Miles and Experiences

I stood there for a while and looked all around... the tiny town of Wattens in the Tyrol region of Austria....located at about thirty minutes drive from Innsbruck . Nature at its breathtaking best... and in the midst of the mountains and clouds I saw  this lovely office. No wonder, Daniel Swarovski chose this place to host the headquarters of Swarovski. I wonder who wouldn't love to come to work every morning if the office is such. This post is for alphabet ‘W' of the #BlogchatterA2Z 2020 challenge: W for Wattens

The moment we saw the majestic gates of the Palace of Versailles, we knew that a treasure awaited us for the rest of the day. Twenty kilometres away from Paris, in Versailles, this is the place where the French Royals resided for about a hundred years from late seventeenth century to late eighteenth century. What was, once upon a time,  a simple hunting lodge turned out to be the seat of power of France. The Palace has been a notable witness to some of the biggest events in world history for almost five hundred years.  Within the Palace is engraved the pride associated with the glory of victory in wars. Also embedded are the principles of benefits of peace. With more than sixty thousand art works illustrating five centuries of French History, this palace is indeed a marvel and a UNESCO world heritage site. The French Royals... kings starting from Louis XIV till Louis VI and the queens from Maria Theresa till Marie Antoinette, who stayed in this Palace kept adding...

Those were the days when the Shard was under construction. By the river Thames, we stood high up inside one of the capsules of the London Eye, the giant Ferris Wheel. Twilight was giving way to an English night and the city was just beginning to light up. A light drizzle, so typical of the place, was underway and the water drops clinging to the glass of our capsule appeared almost ethereal. We would have stayed for not more than half an hour on this giant Ferris wheel for the full rotation. But then, it's not about the duration. A lighted Westminster Palace with the Big Ben on the north bank of the Thames looked so imposing. Sitting slightly ahead, the Westminster Abbey was no less either. During the full decent, my eyes remained fixated on these iconic moments of the United Kingdom . Our decent continued and soon we were down below...out of the capsule. But within those few minutes, I knew, I collected some moments which would last forever. The government district of Westmin...

Just about an hour's drive from the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen can take you to a different sort of forested mountain range...which dates back to the Roman era. Located in Germany's Baden-Wurttemberg and very close to the French border. and known locally as "Schwarzwald", this dark canopy of evergreen pines and firs block out most of the day light thus creating an almost dark effect within the forests. The cold fog adds to the aura making these almost eerily beautiful. Add to the setting, the well preserved medieval villages with their vineyards, waterfalls, hiking trails, castles and rivers. Not to forget that the Black Forest is the setting for  Grim Brothers' Fairy Tales. The tale of Hansel and Gretel took shape here. So did the fables of Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty...in these forests and castles around.  At the heart of the Black Forest, sits cozily the largest natural lake of the region, with the name Titisee. With prehistoric glacial origin an...

There are infinite ways to experience Paris...the city is such...But if you want to witness the glory of Paris in an almost musical way, then just come to river Seine and spend your hours here...even days, if you have the time.  The four kilometers stretch of the Seine from the Eiffel Tower at one end and the island of Ile de la Cite at the other is architecturally the most beautiful river stretch I have seen. This stretch, a UNESCO world heritage site houses most of the important monuments of Paris including the likes of Eiffel Tower with its garden Champ de Mars, Palais de Chaillot, the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, Place de la Concorde, Jardin des Tuileres with the Ach de Triomphe du Carrousel, Musee du Louvre, Cathedrale Notre-Dame and Sainte  Chapelle in the island of Ile de le Cite, Bibliotheque Mazarine, Palais Bourbon and Musee de l'Armee with the Les Invalides. There are quite a few bridges across the river ensuring easy connectivity. Notable among th...

As I was going through the photos of my travel folder, I felt a delicate sense of elation within. Over the last decade, during different phases of my life, I have got  a chance to visit different locations along the River Rhine. That's why I love tracing rivers...one, you get to see different places on their banks...two, there is a subtle connection when you see the same river in different forms during different phases of life.  This  connection built across time and places is a very special feeling to treasure. Rivers are important...to the regions they flow through. They are influential in shaping the cultural, political and geographical identities of the regions. Rhine is no different. From the glacial lakes of Switzerland till it reaches the North Sea at the Hook of Holland, the Rhine has defined the places she flows through. The path of the river is divided into five parts depending  on her moods- the Alpine Rhine when she takes her birth and earl...

We had stayed overnight in Padova. Next day morning, from the pier we took a ferry to  the heart of the city.  What we saw during the day still remains one of the most amazing experiences till date, probably the most amazing.  This city has got so many names - La Serenissima, City of Bridges, City of Masks, City of Canals and many more. But the one I love the most is the Queen of Adriatic. As per numerous surveys, this city is the most beautiful city ever built by mankind. So Venice it is...the capital of Veneto...the lagoon city at the mouth of Brenta and Sile rivers and consisting of more than hundred islands and about four hundred bridges connecting them. Together with Padova and Treviso, Venice forms the Patreve metropolis.  The history of Venice is incredibly rich. The ancient Veneti people were believed to have resided here during the tenth century BC. For more than million years, from 6th century AD to 18th century AD this city was the capital of the R...