International

Trip to Harrods

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It being a Sunday, the place was kinda full, but the fullness of it did not take away the splendour, grace, elegance & overall beauty of the place. There were beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, antique looking furniture was scattered everywhere and there were, of course, beautiful mannequins in windows. The décor of the place somewhat varied from section to section. The toys section was done in tones of cheer, with streams of holly adding to the gaiety, while the fragrance section was done up in subtle tones, so that the focus was totally on the brands displayed.

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Pyramids: sepulchres of the Pharaohs

Pyramids: sepulchres of the Pharaohs

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The sides of the Pyramids were originally clad with highly polished white limestone slabs and were topped by gold-plated capstones called pyramidions which picked up the first rays of the sun and these rays reflected off the cladding to make the entire pyramid glow with solar luminescence.

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Discovering Fried Eggs at Luray Caverns

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The caves resulted from the accumulation of layers of limestone over millions of years. The caves are confined to a 100 feet thick zone. Rain water trickles, dissolving the carbon dioxide to make a mildly acidic solution of carbonic acid (secondary school chemistry, people). The acidic water percolates through the limestone, eroding layers and carving out shapes in the cave. A precipitate of lime forms, making stalactites from the ceiling and stalagmites from the ground join together to form limestone pillars. It is like witnessing a chapter out of a Geography textbook right in front of you. This is an active cave and new deposits are formed @ one cubic inch in 120 years.

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Cairo, the city of a thousand minarets

Cairo, the city of a thousand minarets

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ghumakkar loves serendipitous moments, when one comes across something remarkable but totally unexpected. I had such an experience a few minutes after landing in Cairo. The drive to the hotel from the airport was rather uninteresting as the architecture was pretty drab, just row after boring row of grey, rectangular concrete blocks . All of a sudden, I saw a building which looked like a Hindu temple…

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Ghumakkar Insights – What is on your mind and what goes into your bag?

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But surely, there is one thing in common in all our expeditions. It is the seed of thought on our mind which grows and matures into a fully well planned and executed trip. A thought about where to go next is the seed I am talking about. While some of us get inspired by learning about places from friends, the new trend I see is the trend to explore the unexplored virgin places. Not bad at all, isnt it?

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Some evenings in Paris..

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..we walked through the Latin quarter region stumbling upon artistes making portraits and abstract arts in the middle of the streets..met a charming old lady with her souvenir shop who without even being asked proposed us a group photo..witnessed a wedding with the bride and groom posing for their wedding albums…

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Venice: City of Dreams

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The buzz of the place, sparkling water, numerous boats, quaint buildings – all combined to create an image like nothing we had seen before. Venice is enchanting, romantic and iconic, bustling with life yet crumbling and ghostly. Everywhere we looked, it seemed like we were inside a painting or a film set arranged around picturesque canals.

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London Dungeons & Stuffing Up

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…a half hour walk through the gruesome parts of the history of the city of London. The plague, Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd, The Fire of London etc’s scenes were created by the actors, and of course, the props….

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Touring the Arsenal

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The red and white doors, thru which so many legends of the football world would have passed thru’, was before us. Mr. Wenger, Thierry Henry, Nwanko Kanu, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jens Lehmann, Francesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, the list is endless.

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Inside the aircraft

Reaching London, Stay at Hornchurch

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I took a video of the landing on my iTouch, & I have got to admit – it was quite awesome. We cleared customs quite quick & decided to eat breakfast before proceeding to Mausi’s place (for the benefit of the newer reader – she is my mom’s Mausi’s and is henceforth referred to as everyone’s Mausi). We reached the lounge, & the first thing my mom did was to run in for a massage. I decided to take a quick shower before breakfast & so I strolled down to the not-so-little cylindrical shower rooms, in no rush whatsoever as I was quite content with life as it was and wanted to savour every moment of being in London. By the time I came out, my mom’s massage was done, & so we had some hash brown, toast, scrambled eggs, sausages & salamis together. Afterwards, I generally lounged around reading all the sports sections in every newspaper, before we left around 9:30 am GMT.

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