that´s me and i´m smiling.
asdf
the idea isn´t mine.
asdf
nandini, remember in 3rd or 4rth class when you did a self portrait?
Monday, February 27, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
2 anecdotes
did i tell you how i reached and how i left Barcelona?
1. Reaching Barcelona
when ravi told me the name and address of the hotel i (as a citizen of the www) promptly went to the internet and figured out how to get from the bus stop in barcelona (Barcelona Nord) to the metro stop closest to the hotel, printed out parts of the map of barcelona city and wrote back to him confidently that i would get there on my own. so i didn´t bother to call anyone in barcelona or speak to anyone who had already visited barcelona or anything... you see, i´m an independent emancipated woman!
it was an overnight journey. and after the long hard day´s work the minute i stepped onto the bus and made myself comfy on my seat i was fast asleep.
suddenly i woke up due to the huge amount of light and the loads of movement around me. "Have we reached?", i asked myself. i checked my watch and saw that it was 05:45 in the morning. "Weren´t we supposed to reach an hour later?", seeing all these people getting off i hurriedly got off too. i even read the name of the stop and thought to myself "How familiar!. and if it´s familiar to me it must be the stop i saw on the net." but after around two minutes i realized that the driver hadn´t gotten off and that there were other passengers still in the bus. i rushed to the driver who told me that it wasn´t the last stop.
"Thank god!" i thought. "How cumbersome and embarrassing it would have been to have gotten off at the wrong stop!"
no, the story doesn´t end here since the bus started moving and from the same cozy seat, with the same sleepy eyes and the not yet alert mind i saw in bright blue neon lights the hotel just 2 minutes, walking distance, away. it didn´t take me long to realize that i had messed up. the name of the bus stop had been familiar since it was the name of the metro station closest to the hotel (Sants Estació).
and now i had to travel kilometres away to the endstation and take the metro back to the hotel!
i tried to console myself saying, "You´ll get to see barcelona by... early morning! You´ll get to see the metro of barcelona!" but who am i kidding... each time i saw a sign board, through the cold, strong, unbreakable windows of the bus, that indicated i was distancing myself from Sants Estació my heart seemed to cringe with pain.
now any indian indian, not nri´s, not just any indian, but a true indian would ask, "Why didn´t you ask the driver to stop?". must confess i thought of that too (and cringed yet again). but that´s the difference between europe and india. the driver woudn´t have stopped, you see, rules are rules.
2. Leaving Barcelona
when i left barcelona i was dead tired. all i was thinking of was, as mentioned before, the cozy, comfy seat of the bus. and my luck, the seat was broken. yes, only my seat amongst all the 60 odd seats was broken. so i couldn´t incline the seat and the seat thus was transformed into an uncozy, uncomfy seat. everything seemed even worse since i was to reach madrid on a monday and i without proper sleep i wouldn´t be able to concentrate in class.
when we stopped at 03:30 in the morning midway i went up to the driver and asked him if there was a seat free since mine was broken. and he was like, "Sorry!".
but when we before started off again he came looking for me and indeed there was another seat.
i know that when and if you read this you will never be able to feel what i felt. but i felt so grateful to him, for the 3 and a half hours of sleep i got during the rest of the journey. i mean i´m sure it wouldn´t have made any difference to him whether i had a broken seat or not, whether i could sleep or no. but he made a big difference to my day.
had to put this down in honour of him.
1. Reaching Barcelona
when ravi told me the name and address of the hotel i (as a citizen of the www) promptly went to the internet and figured out how to get from the bus stop in barcelona (Barcelona Nord) to the metro stop closest to the hotel, printed out parts of the map of barcelona city and wrote back to him confidently that i would get there on my own. so i didn´t bother to call anyone in barcelona or speak to anyone who had already visited barcelona or anything... you see, i´m an independent emancipated woman!
it was an overnight journey. and after the long hard day´s work the minute i stepped onto the bus and made myself comfy on my seat i was fast asleep.
suddenly i woke up due to the huge amount of light and the loads of movement around me. "Have we reached?", i asked myself. i checked my watch and saw that it was 05:45 in the morning. "Weren´t we supposed to reach an hour later?", seeing all these people getting off i hurriedly got off too. i even read the name of the stop and thought to myself "How familiar!. and if it´s familiar to me it must be the stop i saw on the net." but after around two minutes i realized that the driver hadn´t gotten off and that there were other passengers still in the bus. i rushed to the driver who told me that it wasn´t the last stop.
"Thank god!" i thought. "How cumbersome and embarrassing it would have been to have gotten off at the wrong stop!"
no, the story doesn´t end here since the bus started moving and from the same cozy seat, with the same sleepy eyes and the not yet alert mind i saw in bright blue neon lights the hotel just 2 minutes, walking distance, away. it didn´t take me long to realize that i had messed up. the name of the bus stop had been familiar since it was the name of the metro station closest to the hotel (Sants Estació).
and now i had to travel kilometres away to the endstation and take the metro back to the hotel!
i tried to console myself saying, "You´ll get to see barcelona by... early morning! You´ll get to see the metro of barcelona!" but who am i kidding... each time i saw a sign board, through the cold, strong, unbreakable windows of the bus, that indicated i was distancing myself from Sants Estació my heart seemed to cringe with pain.
now any indian indian, not nri´s, not just any indian, but a true indian would ask, "Why didn´t you ask the driver to stop?". must confess i thought of that too (and cringed yet again). but that´s the difference between europe and india. the driver woudn´t have stopped, you see, rules are rules.
2. Leaving Barcelona
when i left barcelona i was dead tired. all i was thinking of was, as mentioned before, the cozy, comfy seat of the bus. and my luck, the seat was broken. yes, only my seat amongst all the 60 odd seats was broken. so i couldn´t incline the seat and the seat thus was transformed into an uncozy, uncomfy seat. everything seemed even worse since i was to reach madrid on a monday and i without proper sleep i wouldn´t be able to concentrate in class.
when we stopped at 03:30 in the morning midway i went up to the driver and asked him if there was a seat free since mine was broken. and he was like, "Sorry!".
but when we before started off again he came looking for me and indeed there was another seat.
i know that when and if you read this you will never be able to feel what i felt. but i felt so grateful to him, for the 3 and a half hours of sleep i got during the rest of the journey. i mean i´m sure it wouldn´t have made any difference to him whether i had a broken seat or not, whether i could sleep or no. but he made a big difference to my day.
had to put this down in honour of him.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
barcelona is gaudí
was in barcelona only 3 days...big mistake.
if you are planning a trip to barcelona, plan it for atleast a week...or you will regret.
here are the pics...
Monumento de Colón
La famosa rambla
Streets of Barcelona
Amazing number of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi inmigrants.
Gaudí's Sagrada Familia
It´s still unfinished and will be completed they say in 30 years. so once i´m 53 i need to go back to see it.
Pasion of Christ
Parque Güell
doesn´t it look like the witch´s house in hansel and gretel?
Casa Batlló
the picture does no justice. plus you have to see it to experience it.
and ofcourse, the Mediterranean Sea.
if you are planning a trip to barcelona, plan it for atleast a week...or you will regret.
here are the pics...
Monumento de Colón
La famosa rambla
Streets of Barcelona
Amazing number of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi inmigrants.
Gaudí's Sagrada Familia
It´s still unfinished and will be completed they say in 30 years. so once i´m 53 i need to go back to see it.
Pasion of Christ
Parque Güell
doesn´t it look like the witch´s house in hansel and gretel?
Casa Batlló
the picture does no justice. plus you have to see it to experience it.
and ofcourse, the Mediterranean Sea.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
next trip
yeah, am viajing again. this time to barcelona.
actually i´m not going to see barcelona but my brother-in-law, ravi.
so in the end it´s going to be double the fun.
will be there for 3 days and if i like the place will go back some time.
nothing else... atleast nothing that´s as interesting.
will be starting my Practicum I on monday. still going strong with my Tae kwon do. and missing appa, amma, nive and ranveer terribly. boo-hoo...
no, no,no, i´m feeling much better now than around three weeks back. with my spirits up and ready to get down to brasstacks.
will keep blogging.
actually i´m not going to see barcelona but my brother-in-law, ravi.
so in the end it´s going to be double the fun.
will be there for 3 days and if i like the place will go back some time.
nothing else... atleast nothing that´s as interesting.
will be starting my Practicum I on monday. still going strong with my Tae kwon do. and missing appa, amma, nive and ranveer terribly. boo-hoo...
no, no,no, i´m feeling much better now than around three weeks back. with my spirits up and ready to get down to brasstacks.
will keep blogging.
galicia
we went to Galicia (A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela) for the III Encuentro de Becarios MAEC-AECI (the III Meet of Scholarship holders of the AECI).
met people from all over the world. it was really a culturally and intellectually enriching experience. miss them already.
here are some photos:
En un lugar de la Mancha
absolutely dry and parched
reaching Galicia
refreshingly green
had luck, didn´t rain even once.
The sunset from our hotel window
Plaza de María Pita in A Coruña
The four figures represent the four provinces of Galicia - A Coruña, Lugo, Orense and Pontevedra.
the typical architecture along the coast. glass windows that shut out the cold wind and let in the warm sunshine.
called La Dentadura (Dentures).
and the yellowish building is called el diente de oro (the golden tooth).
now this is what i call a real alley cat
the beach and the glorious sunshine
( A Coruña)
University of Santiago de Compostela campus
reminded me a lot of JNU
seemed like spring was already here... an ilusion
The famous Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
(in the background, it´s much more beautiful from a distance)
what we actually came for...
the workshop on Ciudadania y cooperación (citizenship and cooperation)
and of course, met people from all over the world.
met people from all over the world. it was really a culturally and intellectually enriching experience. miss them already.
here are some photos:
En un lugar de la Mancha
absolutely dry and parched
reaching Galicia
refreshingly green
had luck, didn´t rain even once.
The sunset from our hotel window
Plaza de María Pita in A Coruña
The four figures represent the four provinces of Galicia - A Coruña, Lugo, Orense and Pontevedra.
the typical architecture along the coast. glass windows that shut out the cold wind and let in the warm sunshine.
called La Dentadura (Dentures).
and the yellowish building is called el diente de oro (the golden tooth).
now this is what i call a real alley cat
the beach and the glorious sunshine
( A Coruña)
University of Santiago de Compostela campus
reminded me a lot of JNU
seemed like spring was already here... an ilusion
The famous Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
(in the background, it´s much more beautiful from a distance)
what we actually came for...
the workshop on Ciudadania y cooperación (citizenship and cooperation)
and of course, met people from all over the world.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Lisbon is one of the most beautiful cities i have ever seen. it´s breathtakingly beautiful. i could live there. even though it´s the capital, compared to other capitals like delhi, madrid and berlin, it´s a very slow paced, calm and warm city.
we were there for five days and we just didn´t want to come back.
it was fun practising my portuguese. wasn´t bad at all. i understod them and they understood me.
what i liked best about lisbon is that it has a river, the river Tagus, mountains (in Sintra) and the ocean (in Cascais). and the blue skies are so peaceful.
also sang the fado in a bar with other fadistas!
so on the whole i´m thrilled and waiting to get back.
haven´t been able to upload all the pics so here are (very) few pics:
Se catedral
Coloured glass work depicting Jesus and the 12 apostles
Praça do comerço
On the banks of the river Tagus in Belém
El Torre de Belém, a monument for the discoverers
Map of the territories conquered by the Portuguese
The Atlantic, in Cascais
Cascais, the port
Palacio da Pena, Sintra
we were there for five days and we just didn´t want to come back.
it was fun practising my portuguese. wasn´t bad at all. i understod them and they understood me.
what i liked best about lisbon is that it has a river, the river Tagus, mountains (in Sintra) and the ocean (in Cascais). and the blue skies are so peaceful.
also sang the fado in a bar with other fadistas!
so on the whole i´m thrilled and waiting to get back.
haven´t been able to upload all the pics so here are (very) few pics:
Se catedral
Coloured glass work depicting Jesus and the 12 apostles
Praça do comerço
On the banks of the river Tagus in Belém
El Torre de Belém, a monument for the discoverers
Map of the territories conquered by the Portuguese
The Atlantic, in Cascais
Cascais, the port
Palacio da Pena, Sintra
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