All posts filed under: Europe

Thanksgiving and what I’m thankful for!

Published by Anita

I’ve been meaning to write more, but right now life has turned a bit topsy turvy again. Plans have gone out of the window. But life kind of tends to be that way for me, I’ve noticed. So just because it’s Thanksgiving today, I decided to look back on the last 10 years and my travels and adventures. Just for fun. It was hard to choose of course, but here are a few highlights. I definitely have a lot to be thankful for!  2008 My first experience at self supported cycling through the state of Goa A glimpse of the working life of women in rural Kerala on a photography assignment A young kid along with his grandfather in a sunflower field in Karnataka 2009 More explorations of Kerala on a bike recce trip for Muddy Boots, which has now become a major player in adventure tourism 2010 More explorations of rural Karnataka – spent many happy hours on my trusty Trek cycle with wonderful friends 2011 A time to chill and a beautiful hike …

The magic of meal time

The magic of mealtime

Published by Anita

Growing up, I remember that my parents always made sure we ate at the table. Together. At least one meal and it was usually dinner. I didn’t really pay much importance to it till I grew up and moved on and out of home.  Now that I look back, I really appreciate that we all got together at the dining table every evening. It might not have been deep conversations all the time, but just the act of gathering at the table was something we followed pretty much every night. As was tradition, mom would cook, and the three of us would eat! I do remember trying to learn some culinary skills at a young age, more specifically baking, but for some reason my mom did always insist on taking charge of the kitchen and never really taught us how to cook. My sister, however, did go on to become a chef during the early phase of her grown up life, but that’s a whole different story.   As I moved on in life, I crossed …

Losing a passport and why travel insurance proved useless

Published by Anita

This post is all about “what happens when you lose a passport” and my personal experience with ICICI Lombard Travel Insurance. Yes. I did the “no 1” thing feared by most travellers. It features probably on the top of things NOT to do when on the road. Lose a passport; your most precious travel document. So how I lost it is not a very glamourous story. It has no masala or intrigue at all. I won’t get into the details. For the record, somewhere on the streets of Malaga (Spain), while on a sightseeing trip (on a cycle), I am quite sure the passport got lost (case of the open bag, carelessness of not closing it properly). But more importantly, what happens when you do happen to lose a passport? While it’s not something you hope will ever happen to you, there’s always a possibility. Having gone through this experience, here’s what I did and I hope will help anyone who lands up in this quandary. My second part details with travel insurance. In my …

A Malaga moment

Published by Anita

When I look back at my Europe trip, I have so many moments and sights that stand out. So many things to write about – just looking back is a bit daunting. But I’m trying to organise everything and share useful information in nuggets, along with tips and travel information. Hopefully, over the next few months I’ll get to share some of it. In the meanwhile, enjoy this lovely view of Malaga with me. It was a cloudy day to start with. My host was quite disappointed by the weather I was getting to witness (it’s never like this, she kept telling me). But I set off anyway on a bit of sightseeing. I borrowed her son’s cycle and decided to explore the city on two wheels. At the end of my gallivanting, the skies cleared quite a bit and I decided to climb to the Castle of Gibralfaro. Even though I wasn’t optimistic about the views that day, I started off. It was a good decision. As the evening set in, suddenly I got …

Walking around Aarschot, dreaming of noodles

Published by Anita

I spent a week in the town of Aarschot. If you’re wondering where that is, it’s very close to Leuven (a university town), around 50 from Brussels. It’s a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The town of Aarschot, with a population of 27,864 (in 2006) My home for a week was a caravan in the home of a farming couple and their two children. My caravan mate was a lovely girl from England and I was glad I had some company. I hadn’t really lived in a caravan before and this was a different experience for me. (But I’m saving that story for later). Aarschot turned out to be a much larger town than I initially thought so. I had an impression that it will be a smallish town the size of my locality in Bangalore. But it turned out that I was wrong. The town is actually quite large and has a nice big square with different restaurants around it. On …

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 …