The Composer

Life is going through a super fast mode right now with many new things happening daily to my otherwise mundane life. I am liking the changes but sometimes it scares me too.

Anyways, not going too much in my private life, I thought it is high time for a post. I realized recently looking at my last posts that I put up too many serious and boring stuff on my blog which not many people like to read. So, I thought of a more light post.

I have been living in Germany for more than 8 years now. Yes, I am also surprised on myself. But there are many new things I discovered after coming here and I feel good about them. Maybe, living in India with my IT job and stuck in a traffic jam mornings and evenings might not had given me enough time to explore the world, the way I like it. I might have made some money in India like my peers and then booked a Europe trip visiting all the touristy places, clicking cliched pictures at Eiffel Tower or Jungfrau and then posting them on Facebook. I might have never really absorbed the essence of those places, their cultures and their real lifestyle. Anyways, who am I to judge people.

Moving on to the post. Of many new things I explored after coming to Germany, one was the music of Beethoven. Honestly speaking, I had never knew about him living in India though there had been many incidences when I heard his music without knowing the composer and truly liked it. I had been brought up watching cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Popeye, Looney Tunes, Roadrunner etc. Many of these classic cartoons use classical music. Then, there are also many movies which have used classical movies over the years, specially Beethoven. I only got to know about the man behind those compositions after coming to Germany and staying close to Beethoven's birthplace in Bonn. I saw his museum, read about his history, experience his official music with the distinct symphonies he created. I got the opportunity to go and experience an Orchestra playing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Opera House in Bonn. It was a mind blowing experience for me.

What is so exceptional about Beethoven or what amazes me about him is that most of his famous work came out when his hearing capabilities were close to none. I mean how can you write music when you cannot hear it. I think this is an achievement in itself and what makes Beethoven so distinct. A movie which comes to my mind instantly when I talk about Beethoven is "Copying Beethoven". Though it is more closer to fiction than the real deal still I found the moving fascinating. I would definitely recommend it.

All this introduction was laid out to share a short video I made last time I attended the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. It was pretty cool to see light, sound and water synchronized to Beethoven's Symphonies being played in the night. It was an open air presentation bang right in the city center at Münsterplatz in front of Beethoven's statue. Here is the video:

P.S: I know the video snippet is more like a teaser but unfortunately I lost the bigger video.        

Unsatisfied temptations

There has not been a post on this blog since the last one month. I thought no one would give a damn and frankly speaking who would care if there is a post on an anonymous blog or not. But I received a couple of comments on my last post checking up on my status. It felt nice. It felt being acknowledged. I thank them for giving me some motivation to continue with this blog.

Actually, life suddenly has changed gears in the last couple of months. Life is going at a pace like never before. It has been quite overwhelming for me and to some extent exhausting. I feel like taking a break from life and cut myself from it for at least a week. But since that seems like a distant dream right now, I tried to get some comfort in browsing through some of my travel pics. It also gave me the idea to write a post on my travel to Antalya in Turkey.

I happened to travel to Antalya in around mid of October, 2010. It was an interesting trip from a different perspective. Antalya is one of the biggest tourist places in Turkey. It has a rich history behind its name since it has seen many different kind of rulers. The Roman Empire, then the Byzantine Empire and then the Seljuk Turks, all have taken pride to rule Antalya. It is in fact a beautiful city along the Mediterranean cost of south Turkey. But as luck would have it, I was there to attend a 4 day business meeting and not for vacation.

I would have liked to visit this place for a holiday but accepting the facts of day long meetings at beach resorts was like teasing me to the core. It was like giving lolly to a kid and then asking him to just keep holding it in his hands. Anyways, I accepted the facts and tried to console myself that at least the meeting is scheduled in a nice city. My work place also complimented us by booking us a nice Resort for the stay. My work place has never ever booked such a fancy place of stay ever. Even I was a bit taken aback when I arrived there. Here are a couple of pics from the Resort. 

The morning view from the lobby with the sea in the background. Fancy, eh ?

Below is the view from the pool side to the balcony of my room. I was quite looking forward to use all the facilities at the hotel.

But that was a myth since in reality, all I used at the Resort was their Restaurant for the breakfast and dinner. The day meetings were so long that it used to get dark by the time we came back to the Resort.

I used to be left only with enough energy after the day, that I could have my dinner and pull myself to the balcony of my room and then enjoy these views and envy the people who came to this place for vacations.

So by the end of the trip, number of facilities used at the Resort - Zero. Number of times going to the beach - One. Amount of time spent at the beach - 2 mins. Days spent at the Resort - 4. It was really a tease.

Anyways, not giving up on my hopes, I tried to wrap up the meeting on the final day quite quickly and then tried to utilize that time for some sight seeing since our flight back to Germany was in the evening. I even managed to ask some Turkish colleagues from the meeting to come with us since they were also not locals but from Istanbul. We thought it would be handy to keep local people with us for guidance and sight seeing. It turned out otherwise.

So, after receiving high recommendations to visit the Manavgat Waterfalls from our local hosts, we decided to go there. It was around 70 kms from our Resort. Personally speaking, I was quite excited about the idea and was thinking something along the lines of Niagara Falls. It took some time for us to reach that place in our rental car driving through the country side. Finally, on arriving at the Falls, there was no limit to my disappointment. The reason can be easily chalked out by the picture of the Falls below.

I tried to calm myself by have the local chai at the Restaurant beside the Falls. The fresh cool breeze and the tea brew helped me get back to my senses and get excited for our next destination of the day.

Expecting our next destination to be more exciting than the waterfalls, we headed to a place called Aspendos. This was actually a local heritage site from the time of the Romans. Our local hosts advertised this place as a Roman Amphitheater built on a large scale perfectly preserved till date. I dont know why but again the combination of Roman and Amphitheater built a picture of Colosseum in my mind before even visiting that place. It actually turned out a bit smaller in proportion to my expectations.

But it was still not bad. It was impressive. A lot was truly intact but to some extent, not very well restored or maintained. Still the view from the top gave me a satisfying view and convinced me that it was worth coming here.

Below is the close up picture of the wall on the right side of the picture above. It always fascinated me how large the Roman Empire was over the years and then eventually fell apart. Later, these places taken over by Empires of different culture and religions but many of them still surviving the wrath of time.

As per the guide book we received at the entry gate, there were many other related sites of history around the Amphitheater. We decided to check it out but it turned out a big disappointment. There was not much to see to say the least. The picture below is of the stadium of those times. Now, a lot of imaginative effort had to be put to work to actually see stadium there.

The picture below is of the Basilica which was again a total ruin. There was no ceiling and even the walls were hardly standing.

My favorite of them all was the picture below of the Market Place as mentioned in the Tour Guide. Me and my colleague had a good laugh trying to figure out the real market scene incorporating the structures with the Roman time. Our imaginations went quite wild after some time so we decided to check out the last exhibit.

This last exhibit was a ruin of the famous aqueducts which the Romans were quite fond of building. I think that the aqueducts were quite and essential and remarkable feature of the Roman architecture. Not much was left of it but still one could make out a lot from the picture below.

After all the efforts and time put into visiting this place, it was worth to take home a souvenir from this place as in the picture below.

So, the trip was a success from the work point of view but a disaster from a sight seeing point of view. There are so many good places to see there but due to lack of time and bad judgement ended up missing them completely. But, there is always a next time. 

I was planning to skip this travel post on this blog since it was not one of the best ones but still it might remind me of my first visit to Antalya years later when I read this post again. Also, this post will serve as a reminder to me to fulfill the temptations left unsatisfied in a future visit. Antalya, I will come again. This time with my own money and time.

What is Love ?

 

History tells us that people around the world have done some incredible things for love.

Some became mad after the loss of their lovers like Majnu for Laila.

Some went as far as becoming a jogi (ascetic) like Ranjha for Heer.

Some had swum over the rivers like Chenab to meet their lovers like Sohni for Mahiwal.

Some walked across deserts in the thirst of meeting their lovers like Sassi for Punnu.

Some made monuments for their lovers like Shah Jahan for Mumtaz Mahal.

Some even took to other strange steps like England’s King Henry VIII to get rid of his second wife, Anne Boleyn by ordering her execution on charges of adultery and treason.


I think I have finally understood the meaning of love. I think I have finally found my true love - Mangoes. How else could anyone explain, me going to India tomorrow for vacations. At the time of year when people around the world flock to Europe to see its beauty, specially people from hot countries like India where the temperature blast over 40 degrees Celsius. And I am going home, to Delhi, to devour the king of fruits - Mango. 

It is the time of year when I usually plan my trips to explore the countryside of southern Europe. It is the time of year when people in central Europe particularly Germany, finally get the chance to enjoy the sun, when grill parties are organized every other weekend, when people are shimmering with joy on streets, when you finally see colors around walking on the streets, when everything seems alive. And I am going home, to Delhi to enjoy the 40 degrees of sunshine with regular power cuts. 

If that was not enough, I was even lucky enough to book flights on Air India. First time in the last 8 years, I am flying with the airlines which has been the golden feather in the cap of Indian misgovernance. And what better time to fly Air India when its pilots are on an indefinite strike for the last 8 days. The scene at the airport tomorrow would be überdramatisch as they say here and I am so looking forward to it.    


Home sweet home + Mangoes, here I come !

A quicky in Turkey

No, it is not about what is going on in your dirty mind. This post is about my short visit to Istanbul. Unfortunately, I was there not for leisure but for work. So, never got a chance to explore the city like I usually try to do. Therefore, I would definitely try to visit it again sometime. But for now, let me share some highlights from the time I got to see a little bit of the city.

Now, Turkey has always been considered as a bridge to connect the east and the west. Even today, the local people there talk about the European and the Asian side of Turkey/Istanbul. So, it has always been a place of great importance in history books. I have observed a particular fascination for Istanbul both among Europeans and Asians. There is a lot of history of Turkey related to India as well but let us not get there.

After spending the first four days, just hopping between meetings and returning late every evening back to the hotel, I was getting restless. After all, I was in the land of the Ottomans. After having read so much about their history, I wanted to see the place. So, on the last day, fortunately, work ended before lunch and I rushed to the main city to see whatever I could in that short time. I had my flight back to Germany late in the evening.  

Typically, the first place to visit in Istanbul is always Hagia Sofia. It is the biggest attraction of Istanbul. Maybe because of its history which dates back to the 5th Century. It was initially an Orthodox church basilica later it became a Catholic church cathedral, then it became a mosque and now serves as a museum for tourists. It is a typical example of Byzantine architecture with its huge dome and was used as a model of others mosques later build in the area. Unfortunately, due to the time restrictions, I was not able to visit it since there was a long queue outside the museum.

So, I decided to visit the place which was top on my list, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or the Blue Mosque (because of the blue tiles used). It had always fascinated me specially after seeing it in pictures and many movies. The view of the mosque from the Bosphorus is heavenly. If there is a movie shot in Istanbul, then I think there would be at least one shot of the mosque from the water. Another special feature for me was to see a mosque with six minarets instead of the usual four. Here is a picture while approaching the mosque

The monument is huge. And when I say huge, I really mean it. You feel it more once you enter the main door on the perimeter of the mosque.

And when you enter it through that main door, you just stand there in awe of the masterpiece. It is one of the most humongous monuments I have ever seen in my life. You can get an idea from the picture below.

I arrived there at the wrong time. It was time for the prayers so I could not enter the building. But, I was quite adamant to see it from the inside so I decided to come back again. In the meantime, I tried to check out the surroundings and the beautiful park build around the mosque. Below is a picture from the backside of the mosque.

I had always heard and read about people of faith performing the ozoo or Wudhu (in English) before performing the prayers. But, this was the first time to see that place in person. It was quite interesting for me to see so many taps and seats in a row in the picture below.

While waiting for the prayers to get over, I ended up at the Topkapi Palace Museum, the royal place of residence for the Ottomans. Here is a picture from its entrance facing the Blue Mosque. It has always fascinated me to see how in olden times they used to make buildings with such precision etc where the view from one door is to another fancy building.

Finally, I was back to the Blue Mosque after the prayers to witness its interiors. I can only say that I was blown over after seeing the place from the inside. It was really huge and beautiful. It is so big that it is almost impossible to get the complete thing in one picture. Here is a picture I took which I liked the most. People of faith praying inside one of the most beautiful holy places I have seen.

After the tourist attractions, I decided to see the real Istanbul i.e. the local area and the markets. I always believe that to get a real feel of a place, you have to visit its city center. So, I headed to the local markets. I used to think of Turkey very similar to India, culture wise, economic level wise, mentality wise etc. But after seeing a flashy tram running on its roads, I felt we need to catch up a bit technology wise.

A section of the main market had mostly small restaurants. Each restaurant had a guy standing on the walkway near the main street and screaming at the top of their lungs trying to lure tourists for a meal into their restaurants. Instantly, the view reminded me of Pahar Ganj side of New Delhi Railway Station :)

Below is a picture from the famous Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It is one of the oldest and the largest covered markets in the world. I found it very similar to the Paalika Bazaar (near Connaught Place) in Delhi. The difference was that this was many times larger and spacious than Paalika Bazaar. But, it was similarly packed with shops selling everything from textiles to electronics, many of which were not original. And it was pretty crowded, lively and had a big hustle-bustle going on during the day.
 

I also could not miss to see the Bosphorus Bridge (often called the Golden Gate of Turkey) on the Bosphorus Strait which connects Europe with Asia. So, I went to see it as well. I always considered it as a big landmark. Unfortunately, I don't have a nice picture from there :(

I definitely have to visit it again to do proper justice to the city  !

Lisbon - Day 4

I woke up with a heavy heart that day since it was my last day in Lisbon. I had my flight back to Germany in the evening. I woke up early to see the sunrise at the port. Then, came back to my hotel for my breakfast. I had planned to visit another corner of Lisbon that day called Parque das Nacoes. I took the Metro for the Oriente Station to reach there. I was quite impressed with the quality and frequency of the Metro. This was the first time that I was using it.

As you step out of the Metro to reach the upper levels at the Oriente Station, you are greeted with this graffiti like painted tiles on one of the walls of the Metro station as in the picture below. From here on, this part of Lisbon seems like totally dedicated to Vasco Da Gama. His name keeps flashing each and everywhere starting from this graffiti.

Now, this is another interesting part of Lisbon which presents a stark contrast to its old architecture seen in the main city. This is the place of modernization. One can almost not recognize being even close to the classical Lisbon. Everything is newly built with top notch sophistication. Huge and tall buildings, malls of several stories, open display of modern art and sculpture. It resembled like the Canary Wharf of London or like the Frankfurt of Germany if you want to catch the drift.

I started from one end of that place which was this tall tower in the shape of a sail. Near that tower was the Vasco da Gama Bridge. It is one of the longest bridges I have seen with my own eyes. It looked like, after starting it ends up into oblivion at the other end. 

As soon as you get out of the huge train station, you can't help but notice two tall building made in the shape of a ship sail. These unique buildings are also dedicated to Vasco. Both of them are named after the two ships of Vasco, Sao Gabriel and Sao Rafael.

Below you can see another piece of modern architecture with Vasco da Gama labeled on top of it.

The place also has Europe's biggest aquarium called Oceanario de Lisboa on display for visitors as one of its attractions. Some can even argue that it is one of the biggest in the world. So, I had to check it out. On that day there was a special exhibition on Tortoises and Turtles. One can see that they have kept the azulejos alive today but with a modern touch in the picture below. The wall in the background with fishes painted on their traditional glazed tiles.

I was quite taken aback after entering the place. It was out of this world. Seeing those water creatures at such small distances was a completely a new experience for me.

At the end of the real life tortoises section, there was a small exhibition on the same detailing their anatomy, their life etc. At one corner of that exhibition were some unique things based on tortoises on display. One of them is on the picture above. A rat sitting on top of the tortoise shell rowing it like a boat.

After that I went on to the main part of the aquarium which just blew me off. It was two floors high with display glasses all around. What surprised me the most was that there were even sharks swimming along with other fishes and none of them were bothered by each other. 

There was another small section of water animals and birds in another part of the building. I will let the pics do the talking now :)

Now this is called life ! See the picture above :) Just before I was about to leave, I saw one of the aquarium keepers on the inside cleaning the glass for the visitors. It was quite amusing to see him swimming with all those fishes and waving to the kids :)

From there I rushed back to my hotel to pick up my stuff and head to the airport for my flight back home. Sitting on the bus to the airport, checking out the pictures on my camera, recollecting the awesome experiences I had in the last days, I was happy and satisfied that traveling alone was actually not even a bad idea. I had already started to miss the place and already started looking forward to visit it again :)

Lisbon - Day 3

So, on the third day of the visit, I had a choice to make. There are three famous places to visit around Lisbon for a day trip. Since I was leaving back on the fourth day, I only had time for one such day trip. The choice was between Cascais - famous for its beaches, Sintra - famous for its history, Fatima - famous for its Marian shrine. I was in no mood for relaxation on this trip and wanted to explore Lisbon and places around it. Why to relax and not explore the city of explorers ? So I ditched Cascais, even though going there would have allowed me to see the westernmost point of mainland Europe. I thought of keeping that for the next trip since I will be coming back to this place again, for sure. Now the tough choice was between Sintra and Fatima. I am always pulled by sacred places of pilgrims and like to visit them. I believe that such places still have good vibrations in the air which can influence you and motivate you to be a better person. I tried to check with local people at the restaurant where I used to have my dinner if it is possible to do both Sintra and Fatima on the same day. The guy said that it is possible but did not recommended it. It was a good advice which I realized later. He asked me to visit Sintra. Taking the man's advice, I finally decided to visit Sintra for its nature and history. I asked for forgiveness in my heart for not making up to Fatima this time but promised myself of visiting it next time whenever I get a chance to be in Portugal.

Unfortunately, the day started a little late for me and I missed the train which I was supposed to take from Rossio train station to Sintra. I had to wait for about 40 minutes to catch the next one. So, by the time I reached Sintra, it was already quite late in the morning. I took a map from a Tourist center near the station and started walking to the first destination of the day, the Sintra National Palace. It is situated in the heart of the city and can be seen from quite a distance because of its two famous and gigantic conical chimneys. Here is a peep-in to the palace :)

The Palace is actually transformed into a Museum these days. A lot of things inside the Palace have been kept the way they were in the olden times. I decided to see the museum to have a glimpse of the royal life of Portuguese kings. While buying tickets for the Museum, I saw these souvenirs being sold there which caught my attention. They were the replicas of traditional glazed tiles called azulejos typical for Lisbon. I got a box for myself with one of them as its cover.  

Inside the Palace, many of the things used by the kings were on display and I particularly liked this one. How about this study table for my study room. Those hand crafted ivory boxes with a wooden frame on the front panel were making me feel jealous of the kings :)

The Palace has several amazing rooms and halls. One of the most decorated on is in the picture below. It is called Sala de Brasoes or Coat-of-Arms. This room has a dome like ceiling with pictures of Stags all around. The walls of the room are decorated with hand painted traditional glazed tiles or azulejos in blue. Each side of the wall has a story to tell through its beautiful tiles.

In addition to the above, there were several other rooms. One such room was called the Magpie Room because the ceiling of the room was painted with birds of the same name (Magpie). There was a story behind it that the king of that time was caught kissing a woman of the court by the queen. The king then ordered to put up a Magpie for every woman of the court to hush up the gossip.

The picture below is of the Chapel made by the king later in the Palace after taking it over from the Moors. On the ceiling one can make out their typical architecture and style. I liked such a spacious praying place for yourself to have that moment of solitude.

After the Palace tour and the big casserole of Lasagne at the local restaurant, I was ready for the second part of Sintra. I went to the local tourist information center to ask for local places to visit. The people there told me that there is a castle and a palace on the hills of Sintra. There were two ways of reaching there. One was with the local bus and the other was on foot through the woods on the hills.

Now, I am a person who is not a big fan of these buses when on trips specially those hop-in and hop-off ones. So, the nature person that I am decided to trek up the hill to see the places. Unfortunately, I underestimated the power of sun and the heat that day. It was quite hot still I decided to take the walk. Still, I think it was a good decision although it took some extra time. I was not disappointed since I had a great time walking.

After starting up the trail, I noticed there were not many nature lovers like me. I was almost the only guy going through those woods. I didn't mind it and continued on my way. After a few minutes on the trail, I saw a couple doing some hanky-panky stuff from a distance. I tried to alarm them by making some extra sounds with my feet. They noticed me coming so got back to normal. The woman was wearing heels which amused me a lot. I said to myself, that could be the best trekking gear, ever !! Incidentally, I kept bumping into them even later at many other places during the day. Most of the time we shared that awkward smile and used to go on our ways. But it was only the last time we saw each other, that we broke the ice and started talking. The guy was an American and the girl was his girlfriend. They were quite nice people I found talking to them.

The view below is of the National Palace from the middle of the trek on the way up to the Castle of the Moors. Actually, the Moors were the black North Africans and Arabs who conquered and ruled the Iberian peninsula (historically, majority of Portugal + Spain). They were later defeated and driven off by the Christian rulers. 

Finally, I made it to the top. The photo below is from one end of the Castle wall. It looked like a dragon tail to me. The wall had some post towers in between. At the end, I decided to climb up the top post of the castle. 

While climbing up the stairs to the top of the castle one can spot the famous Pena National Palace on top of a neighboring hill in the background as seen in the picture below. It was definitely not a short way to the top :)

The view below is of Lisbon from the top of the castle. The view as you can see was breathtaking and made up for all the efforts in reaching there. I met a lovely Dutch couple there who somehow recognized that I live in Europe and got curious to know about me. I had a good chat with them while resting after climbing all the way up.

From there, the next stop was the Pena National Palace. Regarded as one of the seven wonders of Portugal and one of the most visited places in Lisbon, this one was a shocker for me. I have seen and can identify many different architectures and styles in Europe but this Palace left me confused. It looked strange, something like I had never seen before. The reason was that it was not based on a single style of architecture. It was a mix of many different ones. It had shades of Manueline, Gothic, Renaissance and even Islamic styles. It was made this way on the orders of the king of that time by a German architect. Below is the entrance to the Palace.

The Palace is now transformed as a Museum for visitors so as usual I decided to check it out. As soon as one enters the big main gates of the Palace, one cannot help but notice this huge statue on top of one of the arched doors. It looked quite repulsive on the first glance.

On the back side, there was this beautifully decorated wall with the glazed tiles. The place around the window was also pretty impressive and what I particularly liked was the skylit ventilator below the window. I particularly liked its design.

After checking out the Palace, it was time to head back. It was time that I start my descent. Then, I got to know that the green area around it was actually the Queen's garden and she used to go there quite often. I decided to check it out on my way back. Here are some of the pictures through the garden. I took some shortcuts like in the picture below on the way.

At different levels of the hill, there were many flat areas which were specifically decorated with special plants, trees and small ponds like the one below. I was confused at first to see some distinct varieties of plants which for me did not seemed to belong to this place, like ferns and palms. Later did I learned that the king had ordered plants from around the world to be put up in this garden. Some were from as far as New Zealand !! If Shah Jahan could make Taj Mahal for his queen, at least the king here could get some fancy plants for his queen's garden. Anything for love :)

While passing through those lavish gardens, I spotted a resting area with a water fountain inside. I was quite surprised to see the structure. It was typical to the Islamic architecture. A dome at the top with something written on it in Arabic. Then the metal grill doors with the half moon on each of its spikes. I did not knew the history of the Moors before so was quite surprised to see such a structure in remote part of Lisbon. Maybe the king of that time was quite tolerant and kept this thing as it is which exists even now. I was pretty impressed.

Finally, after another long walk, I made it back to the base. Just at the end of the descent, I found a refreshing fountain of fresh and cool water. Many local people were coming in cars with plastic bottles to collect water for their homes from there. I decided to rest for a while and removed my shoes and socks. I had some water, splashed some on myself. It was really refreshing after the day's trek. Mind you, the temperature that day was around 30 degrees :) After collecting back my energy, I walked back to the train station for Lisbon through the small local market. Suddenly, I saw a granny giving me a motherly invitation for supper. And I couldn't say no to her :)