International

Canberra (Australia) Trip

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Next day was horrible, muggy and cold, suddenly temperature went down below 20C (below 5C at night). So no outdoors and we went to Australian Parliament and to Australia War Memorial which were nice places to visit and are free for public. It is great to see the history of parliament in Australia, how well it was recorded and shown to the public. On the contrary in India, it is so hard to enter the parliament and then how poorly the history is shown, goes on the show what our politicians are. You can see the chronicles of Australian politics, telling one about the constitution in the beginning and how it evolved to include the Aborigines later on. It is fascinating to see that government did apologize to the aborigines. I don’t think in India we have ever apologized to the outcast people of our society.

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Alluring Amsterdam – Part 4

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Day 4 – our last day in the alluring city had to be spent well and the time had to be best utilized. So, we put on our thinking cap and chalked out a plan. We wanted to close the trip with something nice and different as an experience. So, we chose the Heineken Experience !!

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Memorable trip to Virginia Beach

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Roads were descent rather better compared to Myrtle Beach. At some point I was sleepy but pretended to him as if I am wide awake and hooked to every detail. Clear skies, scenic beauty, greenery on every side delighted me . Finally we arrived in our destination , a moment of exhilaration for me. Virginia Beach is a resort city with miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, and restaurants along its oceanfront. It is also home to several state parks, several long-protected beach areas, three military bases, a number of large corporations, two universities, Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment, and numerous historic sites.

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рдмреИрдВрдл

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рднрд╛рд░рддрд╡рд░реНрд╖ рдореЗрдВ рд╣рд┐рдорд╛рд▓рдп рдкрд░реНрд╡рдд рд╡рд┐рд╢рд╛рд▓ рд╣реИ рдЗрд╕реА рддрд░рд╣ рд╕реЗ рдиреЛрд░реНрде рдЕрдореЗрд░рд┐рдХрд╛ рдореЗрдВ рд░реЛрдХреА рдкрд░реНрд╡рдд рд╣реИ. рдЕрдореЗрд░рд┐рдХрд╛ рдФрд░ рдХреИрдиреЗрдбрд╛ рдПрдХ рд╣реА рдХреЙрдВрдЯрд┐рдиреЗрдВрдЯ рдиреЛрд░реНрде рдЕрдореЗрд░рд┐рдХрд╛ рдореЗрдВ рд╣реИ. рдЬреЗрд╕реЗ рдЕрдкрдирд╛ рднрд╛рд░рддрд╡рд░реНрд╖ рдПрд╢рд┐рдпрд╛ рдореЗрдВ рд╣реИ. рд╣рдо рд╕рднреА рдЬрд╛рдирддреЗ рд╣реИрдВ рдорд╛рдЙрдиреНрдЯ рдПрд╡реЗрд░реЗрд╕реНрдЯ рд╕рдм рд╕реЗ рдКрдБрдЪрд╛ рд╣реИ, рдЙрд╕реА рддрд░рд╣ рд╕рдм рд╕реЗ рдЬреНрдпрд╛рджрд╛ рд▓реЛрдЧ рд╣рд┐рдорд╛рд▓рдп рдкрд░реНрд╡рдд рдпрд╛ рдЙрд╕рдХреА рддрд▓рд╣рдЯреА рдореЗрдВ рдирд┐рд╡рд╛рд╕ рдХрд░рддреЗ рд╣реИрдВ. рдЖрдЬ рдореИрдВ рдЖрдкрдХреЛ рд░реЛрдХреА рдкрд░реНрд╡рдд рдХреЗ рдПрдХ рдЯреВрд░рд┐рд╕реНрдЯ рдкреНрд▓реЗрд╕ рдкрд░ рд▓реЗ рдХреЗ рдЪрд▓рддрд╛ рд╣реВрдБ. рдЗрд╕ рдЬрдЧрд╣ рдХрд╛ рдирд╛рдо рдмреИрдВрдл рд╣реИ рдФрд░ рдпрд╣ рдХреИрдиреЗрдбрд╛ рдХреЗ рдЕрд▓рдмрд░реНрдЯрд╛ рдкреНрд░рд╛рдиреНрдд рдореЗрдВ рд╣реИ. рдпрд╣рд╛рдБ рдкрд╣реБрдБрдЪрдиреЗ рдХреЗ рд▓рд┐рдП рд╡реЕрдирдХреВрд╡рд░, рдХреИрд▓рдЧрд░реА рдпрд╛ рдПрдбрдордВрдЯрди рдПрдпрд░рдкреЛрд░реНрдЯ рдХрд╛ рдкреНрд░рдпреЛрдЧ рдХрд░ рд╕рдХрддреЗ рд╣реИрдВ. рдирд┐рдХрдЯрдо рд╣рд╡рд╛рдИ рдЕрдбреНрдбрд╛ рдХреИрд▓рдЧрд░реА рд╣реИ. рддрдм рдореИрдВ рдПрдбрдордВрдЯрди рдореЗрдВ рд░рд╣рддрд╛ рдерд╛ рдЗрд╕рд▓рд┐рдП рдореИрдВ рдпрд╣ рдпрд╛рддреНрд░рд╛ рдПрдбрдордВрдЯрди рд╕реЗ рд╢реБрд░реВ рдХрд░реВрдВрдЧрд╛.

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The Al Wabah crater

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I went in a private taxi, to see a natural geographic formation that is located near my place of work in Al Muwayh. This place is called the Al Wabah (Maqla Tamia in Arabic). It is a volcanic crater located on the western edge of the Hafer Kishb basaltic plateau that contains many volcanic cones.

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The Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque

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While driving along the airport highway, a massive, magnificent, multi-domed edifice springs up, seemingly out of nowhere from the stark desert environs . We are on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and gazing in wondrous disbelief at what is arguably the most beautiful building this side of the Arabian Sea, the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayyan Grand Mosque. It is purportedly the third largest mosque in the world, after the great mosques at Makkah and Madina.

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Everest Base Camp & Kalapatthar Expedition

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Many mountains like Thamsekru, Ama Dablam now accompanying is for next 4 -5 days. After lunch again itтАЩs a tough climb till Tengobche. Huffing and puffing are part of life but have only one aim to reach EBC. As we reach Tengobche snowfall starts, kindly note at this height there would always be snowfall no rainfall. Tengboche have a world highest Buddhism monastery in the world. Good palce it was. Now feel some mild headache means altitude plays there game from here.

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Alluring Amsterdam – Part 3

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Since the weather wasn’t too favorable for cycling, we decided to opt for the guided tour. A 6 hour round trip with a visit to the cheese and clog factory plus walk tour in the fishing village of Amsterdam – cant get any better, can it?

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A Whiff of Paris

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We skipped the conventional and recommended тАЬLidoтАЭ show and тАЬThe Moulin RougeтАЭ on our trip to Paris. These were highly recommended night shows, presented aesthetically and were a huge crowd puller at Paris. We had to skip the energetic and spirited adventure bus. Our priority was to keep the young ones engaged, interested, while keeping our expectation about their energy levels strongly grounded. So we did take the hop in hop off bus to tour the grand city (Sacre Coeur, Champs Elysees etc) but planned on a 3 days stay at Disney World Paris.

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Madrid – Amsterdam in bonus !

Madrid – Amsterdam in bonus !

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The tram brought me back to Centrum and I still had about 1 hour to wander so I walked towards the Dam area, which is a famous touristic spot, with lot of fun, museums, shops etc. There was Madame Tussaud wax museum also, but before the wax museum of London, it is quite small,…but still there was long que before it.

I entered the shop and saw one dark niece of Cleopetra silently deep frying the Pakoras, which are stuffed in Falafel. I asked her to make one for me by stuffing with some onions and other things. She quite rudely told me that she will give the falafel and I have to fill the garnish myself. In Lebanon, the Falfel is wrapped in a thin roti, like mexican tortillas. But she took a bread like “рдмрдВрдж” cut it from half and put the pakoras inside and handed it over to me for filling it with other things. I put the garnishes inside and tried it. The taste was no where like Lebanese falafel, but it was sufficient for a poor veg animal like me. Seeing my face, she asked If I did not like it. I told her that it was ok, but not like the one I ate in Beirut.

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Madrid – tour of the city !–(part 2)

Madrid – tour of the city !–(part 2)

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Crossing one side of the garden and after walking for about 2 Kms, we came out of one side of the garden and found ourselves before another famous landmark of Madrid – La puerta da Alcala…. on in desi style the India Gate of Madrid.

The Alcala Gate is a National Monument and it was designed by famous Italian architect Fransesco Sabatini in 1764. It took 9 years to complete this 19 meter high granite monument. This was a real gate to enter the city of Madrid and was erected to welcome King Charles-III into the city of Madrid.

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MADRID — Bienvenido a Espa├▒a !!

MADRID — Bienvenido a Espa├▒a !!

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Hailing from southern Spain’s outcast populations, flamenco dance and music drew early influences from Greek and Roman and later from Indian, Moorish, and Jewish cultures. With the arrival of the Moorish and Jewish populations to the Iberian peninsula centuries ago, Andalusia’s already thriving music and dance inadvertently began extracting characteristics from the newly-arrived populations. The flamenco dance and music that we see today are the dazzling results of centuries of absorbing and flawlessly sewing together elements of this myriad of diverse cultures.

So due to some Indian connection and to watch beautiful girls, in place of fighting bulls or human animals, I opted for flamenco in a famous hotel nearby and was soon drowned into the dance. See a small clip of flamenco dance on youtube to know about this beautiful art :

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