St Mark's Basilica Historic city of Venice is described by many as Queen of the Ardiatic, City os Islands, City of masks, Floating city, City of bridges and City of canals ... and when you visit Venice everything seems right! For me it looked like a unique city with so many bridges across those islands! It seems there are more than a hundred islands separated by more than hundred canals and they are connected by around 400 bridges! With the unique cityscapes, art and cultural heritage tourism is a major part of livelihood for venetians. The tour of Venice was fun though everything I saw was touristy! Venice is considered to be a living museum and IMO it is also a tourist trap! Read more »

River Arno and the city of Florence Capital city of Tuscany now, popular those days as "Athens of Middle Ages" Florence or Firenze or Florentine is one fascinating city! The birthplace of renaissance, Florence has few world famous museums and IMO the Piazza della Signoria itself is an open air museum! The full-size replica of Michelangelo's David in its original position attracts the visitors most. The river Arno passes through Florence and flows into Tyrrhenian sea. Read more »

Our guide started our day with- Today we are going to a place where thousands of tourists go everyday to make sure the tower is still leaning! Yes, to Leaning tower of Pisa! Ture! It is still leaning! It is a freestanding bell tower behind cathedral in Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) which started leaning durning its construction itself due to the soft ground on one side. It tilted more during the 196 years of its construction until it was stabilized and then the tilt was corrected to some extent during later centuries! Its initial world popular tilt was more than 5 degrees it seems now it is corrected up to little less than 4 degrees. It has around 300 steps to reach the top floor from where one could get a sweeping views of the surroundings. The Piazza del Duomo or popularly nick named as Piazza dei Miracoli, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. The square includes the cathedral, a baptistry, the bell tower and the cathedral. The three structures whiter than white thos...

Massive structure with gothic facade, walls depicting the stories from testaments, decoration by glittering mosaics and massive bronze doors, is the Duomo di Orvieto, construction which continued for three centuries! The cathedral dedicated to Assumption of Mary was designed by many master designers over the centuries changing it from Romanesque to Gothic structure. The gothic facade of the duomo is one of the masterpieces of the time while the side walls are very plain with no art work. Well, after a hectic a day at Rome I visited this peaceful place of cathedral and cutlery! Do you believe the Comune di Orvieto is located on a hill top and that hill actually is an ancient volcano? And the cathedral stands right atop a volcanic plug? Amazing facts huh? I took the funicolare for the first time here to reach the hilltop! Funicolare is a short electrically run cable railway or cliff railway! Two tram like vehicles on rails are connected to a cable which move up and down the steep slo...

As I said in the earlier post on Rome- it is an eternal city! There is so much to see and know. The guide provided by the package tour was quite good enough to open as many windows to the city of Rome in that short time, I mean a day and a half, that includes Vatican City too. Well, I do not have some glamourous night shots of this fancy city! I visited during the bright day light though I have seen the city in the night with some monuments decorated with lights, well from a moving bus! Read more »

Roman Colosseum The capital city of Italy today and the capital city of Roman empire then ... Rome was considered an empire without end! It is one of the largest cities then known to the world. With the package tour schedule and anxiety I did scratch a bit of the surface of the destination- Rome! I was amazed to see that ancient city buried underground, partly exposed and another part waiting to be excavated! The still standing monuments are the symbols of wealth and power of Imperial Rome! Read more »

Gallery of Maps- Vatican Museum In the previous post I had mentioned about grandeur of the St Peter's Basilica . Next to the basilica is the Museum. Well, I remember saying "my neck hurts" many times! You know why? Ceilings are more grand and artistic than whatever is displayed on the walls and statues! The paintings, the gilding work, the frames and so on ... just breathtaking ... Read more »

St Peter's Basilica Vatican City Vatican City is one interesting place. There are many things we do not know about this place with the architectural wonders of the world! Did you know Vatican City is the smallest country in the world and ruled by the Bishop of Rome?! I was surprised to know that the postage stamp of Italy is invalid here in this church complex! And its post box is painted Yellow! This independent state comprises of St Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum. This article is all about the awe inspiring grandeur of the Basilica! Read more »

Feasting on art in Vatican City I had been to Italy some time ago and never got a chance to write about the trip at all! The lingering taste of the place, art and food never seems to fade away! Thought of putting together all my dearest memories of Italy for you in pictures. I will post about each place in detail soon. I was tired of backpacking and thought of taking a first class package tour for 11 days to cover most of the popular places in Italia. The tour was good for an introduction to Italy! Read more »

One of the very few shrines dedicated to Hindu God Sun, Modhera temple is one of the masterpieces of medieval architecture in Gujarat, India. The brilliant architecture, exquisite carving on sandstone just two hours away from the busy-crazy Ahmedabad! Though plundered by enemies and earthquakes the temple has much to offer even in its dilapidated state! One of the magnificent specimens of Indian medieval architecture! Read more »

Nadakalasi twin temples are fine examples of non-ornate Hoysala temple architecture. Located near the Sagar-Sorab road these temples attract very few and genuinely interested visitors only. That could be because they are remote, away from the public transport and there are no autorikshaws. I happened to visit these when I visited Jog Falls in the month of August this year. Read more »

Here is the continuation of my trip to ancient temples around Jog Falls. Earlier I had posted about the Keladi Nayakas and Keladi Rameshwara temple . Keladi was the first capital of Keladi Kingdom and later it was shifted to Ikkeri by the subsequent ruler. It remained as the capital for around 120 years. And so here is another beautiful temple dedicated to Aghoreshwara (Lord Shiva). Read more »

During the month of August after few storms I visited Jog Falls one of the highest plunge waterfalls in India. Many who visit these waterfalls are mostly unaware of the historical and architectural treasures around. There are many functioning temples dating back to 16th century which are now protected monuments. These temples of immense architectural beauty in the not-much-happening villages silently tell the stories of grand bygone era. During my recent trip to Jog Falls I visited three of these many temples- Keladi, Ikkeri and Nadkalsi . Read more »