Edinburgh- the capital city of Scotland is one of the most picturesque cities in Europe. Skyline here is full of medieval buildings and the city gets a unusual unique look because of the hills formed by the ancient volcano in the middle of the city and the castles, the important buildings and the monuments built on them. Taking a stroll on the streets lined with medieval buildings was like Time Travel :) I visited most of the attractions, but most of them are either museums, war memorials and castles. Read more »

Ruins of Temple of Jupiter and Mt Vesuvius in the backdrop 9KM from the busy city of Naples stands high is the Mt Vesuvius volcano! The most popular to have buried the Roman city of Pompeii in AD 79. It seems it spewed 1.5 milion tons of volcanish ash and molten rock per second releasing unthinkable amount of thermal energy killing 16,000 people! Well, even now it is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcano looking at the busy city Naples in the shadow it. Read more »

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 »

Well, I had mentioned about Anasazi Civilization earlier with little info I have about these ancient people. But, then there is much more they left for us to dig deep as far back in history as we can possibly go! I visited Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado and was awestruck by the well preserved cliff dwellings. Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado is one place where these ancient dwellings are best preserved. The park is designated as a World Heritage Site because of its archaeological relevance. Read more »

Tall stately trees, mist mixed with sunshine, fern covered cliffs, slow moving streams, cool air are enough to tell about Redwood National and State Parks . Home for tallest and oldest trees on earth, this place also protects 40-miles of coastline and other wildlife. Located in the northern California the park is a wonderland of Ents :) Read more »