travel

A Magical Morning in Our Cave Hotel Waking up in Santorini is like waking up inside a postcard, but with better WiFi. Our hotel room? A cozy cave on a cliff, because who needs regular walls when you can have rocks? Natural light poured in from the door facing the west, teasing us with views of the Caldera that are too stunning to be real. At 6 AM, instead of hitting snooze, we were on WhatsApp, showing off our cliffside abode to family and friends back home....

A vacation for me? It’s like a coffee shot of espresso on a Monday morning - absolutely essential! Flights of Fancy and Not-so-Fancy Figure 1: Economy Sandwich After what felt like a mini-lifetime (~14 hours to be exact), we landed at Istanbul airport, and without skipping a beat, jumped onto our next flight to Athens. The flight meal was typical - an adventure in culinary minimalism. I chose the AVML (Asian Vegetarian Meal), which was basically an Indian feast at 30,000 feet....

In the midst of the pandemic, when our lives were confined to the walls of our homes and our hearts yearned for change, we stumbled upon a hidden treasure – Pillar Point Bluff. Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of crowded tourist spots, this coastal haven became our sanctuary during those uncertain times. As COVID-19 kept us cooped up inside, the outside world seemed like a distant dream. Fear of encountering people and the virus itself made even the simplest outings feel like risky endeavors....

I find joy, happiness, and pleasure in anticipating, experiencing, and reminiscing life events. Our 2016 sojourn in Iceland has me excited for our upcoming summer vacation plan to tour Scandinavia. Scandinavia is one of the least populated, most scenic, and well connected parts of Europe. Politically, Scandinavia is the collection of five countries: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Estonia. English is the second language of all peoples, making it convenient for US travelers....

It took us three hours from the Atocha in Madrid to reach Granada. Hotel Anacapri, located in the moorish quarter of Granada, remained an unsolved mystery for our taxi guy. Dragging our luggage, we found our way into our quaint and small room. They were sold out, so our request for an upgrade also went amiss. Unperturbed, we stuck to our plan of hiking up to San Nicholas viewpoint. The hike goes right through the middle of the town, and the colorful lamps constantly attracted us like moths to a flame....

A trip down memory lane: the year was 1998, and it was my first ever exciting फ़ौरन trip! The destinations were right out of a romantic Bollywood movie: France, Switzerland and Italy. It was an official trip, and I was without Nidhi. Vanya wasn’t even born yet! I had a blast visiting various french towns near the quaint town of Saint Genis Pouilly, my company’s office. Paris’s siren song called to me, and on a weekend, all alone, I decided to visit the romantic city....