Why I'd Never Wish To Return To Museums!

Museums are a good reminder of the past that tell us of how we have evolved, where have we come to, and why: as to begin afresh, and begin a new place from what we can learn and carry from the old, for the creation of the new. There may be something that holds in seeing the well- known places and things with your own eyes, and carry forward the inspiration from them.

There I was in the Paris city, a city that holds million stories, told through its people, its culture, its vibrancy, its monuments, its art and architecture, and its rich heritage. In the midst of this beautiful city stands one of the epitomes of history, heritage, culture and art, the Musée du Louvre, or the Museum of Louvre as it is popularly known worldwide. On the banks of the river Seine, straight down from the Champs-Élysées, stands this grand structure of The Louvre, which houses history of thousands of years in its artefacts, paintings, architecture, sculptures, antiques and archives. 

The Lourve museum holds a long history, which is as known to have been built not for the museum per se, but as a fortress for King Philip II back in 12th century. After years of sculpting around its building it was opened as a museum in 1793. Coming to talk about it in the present day, the museum has millions of visitors each year, one of the most visited museums across the world, housing Leonardo Da Caprio's most widely known painting "The Mona Lisa".

A visit to this huge museum, unfolds many pages of art and history as one starts from one corner lurking into the years that have been spent in the cultural treasures which recite stories to the all the visitors of the times that have long gone by. Paris in this way is by far one of the most attractive cities that I have been to which holds humongous amount of charm and romanticism, right in its wind. Through the rich colours, the differences in the styles of art, the diversity in cultures, you are sure to enjoy the Musée du Louvre as you glimpse lives and times of people who have created artistic wonders. 

Having traveled for quite some years now, I have been to number of museums and often end up thinking as to what I have been doing there and there is this feeling that drowns in me that have I been dragged into this place forcefully. Not doubting the information that these museums hold, but they definitely do not  fit my travel quotient. More often when I am asked about my visits to these information storehouses, I render myself speechless rather than imposing my views of disliking my visit to them.

It takes me efforts to walk through the halls of the museums in queues admiring art one after the other. It’s one of the things I despise and if possible, I shall avoid all museums ever. I m aggrieved by the thought as to how much admiration one can hold and keep looking at it. I would not disagree and I do understand that there are people who love art and spend days looking at one object or paining but I just cannot.

I’m quite an impatient person and there is no way I can hold myself looking at a painting more than 5 seconds. Once I have seen it, I have seen it. So what I have found is that there are people who either love museums or hate them. And with the above walk down, I guess you can hold of the view to which category I belong to? I just can’t bring myself to walk slowly around for hours while admiring art.

- Hardik

My Takeaways From The Ruins And Remains Of Rome!

The ruins, remnants and the remains, which are piles of brick structures around the place, which is ought to have began life as a glorious mausoleum, constructed by the great Augustus to hold his remains and the remains of his family for the generations to come, for lifetime. It must have been difficult for the Emperor to have imagined at the time that Rome would ever be anything but a mighty Augustus- worshipping empire. 

How could Augustus have possibly forseen the collapse of the realities and the realm of the vastness of the empire? Or known that, with all the aqueducts depleted down and crushed by the barbarians and with the strong infra structures left in ruin, the old city would be long empty of its people and civilisation which it was once proud of which would take millions of years to rebuilt and reconstruct in the same profound manner ?

What we all need to glorify in our lives is that happiness is merely the consequences and effects of our personal views which we ourselves need to be accounted for. What one does is that one can fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking out for it.

And there I looked at the Augusteum, and there were several thoughts gushing through me. It came to me that life ain't that chaotic, after all. It may be the pursuit of our perceptions, about ourselves and about others, which brings forth the ideas and notions about the things that surround us. This particular place warned me to never get attached to any obsolete idea about who I am, what I represent, whom I belong to, or what function I may once have intended to serve. We transport our minds to some other time or place or world, where it can be safe and insulated from the pain of day-to-day life.

This very place made me to hold the opinion that one must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation. It is like sometimes that one gets so attached to the past ‘who one was’ and wants to keep it as a living edifice of one's so called glorified existence. Existence is today, now or never. Our past glories must not make us. Times are never equanimous, one is not what one was or what one could have been, what one is today, is what one is.

Then I looked around this place for one last time, at the chaos it has endured - the way it has been adapted, burned, pillaged and found a way to build itself back up again. And I was reassured, maybe life isn't so chaotic, it's just the world that is, and the real trap is getting attached to any of it. Probably, the ruins may be a gift to keep for lifetime, ruins may be the treasure that one can keep within oneself, ruin may be the roads to the journeys that lay ahead of the much awaited transformations.

It kind of feels like a precious wound, one would not let go off because it hurts too good. We all want things to stay the same, settle for living in misery because we are afraid of change, of things crumbling to ruins. Our distraction needs to be planned and moderated in bite-sized chunks. We can’t binge on distraction.

- Hardik

I Love Bratislava - Here's To Why?

The great affair is to move. It was time and there came my first solo venture at one of the most lively places in Europe. Bratislava it was, the capital of Slovakia. And to begin with my conscious traveling, being honest as I must admit, this was the first time I had heard the name of this city and I was amazed by the people over there, crazy I must say.

Being the centre spot of Europe, holding unique history, attractive sights, rich cultural life, excellent local gastronomy, quality wine and modern shopping centres make Bratislava an ideal city- break destination.

I took flight from London to Bratislava, which was around 2 hours flight, and I reached there by late evening. Here, what I had heard of this city held true that one minute when I was enjoying the view of the majestic Cathedral, the next moment I was enjoying the cuisines, which was then followed by a freshly brewed espresso in one of numerous cafés in picturesque  narrow streets and squares. The ancient  wine cells, scattered across the city centre, offer wine tasting definitely with a difference.

I had put my bags in the room and just ran out to the roads like a crazy wanderer. I so wanted to shout like a crazy ass, "Yay, dude I'm in Europe". 

After sometime, I straight away went to explore the night life of this place. Till then, I had no clue about Bratislava, it was just a part of my itinerary. I went around hoping cafes, sipping beer and meeting people, I encountered some Irish Guys, some Polish and a few more and had really amazing conversations with them. This is the best part of travelling solo, one gets to meet people of different places and holding various viewpoints and experiences. I partied whole night and when I returned to my room it was already 5 in the morning. I still did not want to sleep. I wanted to explore more, but my body had to take some rest for the upcoming fun.

The following day started with an awesome breakfast in the city center, I walked the city wandering around, looking for places, food and the ice creams. Here one can not resist with just a single scoop of ice cream. Even though I could not explore much of the city as I was so engrossed in the city centre, the main attraction here is the Bratislava Castle. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians directly above the Danube river in the middle of Bratislava. Because of its size and location, it has been a dominant feature of the city for centuries. 

The location provides excellent views of Bratislava, Austria and, in clear weather, parts of Hungary. Many legends are connected with the history of the castle. 

Another touristic place is the gateway to the Old Town Bratislava, The Old Town Hall. The Old Town Hall is located in the heart of the city center, between the Main Square and the Primates square. It is next to the Jesuit Church and near the Greek and Japanese embassies. It is easily recognizable by its colorful tiled roof. The building was used as a town hall from the 15th century through the late 19th century. At times during that period, however, it also served other purposes, including housing a prison and mint, and being place of trade and celebrations. It was also used as the city's arsenal depository and municipal archive. Today it hosts the Bratislava City Museum, displaying exhibitions of Pressburg's history. Exhibited items include torture instruments, the old town dungeons, antique weapons and armour, paintings and miniatures. 

My curiosity of finding new adventures brought me to the One cart arena for go karting. Go Karting was so much fun, even though I stood 4th out of 8 guys, still the experience had been worth penning down.

Tripadvisor had suggested me to take the wine tours in the city centre. Then, I got to know about an old wine shop which offers wine for tasting. The guy took me two floors in the basement, they had renovated the old jails used during the medieval time and it looked really artistic. I had never developed liking for wine till now, but this place totally changed my taste for wine. He offered me 5-6 different types of European Wines, and that totally changed my views for wine. 

If one is a beer person, Bratislava has so much to offer. Cheap beer is available everywhere and one often feels like sipping beer and hopping around cafes in the city. Here, I also tried a 90% alcohol shot which was seriously crazy.

Being in a party destination in Europe, one can not miss the strip clubs. Bratislava had so many strip clubs and one can try them for their pending share of fun of this city, it’s worth an experience. 

The following day, I got to know about the free walking tour of the city. It is quite common to take the free walking tours in different cities of Europe, though it's not allowed in Italy as they do not believe in anything for free. Starting with the tour, there was this girl who was guiding the group of around 50 people from all parts of the world, taking all across the old town to the new town explaining the history of the Slovakia and showing all the touristic spots in the city of Bratislava. A tip of 10 Euros is considered good as this is something to appreciate their effort of guiding so many people.

No wonder Bratislava feels like  so much of energy, with a frenetic mix of old and urban, classic and contemporary.

- Hardik

The Isle Of Skye - The Land Of Fairies!

Listen to the silence; be still and let your soul catch up.

Isle of Skye, Scotland - where do I begin my this tale from ?  It’s the northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides that is easily accessible from the mainland. 

It did catch my attention at first because of its name, a place with such a rhythmic name must be beautiful and serene, ain't it ? I wanted to be around a place which would be more peaceful, less of city noises, more of nature, hiking trails and experiences. It gave me lots of amazing scenery, winds, picturesque natural treasures, and this made me to delve deeper into love with the nature as to there is no other place as beautiful as Isle of Skye. It has lots of tiny villages with never ending pastures.

When one comes to think of Scotland, all the nature's landscapes come to the memory be it the rugged mountains, or the fauna and flora of the region which bring forth the views of colourful mosses, lochs, the weather that has lot to offer without giving much of indications, being highly unpredictable, amongst a host of other things. Thinking about finding all of these at one place, and coming to a conclusion, one would land up at Isle Of Skye.

The landscapes throughout this place are the most scenic ones I have ever come across. Traveling to this marvel offered me amazing scenes of waterfalls on the route, sea cliffs alongside, and dramatic landscapes that mountains formed. I was so impressed going through the Highlands, to this place called Isle of Skye which provided me incredible photography opportunities one after the other with amazingly raw and breathtaking views. 

Since photography is one of my favourite things on the plate, mountain landscapes is the best cuisine that can be served from the host of things on the menu. Every single individual who has been to this place, must have fallen in love several times along the route while going around Isle of Skye. Lots of myths and legends revolve around this place with giants and fairy tales, also a number of ancient castles can still be found standing here. One is often under the illusions of being transported into a fantasy land.

Landscapes here are really impressive offering different patterns in the sky with frequent changes. The view, the light, the colours are ever changing. It is a joy to visit this place and one can keep snapping for next few days.

I can probably keep going on ranting about my trip to this amazing place 'Isle of Skye' for days, because it surely is one of those kinds, that has come to stay with me forever. This post might never do justice to this amazing place that stored in me the plethora of memories to take away. It is an insanely amazing place where words would fall short of doing justice to describing the experience I have had at this quiet, peaceful, and serene place. 

On what an amazing luck I have been to have spent time in this wonderful part of the world! I'd love to visit this place some other day again.

If my readers want to go by my advice ? For once in a lifetime, do get to Skye!

Venice (Italy) - The City of Recurring Dreams!

"You may have Universe if I may have Italy." 

Venice has been that dream I would never want to wake up from.

Every corner I turned, I walked deeper into some real life water-color painting that a camera can never do justice. It's like no place else I've ever been to.

Built over the waters of the Adriatic Sea, this city is a dream like, with its expressive architecture, artistic palaces, history that stretches back by more than 1,000 years and, of course, it is (quite literally) a maze of canals and small streets, whimsical bridges, and colourful buildings. And as with all mazes, one should prepare to find oneself lost maybe at a time or two.

Venice is definitely on the itineraries of most first-time visitors to Italy, and it is ofcourse a beloved destination for the return visitors for its picturesque beauty. 

Piazza San Marco, also known as the Saint Mark's Square, is by far the largest square in Venice. Being the widest swath of flat, open land in a waterborne city, Piazza San Marco has long been an important meeting place for the citizens of Venice and the design showcase for Venice's aristocracy. It is most impressive from its sea approach, a legacy from the centuries that Venice was a powerful maritime republic.

The most central and famous of these is Piazza San Marco known as the geographic heart of Venice. The sestieri of Castello, Cannaregio, San Polo, Santa Croce and Dorsoduro also make up this mass of central Venice, all of which can be explored on foot.

Piazza San Marco has famously been called "the drawing room of Europe," a quote attributed to Napoleon. The square is named after the unusual and stunning Basilica San Marco that sits on the east end of the square. The slender Campanile di San Marco, the basilica's bell tower, is one of the square's most recognizable landmarks.

The Doge's Palace, that had been built during the 1,000-year reign of the Republic of Venice, its headquarters – and the residence of its leader, the Doge – were at the Doge's Palace, which is now a main landmark in the city, as a museum. The treasures inside Saint Mark's Basilica include glistening Byzantine mosaics and paintings by leading Venetian artists.

The Saint Mark's Basilica, is spectacularly ocatagonal, and is one of the most photographed churches to be known in Venice. The Baroque church, built in the 17th century sits on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro neighbourhood and can be seen from the entrance to Piazza San Marco. Dramatic steps leading to the entrance are made of white Istrian stone and more than 100 figures adorn the church's buttresses. The interiors are heavy, are spell bound, and awe-inspiring which are known to contain several Titians. Also, it is known that for the festival held on November 21 every year, a temporary bridge is laid across the Grand Canal and Venetians walk across it to the church.

This city that most people know is the tight cluster of islands around the Grand Canal, the iconic waterway plied by gondolas, water taxis and canal boats. One of the attractions that make it different from most of the best cities is that it is connected by hundreds of footbridges, the areas are divided into sestieri, or quarters. One can say that this city, Venice, is composed of more than 100 islands in the Venetian Lagoon, protected from the open sea by the barrier island of Lido and the Cavallino peninsula.

Whether one is seeing Venice for the first time or the nth time, there is no dearth of attractions and curiosities in this exquisite and surreal city. Gandola rides in Venice are quite romantic and it is quintessential Venice. Ah, the gondolas of Venice, are more of an iconic symbol of this romantic city than the boats that takes its visitors through its many canals. An experience to take away from Venice would be a gondola ride through the city's network of narrow waterways, which is also a fantastic way to explore the city's famous bridges and buildings from an entirely different perspective.

I briefly mentioned this earlier but want to elaborate a bit more-- one would get lost in Venice. It is inevitable that you will not just get turned around once but most likely 'n' number of times. There is very little--if any--method to escape the madness of their streets and alleyways.

Venice is an amazing maze of tiny streets, which is primarily connected by the foot-bridges. ​Wandering around these narrow streets and alleys, is a wonderful way to spend time in the city. 

This city has more than 150 canals ranging from the Grand Canal, the city's main thoroughfare, to tiny canals that are barely accessible tthrough small boats. The canals are lined with old houses, often decked with flowers. Wandering along the streets by the canals is a pleasurable past-time. One is likely to get lost but that's part of the charm of Venice.

One of the many beautiful sights to takeaways would be by finding a bridge on a quiet canal and watching the gondolas glide under it or heading to the Grand Canal and watching the many boats that ply the waters of Venice. It is known that there are more than 400 bridges cross the many canals.

The best tip I can give through my experience is to try and keep a sense of what direction one is moving. Eventually one shall get somewhere, because it is really not that big. And in the tourist heavy areas they often have the signs and boards with arrows pointing to "Rialto Bridge" or other big landmarks.

I had an international data plan-- so I had Google maps with me the whole time I was there and could not avoid losing my way several times. So if one is thinking like "Oh, I have data-- and I'll be fine", one must think again & be ready to get oneself lost in the madness of the streets that this city offers, for Tiziano once said that getting lost is the only place worth going to.

I would also like to give a shout-out to my favourite food stop for Alfredo's white sauce pasta. When one plans to visit this place, I would request to please make sure to stop in for me-- and honestly one would not be surprised to not go wrong with any pasta/ sauce combo that one can choose. Also, here I would highly recommend the Creamy Broccoli Alfredo Sauce with the Fettuccini noodles.

Venice has been, so by far, one of my favourite stops in Italy! It is such a magical, romantic place with so much to experience, do and see.

"Venice astonishes more than it pleases at first sight." 

As the world goes, this city is the eye's beloved. After it, everything is a letdown. I am incapable of writing about this city, Venice, a city that is full of amazement; I could only write about me and my experiences, and the sleeping parts of myself that Venice has shocked into wakefulness.

- Hardik