All posts filed under: Europe

Why cities shouldn’t have more than one airport

Published by Anita

I rush to the Vueling airlines desk at Brussels airport. Rather breathless. Trying on my best “distressed” look face. Actually, I don’t need to try. I am rather distressed. I have been looking forward to landing in Spain. And it seems the universe colluded. Against me. Earlier this morning, I wake up really early (like 5 am), trying not to disturb the three other sleeping occupants of my hostel room. Got ready in around 20 minutes and snuck out of the room. I double checked with the guy at the desk as to which station would be closest to the airport. The north, he said confidently. So I made my way to Brussels Nord station, towing my luggage along. At the counter I ask for a ticket to the airport. He gives me one and says I’d have to get down at the last stop and take a bus. “The train doesn’t go to the airport.” Sounds fine, I think. He points me to the train and the platform number. I run and make it …

Savouring the world, one dish a time!

Published by Anita

My first taste of Portuguese food was in Goa. The owners of the now restored 213 year old mansion Palácio do Deão, built by a Portuguese nobleman, had opened their doors to visitors for a taste of the traditional cuisine. I don’t remember the names of the dishes now but our hosts Rubem and Celia Vasco da Gama had gone to great lengths to lay out a memorable spread. I do remember the fish cooked to perfection. And the calamari flavored to bring any foodie to raptures. This old but restored Portuguese mansion made the ideal setting for a traditional meal I’m glad I captured some of these culinary delights on camera so when I sit back and think of the delicious food, I can supplement my memories with photographs. Of course, the images don’t do justice to the actual taste of the mouth-watering delicacies served, but they only increased my curiosity about the cuisine and food of Portugal. Goa was a Portuguese colony till as late as 1954 and the influences on the food …

I dreamt of the Bosphorus

Published by Anita

I remember receiving a postcard once. It was a long time ago. But it lives in my memory. It was from Turkey. A friend on holiday sent it to me. I pinned it up – it was a monument – the Sultan Ahmed Mosque I was to find out later. I would look at it once in a while. I didn’t really give it much attention and vaguely remember thinking to myself that it would be an interesting place to visit. And then shelved it in the back of the travel “wishlist”. And then, a few years later, a friend who was visiting Turkey happened to upload and share pictures of the food, performances and sights from the country and that piqued my curiosity a little more. The food definitely looked delicious, the sights were varied and interesting, the traditions deep-rooted in history. While reading some literature about Turkey, I came across the whirling dervishes. Nary a mention goes of Turkey without a reference to the dervishes – performers in white and black robes who …