Every time I travel to a new place, the spirit of adventure and discovery heightens my energy level. I was awake by 6:30 am and shoved everyone in the car by 7 am. Montreal is so close to Albany; take less than 3 hours to get there, yet we never took the initiative to visit. But this year, I was determined to go there as I was craving for Europe and this was the next best thing. We reached Montreal at 10 am and the GPS directed us straight to the Biodome, where we parked in the assigned parking lot and [View Full Entry]

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Toronto has always been a favorite city of mine. I was visiting the city for the 3rd time. The modern downtown with the high rise condos never failed to amaze me and this time there were few more added to the pile. We left Thursday evening at 5 pm and by 11 pm, we were driving past the familiar university dr, Gerrard st and Yonge st towards Bay st. where Lavanya (Rajesh’s sister) stayed in another high rise apartment with a gorgeous view of downtown Toronto. On Friday we went to Scarborough which is primarily a Srilankan neighborhood to eat lunch [View Full Entry]

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Day 6: Tuesday Today was Obama’s inauguration day as the 44th president of the United States and the streets were full of tourists and locals wearing T-shirts with Obama slogans. By the time we were ready and out, the inauguration was over in Washington DC because of the 5 hour time difference. If we were in NY, watching the ceremony would have been a priority. But we were not at all drawn to the moment in history, as our mind was filled with the beauty of Hawaii. This was the last day of our vacation. We drove over to the North [View Full Entry]

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Day 5: Monday Hanauma bay was recommended to us as the best place to do snorkeling and also to see a large variety of marine life. So that was the first on our agenda for the day. This time, I was determined to snorkel as we were nearing the end of our vacation. We took Kalanianaole highway, another scenic route, and entered Hanauma bay, parked our car and learnt that they limited the number of visitors into the bay each day to protect the fragile marine life. The view of the bay from top was superb. Niki and I couldn’t wait [View Full Entry]

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Day 4: Sunday A local friend that we made during our customary night walks on Waikiki beach recommended us to try out breakfast at Sarento’s, top of the Waikiki Ilikai beach hotel and he gave us free invitations for Sunday breakfast that was otherwise not available, as the restaurant is open normally only for dinner. The ride up in the glass elevator to this restaurant was an event in itself, and the romantic view from there, of the Diamond Head crater, Waikiki beach and Honolulu’s skyline was a treat in itself. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, pastries [View Full Entry]

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Day 3: Saturday Rajesh had spotted a Hawaiian breakfast place called Perry Smorgy’s and he wanted to check it out for breakfast. So we went there and they served a breakfast buffet, set amidst Hawaiian surroundings with tropical plants, fish ponds etc. The ambience was superb and so was breakfast. We needed more beach time to whet our oceanic appetite and so we headed out to Kamehameha highway again, but this time towards the opposite side to spend some more time in a couple of the deserted beaches. The Kamehameha Highway was named for King Kamehameha the Great, who conquered and [View Full Entry]

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Day 2: Friday Slept well and woke up refreshed and very hungry. So we headed out to Denny’s for a big breakfast of omelettes, toast and hash browns and fresh pineapple juice. With a full stomach, we set out to do our first adventure for the day - A drive to the North shore to see sharks, hump back whales and dolphins in the deep blue Pacific Ocean. I love the Pacific more than the Atlantic. ABC stores are located every 100 yards in Waikiki, selling everything from water to Hawaiian clothes. We stocked up on some water, snacks and wine [View Full Entry]

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Day 1: Thursday Just when I felt the sight of another snow flake would make me scream and another icy winter storm would make me curse, we were all set to go on our much anticipated vacation to Hawaii for a week of sun n’ sand. Hooray!!! Our flight was from Newark and we reached Honolulu, Oahu on Thursday morning. We took our rental car and headed out to our hotel - Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, right across the street from Waikiki beach. Rajesh felt Honolulu reminded him of Singapore - the streets, the walkways, the sights and sounds. When we reached [View Full Entry]

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We left Albany around 6 am, driving over to Newport, Rhode Island. The drive took about 3.5 hours including a breakfast stop in one of the rest areas. As we neared the Atlantic Ocean, the views were spectacular. We reached Newport and parked our car in the Long Wharf area and roamed around the historic downtown for a while. It’s a quaint little town with lots of inns and pubs, very historic, reminding us of the Gilded Age, about which the entire place is all about. Then we took the trolley tour of Ocean Drive. This is a 10 mile drive [View Full Entry]

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Spanish girl was going to Vaduz, the capital of Liechenstein. I wished I could elope with her. But instead went with Rajesh to Zurich HB. The TGV from Zurich to Paris left at 7:02 am and dropped us in Paris Est station 4.5 hours later. It was a speed train and we traveled first class. I could feel the speed only when another train zoomed by the window within seconds at the speed of lightening. As we neared Paris, I saw the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre again, but felt no joy. We had to take the train to Gare du Nord [View Full Entry]

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