say that this is one of the most fascinating science & entertainment destination might be an understatement. The Oceanografic has multiple sections, housed in different buildings, with each section representing a different eco-system or habitat. Mediterranean, polar oceans, islands, tropical seas, wetlands, red sea, mangrove swamps, marshland areas etc.  The aquarium houses over 500 species…

  • Cityscapes - Places

    The City of Arts & Sciences, Valencia – In Pictures

    (Read the post ‘Turia River Bed Walk‘ & ‘One and half days in Valencia‘, before checking this out.) The City of Arts & Sciences is an architectural complex with multiple buildings at the  eastern end of the Turia river bed. The complex includes L’hemisferic – a planetarium and laserium, an interactive science museum spread across three floors, a landscaped walk, an opera house for performing arts, a cable stayed bridge and Oceanografic – a marine aquarium, the largest in Europe. If you want to cover all the buildings, provide for a little more than a half day. Tickets for different…

  • Cityscapes - Places

    Running in Ahmedabad – Sabarmati Riverfront

    It was day 1 of our 15-day Mumbai–Rajasthan road trip. Our planned overnight stay was at Palanpur, Gujarat, a good 2.5 hours drive from Ahmedabad. But like in any trips, some things had to go wrong. Most often, such twists end up being good. The construction of a mega-bridge over the Narmada at Baruch meant a huge traffic snarl and a loss of more than 2 hours. So plans were redrawn and overnight halt became Ahmedabad. A good deal from Makemytrip and the prospect of a riverfront hotel landed us in LemonTree. We had heard a lot about Sabarmati Riverfront…

  • Arts & Culture - Cityscapes - People - Places

    A Slice From A Weekend Break in Delhi

    “So will you relocate to Delhi?” Our friend asked before seeing us off after our three-day stay and attempt to explore the Delhi urban sprawl. The trip was no means a recce of Delhi, though we were relatively open to re-look at Delhi with a fresh pair of eyes. (But relocation is not in cards for sure.) The Delhi versus Mumbai question has been a good fodder for profound debates and bar sprawls. From as profound as ‘Delhi has History, Mumbai has Civilisation’ to as mundane as ‘the size of my toilet in Delhi is same as the total size…

  • Cityscapes - Places

    One thing your travel planner will not tell you about Port Blair

    Port Blair is the base for exploring other parts of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Port Blair has its own attractions apart from the trips to the nearby islands. But while in Port Blair, there is something that you could do, which your travel planner will not tell you. Running. Undulating terrain. Well-laid roads and even better footpath by the sea and minimal traffic. Runners’ dream. The road from the water sports complex till Corbyn’s Cove beach is approximately 5.5 km. A good 11 km if one does up and down. If running by the sea is not your cup of…

  • Cityscapes - Places

    MarketWatch: The Catania Market, Sicily, Italy

    Catania is the gateway to Sicily as it has one of the international airports in Sicily. Our final destination was Taormina, which is about 55 kms from Catania. However we managed some time to explore the Catania market during our 3-4 day stay in Taormina. This is unlike any other market we visited earlier. We did not buy anything at all, let alone touch a single item on sale, walking and watching the wares (dead and alive) was fun. Here’s a walk through the clean and odourless fish market in Catania. Adjacent lanes have shops that sell groceries, vegetables, and…

  • Cityscapes - Hotels - Places

    Photo Feature – In & Around Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

    Marina Bay Sands, an integrated resort with the iconic hotel towers opened in Singapore in 2010. Considered as the most expensive building in the world (incuding land costs), this complex has hotel, convention & exhibition facilities, entertainment venues, restaurants and luxury retailers. A walk around the hotel and a birds eye view from the top – the Skypark.                       Marina Bay Sands has become a major tourist attraction. For more details on Marina Bay Sands, check the following links: Wikipedia, Marina Bay Sands