http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/charuavi/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from charuavi en-us Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:01:51 +0000 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:01:51 +0000 Before our Greek cruise we had never read or heard about lsquoSea Diamondrsquos sinking in the Santorini caldera.Every day we read the English newspaper watch TV news and generally keep ourselves informed about happenings around the globe. So I still do not know how we could have missed this news or maybe we just forgot it because it did not hold any significance for us that time.So when t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-409631.html Every Aegean island is beautiful but I believe Santorini is the most scenic of them all.All the Aegean islands are prone to earthquakes and related volcanic activity but Santorini is especially so because it is at the center of South Aegean Volcanic Arc.The Santorini volcano erupts periodically here I am speaking in geologic terms and lsquoperiodicallyrsquo means millions of years. and chan http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Santorini/blog-409628.html We had lsquocompulsory readingrsquo of John Keatsrsquo poem lsquoIsabellarsquo a.k.a lsquoA Pot of Basilrsquo in college.When young girls and boys go to the college in India generally speaking they are facing coeducation for the first time because before that they have been strictly segregated. Perhaps they start having romantic thoughts about the opposite sex.Our college author http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/Knossos/blog-409305.html There is nothing much common between me and one of the lsquoSeven Wonders of the ancient worldrsquo namely the Colossus of Rhodes a statue which was 107 feet tall made with bronze framework supported by masonry inside and covered by brass plate which stood on the Island of Rhodes. It possibly served as a lighthouse.However there IS one thing common between us weak knees. When an earthqu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Rhodes/blog-408749.html Patmos has been continuously inhabited for at least 2000 years since lsquoThe Book of Revelationsrsquo was written on this island by John the Apostle or his pupil.We had booked the evening shoreexcursion to Patmos because that day we had given a miss to the morning excursion to Ephesus. We had already visited Ephesus on our Turkish tour. It is so fabulous that I do not think a short 2hour vi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-408664.html The Aegean Sea is dotted with hundreds of islands of which some are uninhabited. Some of the islands were important cultural centers in the past but are deserted now but for tourists who visit it during the daytime. Delos is one such island to which Mykonos played the second fiddle in the past. Just 2 Kms separate the two islands.Mykonos was never the cultural center in the past but it is now http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-408421.html What can you write about a city that has been written about by thousands of people for thousands of yearsGreece has been called lsquothe cradle of Western Civilizationrsquo and Athens was axis on which this cradle moved back and forth.If Sparta was the brawn of Greece the Athens was the brain. The flowering of Philosophy Science Arts Literature even sports that took place in Athens bore http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-408297.html In the lsquobrave days of the oldrsquo the Greek hero Odysseus sailed the Mediterranean for ten years trying to reach his home Ithaca. For ten years before that he was fighting at Troy.What do people like us do in these lsquocoward days of newrsquo if they want to sail the Mediterranean and do not have 10 years to spare They take a 4nightsfivedays Aegean cruise. Being cowards they http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-408287.html I pursuaded Avi to write about his Moscow Days in 1972. Here it is in his own wordsThe scene is set in late 1972. I was in seventh heaven. Not just because the airplane was at a height of 33000 ft. but all my dreams had come true. I was among the select group to be trained abroad and I was actually heading for Moscow. I was also th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Centre/blog-402873.html Last Day 11 May 2009In the last 45 days I had visited the Red Square a number of times but somehow had not yet stepped inside the GUM. On our last day n Moscow we decided to visit the GUM and also the old haunts of Avi namely Detskii Mir and the Bolshoi Theater.lsquoDetskii Mirrsquo was to Russian children what the lsquoToys R Usrsquo to American kids. It is always a source of wonde http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Centre/blog-402851.html Kremlin 10 May 2009For the past 34 days I had been viewing the Kremlin from the outside. Its sight of its red walls and greenred towers and the yellow lofty buildings with golden domes which peeped from behind the walls had whetted my curiosity and desire to visit this center of Administrative Power as well as the Temporal Power. The lsquoRough Guidersquo calls it the historic and spi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Centre/blog-402509.html Victory Day 9 May 2009Every year Russians celebrate the Victory Day commemorating their victory over the Nazis. They won the victory at a very great cost. 27 Million Russians had lost their lives in the war.Russia parades her military strength in the Red Square on Victory Day. Select troops from her army navy and aircraft goosestep to the tune of military band and the latest ICBMs and fast pl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Centre/blog-402479.html Kolomenskoye 8 May 2009The previous day I had just glimpsed those fabulous cathedrals on The St. Barbara road. Today I had planned to walk along the road to see them more clearly and also visit the GUM.Like the previous day I had expected that the barricades would be opened by 1130 AM. After all the major roads were already washed as a buildup towards the lsquoVictory Dayrsquo celebra http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Centre/blog-402293.html Bolshoi Ballet and Pushkin Museum 7 May 2009Somewhere somehow I had come across a comment about the lsquoThree penny Operarsquo that it shows the viewers one pennyworth of music one pennyworth of dance and one pennyworth of CorruptionBlack MarketExploitation. What is true of the Opera is also true about the Ballet and this time I myself unwittingly played a minor role in the lsquot http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Centre/blog-402201.html Red Square and the St. Basilrsquos Cathedral 6 May 2009We have just returned from Moscow with love brimming up in my heart for this beautiful city. Avi too underwent a change of heart by the Moscowrsquos beauty though 37 years back he had declared it as the most gloomy drab city ever. The reason being that this time we visited it in the summer whereas he had spent a miserable 3 months o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Centre/blog-402139.html AfterwordldquoSo what did you do in Japanrdquo asked my brother when I informed him that we were back from Japan.ldquoOh lots.rdquo I answered breezily.ldquoDid you drink any Sakerdquo he asked.ldquoNo.rdquo I admitted.ldquoDid you eat any sushirdquo he obviously was in a mood to tease me.ldquoNope.rdquo I had to resort to slang here.ldquoDid you see any sumo wrest http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-383245.html Sensoji Temple TokyoMy notes for 2nd March Take flight back to Mumbai. Will have to buy a separate ticket to Narita airport because JR pass is over.Go lsquounreservedrsquo to save 16601660 Yen because it is lsquopointtopointrsquo.Korean Air operates from Terminal 1 North Wing.Taking the train unreserved seat to Narita is cheaper than airport http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-383241.html Odaiba TokyoMy notes for 1 March 2009 consist of the following 1 Take the subway to Asakusa.2 Visit Sensoji Temple shop for kimonos.3 Take a rivercruise on Sumida River to Hama Rikyu a landscaped garden and then walk to Shiodome.4 Take Yurikamome monorail to Odaiba a futuristic entertainment and shopping district on a manmade island in the Tokyo Bay http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-382981.html Mount Fuji My notes for 28 Feb 2009 Optional Fuji Five Lakes TourVisit ldquoFuji five lakes areardquo i.e. Kawaguchiko and Saiko from Tokyo by taking a bus ride. Ride the ropeway to Mount Tenjo for views of Fuji.Mount Fuji is one of the three Sacred Mountains of Japan and is reverentially referred to as http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-382968.html Departmental Stores Mitsukoshi and Daimaru TokyoFor 27th Feb. my notes consist of the following line Visit Kamakura Might see Fuji if you are lucky i.e. depending upon clear weather.The weather was beastly that day. When we left our hotel that day it was already snowing. The onesquaremillimeter snowf http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-382681.html