No hablo Espanol

I've tried to write about the places I've visited in the past couple of years but in my laziness and also taking into consideration all that has happened in the past few months I skipped my week in Spain over Thanksgiving. I hope I can still remember enough to write about it...but I will write what I can.

The trip started in Barcelona where within an hour of getting there I struggled with not understanding any Spanish. Funnily enough the first person to speak to me in Barcelona spoke to me in Hindi. Us desis get everywhere!! Seeing me lost at the taxi stand (he was the guy who directed people to taxis not some random desi looking to dupe me) with my address printed on google maps, he directed me to a taxi. The taxi driver gave a ridiculously high quote (well a lot higher than my friend who lived in BCN had told me it would be) but at that time of night who was I to complain? So there I was in the taxi with the taxi driver asking me to enter the street name into his GPS and talking away in Spanish. I DONT UNDERSTAND I said but he kept going on and on. After about 20 mins in the taxi and him not finding the street on the GPS I finally remembered - global roaming! Yay for AT&T that my phone worked! And that $5 or whatever that I paid to call my friend - every cent was worth it! Apparently the map had the wrong address - in another town outside Barcelona!! Phew! close call.

Thankfully that was the only time that I really had trouble but that was because I was with a friend who spoke fluent Spanish. Note to self: Next time spend some money and get a phrasebook along with that Lonely Planet! Got to the apartment that my friend rented and waited for the arrival of my two favourite cousins. And then went out to the latest dinner I've had in my life - at midnight! Couldnt believe that there were restaurants open! Tapas!! Yay! I love Tapas and I really had my fill (though having pledged to be vegetarian for a couple of months meant a lot of potatoes!).

The next day started with a walk around Barcelona - down La Rambla and up to the waterfront. Saw some amazing architecture, heard great street bands and ate awesome food. What more could I really have asked for. Not to mention a man dressed like Edward Scissorhands that scared the hell out of me! The night was reserved for a taste of the famed Barcelona night life. Which I have to say started well into the night and ended early morning (that too on my insistence!). Apparently there are clubs that will even stay up till 7am - but 4 was about ALL I could pull off. The next day was a tour of the city to see the whimsical fantasies of Antoni Gaudi. I dont think I have ever seen a park such as the Parc Guell or a church such as the Sagrada Familia. The park felt like something out of a fairytale and I cant imagine what the man who designed it must have been like in real life. Everyone has an imagination but to transform that into reality is something else! As for the Sagrada Familia it truly is the most unique church I have ever seen. I do wonder what it will look like when it is finished but at the same time wonder IF it will ever be finished - having been in construction for well over a 100 years. Perhaps the scaffolding adds to the charm of the place?



More time was spent just exploring the streets and the food of Barcelona and it truly is a beautiful city. However, the city that really surprised me was the next one - Sevilla. The European cities I had visited before (Paris, Rome, Madrid, Istanbul, Barcelona, London) have been big touristy ones and well I always knew what to expect. With Sevilla I didn't. And it truly felt like I was transported back in time. Particularly the part of the town our hotel was in. Narrow cobblestoned streets, quaint restaurants and laidback smiling locals - it truly personified my romanticized version of Europe. We hardly did anything in Sevilla apart from visiting a couple of famous structures (the Alcazar and the cathedral) which were beautiful in themselves. But it was just walking around the city, sitting in cafes which I really loved. That to me is a true holiday. Experiencing it like it truly should be. And I don't think I'll ever forget those two days in Sevilla.



Or my week in Spain for that matter. Here's to my second visit there...and I hope there will be more to come!

Lovely Lovely Halong Bay

I can't stop thinking of this place...it was so incredible. So just to relive the memories - some pictures - during the afternoon, night and early morning






*sigh*

unfortunately my photos dont do justice...

I left with great looking feet and a happy tummy - Kuala Lumpur

Following a trip to Vietnam was my two day stopover in Kuala Lumpur where I had two lovely hosts - a friend from New Zealand and his total sweetheart wife. My trip started with a slight glitch - with a delayed flight - but everything was smooth from there - owe that completely to my hosts!

The first morning I was told that I was going to be taken to a fish spa - what's that you say? So apparently many years ago in some country (I forget where now) someone discovered (I would really like to know how this discovery was made!) that there were certain species of fish that feed on dead skin. So the concept of this spa is you put in your feet and legs (knee down) into a tank of water and the fish will come and eat at your dead skin. Yes I know - scary thought. But then - must try everything once right (that concept should have been thrown out of the window after the Turkish Bath experience!). So I started with the tank with the small fish - I tried not to look down first but when I did I was freaked out - more than a dozen little fish on my feet nibbling!! My friend then went to another tank which had fish up to the size of my palm - there was no way I would try that - apparently women aren't allowed to put their feet in that one more than a minute or two because of sensitive skin. On being dared I put it in for 5 or 10 seconds but no more! Went straight back to my small fish - and sat there for the rest of the half hour without looking down. It wasn't too bad then - just felt like my feet were tingling and vibrating. I have to say the feet did feel really nice after!

Following this very umm interesting experience we went to a local eatery (apparently called kopi shops) and followed up with some shopping. I managed to stick to my resolution of not buying more than one or two pieces anywhere - I had even taken a very small bag on my trip to force that. It was hard but I did it - so proud of myself! Walked around town - saw the Petronas which are more standout in person than any photo I've seen. On to Chinatown for some more walking around and shopping. Oh and another food massage - foot reflexology apparently! I really did come out of KL with my feet in their best shape! Then an indian place for food - where you're served on banana leaves! I definitely ate more than my fair share!!

The next day we went to a place about an hour outside town where there are temples built into caves. So another thing I left KL with is some good Karma - does visiting temples give you good Karma btw? The temples were beautiful and very different from any I had seen. And right outside the caves was this HUGE HUGE statue of Lord Kumaraswamy. Also on the agenda was a tour into a dark cave - which is just that - a dark cave. But it was an interesting experience - for a little while we were told to turn off our flash lights and not make any sound just to experience what the creatures inside do. And wow I never knew such darkness existed.

My last evening was spent relaxing - and eating. And thus ended my short but memorable trip of KL. Again all thanks to my two wonderful hosts!

Yet another country, yet another story - Vietnam

-- I wrote this a few days ago but couldn’t connect then to upload here, and then forgot about it till now --

As I sit here at Hanoi airport waiting for my delayed flight reflecting on the past week the song that plays on my mp3 player is so fitting - 'Yaaron'. Yaaron dosti badi haseen hai, yeh na ho to kya phir bolo zindagi hai. Truly what would life be without friendship. The past few days have been so much fun - great friends, great food and a great new country. What more could you want in a holiday? Except a few more days to stay and savour it. If only…

The trip started in Ho Chi Minh - quite an interesting city but probably not my favourite place in the world. The traffic, the noise, the craziness was possibly a little much for me. It might also be because I sometimes am in denial of the sadness and the pain that the world often sees through war and Ho Chi Minh reminded me of that. The war remnants museum while likely biased towards the Vietnamese was very powerful. The photos of people dying, a lifesize model of a jail cell, a guillotine that was used on thousands - the very idea that these were real people - it shook me. The museum was great no doubt but I'm not sure I could take more than a certain amount of time in there - we walked into the museum a chatty bunch posing in front of the tanks and being silly - but walked out quiet and completely overwhelmed. The day after brought on more reminders of war with a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels which were used by Vietnamese guerillas during the war and also by children and women to hide. We were shown traps and mechanisms used to kill people - all by a tour guide with the weirdest sense of humour (a guide who called himself Stifler - as in American Pie). Walking just 30m in the tunnels made me so claustrophobic - how must people have spent days in them? War causes so much suffering - why does it keep happening then? The most ironic part of the tour was that after two hours of seeing this and being reminded of how bad war is we were taken to a shooting range and told we could now use AK47s, machine guns etc. WTF?

Anyway, enough about the war. On a brighter note, Ho Chi Minh - and well all of Vietnam - had some of the most delicious food I've ever had. It felt like we created our itinerary around all the food we wanted to eat!! Oh not to mention a fantastic massage - that's my one must do every time I visit asia - even one in a great salon is so cheap!

On to Hanoi - a much nicer and slightly less busy city - though still busy and crowded enough to make me pray for my life every time I crossed the road. We spent our days in Vietnam just walking around and exploring the city. Really quaint architecture - where all the houses have really narrow fronts but are deep and tall (between 3 and 5 floors). I was explained the significance of this on my way to the airport - apparently the french started a property tax where they determined the tax to be paid based on how much of the street a house took up and thus the people started building houses which only took up 4.3 - 5m of the street by were deep and tall! While the tax doesn’t exist anymore culturally people have become used to this style of buildings. Even the countryside had houses which had tons of land yet the front was less than 5m! I loved walking around Hanoi - where our hotel was close to a beautiful lake and a great shopping area. Across the lake was a temple that had an amazing atmosphere of peace - really strange in such a bustling city. We just sat around the temple for nearly an hour taking it all in - especially after the craziness of Ho Chi Minh. Next to the temple was a theatre which all the guides told us we must visit - for the ancient art form of water puppetry. Hmmm…perhaps it is really amazing but well it isn't something I would say is a must see (sorry lonely planet!). Maybe I'm just not cultural enough!

The next day was by far the best day of our trip - Halong Bay. Truly the highlight of Vietnam and the one place I really want to come back - and perhaps I will one day with the husband (if and when there is one). After a long slow ride to Halong city we were taken on a little motor boat towards Halong Bay which seemed crowded with many so-called Junks all the time with me praying that the junk I had picked looked good since the girls had won against the guys on getting a luxury one. As we approached - not bad I thought. The rooms were nice - well it was my first time on an overnight cruise so it's hard for me to compare and it had 2 beautiful decks. Lunch in an hour we were told - and what a lunch it was. They said with these boats - well Junks - you get what you paid for - and apparently we had paid for a 7 course meal of without doubt the freshest seafood I have ever had. I am usually not a big fan of seafood - save some types of fish and prawns. I'm usually wary of crabs etc - thus was skeptical when a whole crab shell et al was put on my plate. But well, I would only be here once (well hopefully not) and got on with struggling with my crab - providing some great entertainment for the rest. As for the prawns - oh man! - if I could eat those for the rest of my life I'd be a happy girl. Following lunch we got on another small boat and were taken to some limestone caves. While I have seen many of those before nothing compared to this one - it was HUGE and absolutely magnificent. The strange thing however was the stall of food and drink right outside the cave. Oh and I forgot to mention the little rowboats all around the bay trying to sell the people on the boat junk food and BEER! Though I'm not sure how they would have got it up to us - maybe I should have bought something just to satisfy that curiosity. We then got into some kayaks - this time just the six of us on 3 kayaks plus on kayak to guide us (and make sure we came back alive I suppose). After half an hour on the kayak something hit me - I am actually here Kayaking in the famous Halong Bay as opposed to Mission Bay back home like every other time I've been in a Kayak. It was beautiful and it was a completely surreal experience. Back to the boat for yet another 7 course meal and then we went up to the deck - being a bit loud we had the top deck pretty much to ourselves and we just lay there looking at the sky which was filled with more stars than I've ever seen in my life. The next morning I got up to see the sunrise which unfortunately happened behind some islands but still the sight was again amazing - so calm so beautiful - I don’t know how many pictures I ended up clicking. After spending the rest of the morning on the boat - including another fabulous meal - we were put on our way back to Hanoi.

In Hanoi first on the agenda was to pick up a dress that I had ordered 2 days before - something I saw on the window but obviously with the size vietnamese women are - it was something I had to have remade in my size. I was scared as I hadn't had the opportunity to try it on but as soon as it went on - oh my God. Its definitely now my most beautiful dress - but unfortunately I will have to wait a while to wear it since it needs a fairly special occasion - but I think it'll be worth the wait!! After some more shopping and walking around the city and eating (of course!) - it was time to return. Which I did with a very heavy heart and a longing to spend more time - and see the Sapa Valley - or Hoi An - or the Perfume Pagoda. There are definitely more reasons to return. The one thing I would say to anyone going to vietnam is with limited time it might pay off to only go to Northern Vietnam - Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An etc.

Anyway that's my account of Vietnam. And here I am at the airport waiting to fly to KL. Just been told that the flight will leave 4 and a half hours late! *Sigh*

More Istanbul...

More of the magical City


The Hagia Sophia


The Blue Mosque


Bridge separating Europe and Asia...and that beautiful water I couldn't get over


There's that mix of amazing architecture against the backdrop of water that I so fell in love with

Europe to Asia all in a day - Istanbul

What a gorgeous city! I wish I could have stayed longer. I even momentarily considered moving there - when I saw some of the most beautiful houses I've ever seen in my life - only to realize that even if I did I'd never be able to afford them. Unless I find me a rich hubby...hmmm...lol :)

But seriously, there was something about Istanbul. There are two things I love on holiday - to be in or near water, and to see a part of history. And here there was both. The Hagia Sophia and the blue mosque had amazing art and architecture. And oh the history! A building that has been around for centuries or millenniums even..to stand in there and read about everything the building has gone through right from the 4th century. To think about everyone who has probably stood on the same spot that you are!

My highlight of the trip however was the Basilica Cistern (photo here). Entirely underground, with water and beautifully lit. There was a peaceful yet eerie feeling all at once. Definitely one of the most memorable buildings I've seen in my life.

And then there was the water. Blue. Clear. Pristine. I must have been a fish (or a mermaid perhaps! ;) ) in a previous life the way i get excited every time I see water. We caught a ferry that took us in the Bosphorus channel that separates the European and the Asian sides of Istanbul (which I thought was pretty cool in itself) - and it was during this that I saw those houses overlooking the channel...*sigh*. See it is something to do with the water. I'm sure that mermaid theory is true!

And the two guilty pleasures of Istanbul - the food and the jewelery! The amount we ate in two days was probably what I eat in a week. And the jewelery - if only I had the money, I'd have bought it all!! If I start talking any more about them, I will start craving both...so I'll stop now :)

City on Steroids - Shanghai

I had seen a lot of pictures of Shanghai (and Mission Impossible 3) before and I guess I knew it was a big city with buildings everywhere. But nothing could have prepared me for Shanghai. Looking down from the tallest observation deck in the city as far out as the smog will allow you, all you can see are really tall buildings. I mean of course, that in itself is not new - but considering just 10 or 15 years ago, so much of this didn't exist, the city completely stuns you. In the past few months at business school, I've heard India and China talked about in the same breath (albeit everyone does mention that China is ahead as of now) - but I still expected China to be more or less like India. But the infrastructure in China just blew me away. Nothing in India (in any of the cities I have been) can compete.

But then, my perspective on that is that to build a whole city in a communist country is not the same as even building a single structure in a democracy. And well, while Shanghai is amazing, and it would be a dream to achieve something like that in cities in India, I wouldn't give up democracy and freedom for anything. Even if because of it India does take time to play catch up. But this discussion for another day. For now, back to Shanghai.

Our first night in Shanghai was spent on Nanjing road, which is basically a street made of neon lights. The lights are completely blinding! My first meal in Shanghai was interesting to say the least. I ordered a dish called 'Chicken with Capsicum' and when I did, the waitress said 'you want chicken with peppers'? Of course, I said yes assuming that like it would be here, peppers = capsicum. Apparently the translation got lost somewhere, and whoever had written the english menu assumed capsicum means chillies and I received a dish which was 50% red chillies!

Most of my time in Shanghai was spent walking around the streets, shopping, seeing more big buildings (including the interestingly shaped but not-so-appealing-to-me TV tower). I also found out that they were in the process of building the tallest tower in the world - but before they could finish it, the Taipei 101 was built, which will soon be surpassed by the new structure coming up in Dubai - making the one in Shanghai the 3rd tallest.

Some of the interesting things I saw: Old couples practicing ball room dancing in the park; a lot of people practicing martial arts or traditional forms of dance in the park; people stopping you every five minutes on the road asking if you want to buy a rolex or a prada bag (one of these women actually followed a guy in our group around for a long time trying to convince him to get something, anything!). Oh and I rode on the Maglev train - 431 km/h!! But just didnt seem like that big a deal while you are sitting on it. Though it was cool to get to the airport in 7 minutes!

Shanghai was just a brilliant city - buildings, food, shopping, nightlife, people. I was so so impressed. Hats off!

What an amazing trip!

Back from my trip and my promised travel log has still not happened. But what a trip it was - Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul - each city amazing in its own right. Shanghai for its crazy neon lights and huge buildings. Seoul for its people and food. Beijing for all the history. Every moment was more memorable than the other. But I would say my highlight of the trip was seeing the Great Wall of China. What an appropriate name! It really is breathtaking. Every time I go to a site that is known the world over I realize that the world wasn't joking. The Eiffel Tower brought out a strange sort of romance from within me (completely unexplained). The Tajmahal practically brought tears to my eyes (to think a husband could love to wife to that extent, and to remember that he spent the last years of his life in imprisonment just staring at the Taj). The Great Wall just left me breathless (and not just because I was too unfit to climb!). What a structure - to think it was built all those years ago - and here the world is competing to build the tallest structure. I don't anything will ever compare. That's a little something about my trip for now. More coming up. Hopefully!

A depressing experience

Just returned from a great holiday (speaking of which, I swear I will NEVER complain about the traffic in Auckland EVER again after visiting london, hyderabad and bangkok). The whole experience was fantastic except for the last day. I went to a place that I will never forget.

In bangkok there is a place called the elephant park (or zoo..or something). I assumed that it'd be a wildlife park where I'd see wild animals roaming about. Or at the very least a zoo like the one in Auckland. The first thing that I saw there depressed me to no end. I love tigers. I've always thought that they're the most majestic creatures on the planet, and the walls of my room are plastered with pictures of tigers. So what do I see as soon as I walk in? Too huge, fully grown, absolutely beautiful tigers chained to the ground with chains less than a foot long. And for 100Bahts you could get a picture taken with them. So there they were. People holding up the tigers tail and smiling for the photo, stripping them away of all their dignity. I really had tears in my eyes.

Walking through the park, things didn’t get any better. We saw elephants chained that people paid 10Bahts to feed. And the way the elephants were going for the food, it was obvious they had been starved just so they would perform tricks for people who were giving them food. The next part of the park were elephant rides. And though I was apprehensive to take part in it, I went along. It started off fine, till I saw that the guy who was making the elephant move had an iron nail in his hand. Which he used to poke the elephant with everytime it seemed like it would stop. As if my day couldn’t get worse. I couldn’t wait to get off that elephant and through the rest of the ride I really had to stop myself from crying everytime the guy poked the elephant.

And now I feel so guilty, because I was a part of that. If people like me didn’t go wanting to see that crap, they wouldn’t have a place like that would they?

Why are we all so cruel? Do animals mean nothing to us.

I don’t think I will ever in my life get over watching those tigers.

Now I know why people catch the tube!

After my last trip to London I remember writing in my blog that it looks like everyone in london is on the tube and noone owns a car. I take that back! Looks like everyone in london owns TWO cars each! The traffic is crazy!

Some of my experiences on london roads:

- Taking 2 hours 15mins to get home from the airport when I was told it would take an hour!
- Being stuck for an hour in traffic because part of a tunnel was closed, following which we caught the tube with no warm clothes!
- A taxi driver trying to avoid the main road and taking an extra 40 mins on small bumpy streets to take us to the wedding hall
- Another taxi driver driving in circles around the same three streets for about 20 mins

Think i'm sworn off london roads!

Hail the tube!

An affair to remember

A family wedding in london. Expensive! 24 hours on a plane just to get there! Could it really be worth it i wondered. But then decided to go for it because I didnt want to regret it later.

And now that its over it was more than worth every penny and every minute of cramped legs! I cant believe I ever considered not coming. I have loved every minute of meeting family that I havent met in many years (owing to the fact that i live in the other corner of the world...from EVERYONE!), every minute of meeting cousins that I have never seen because they were born long after I moved away and most of all every minute of seeing the most beautiful wedding that I've seen in my life.

It lasted 3 days and they're three days I will never forget!

Love at the Eiffel Tower...oh what a cliche!

How many romantic tales mention the Eiffel Tower? All these proposals and what not. Didnt Tom Cruise supposedly propose to Katie Holmes there? What a facade I thought...I mean, its just a building. How is a building supposed to be romantic? Please! So these were the thoughts I had in my head while I walked towards the Eiffel Tower my first evening in Paris. It was still light outside and a few minutes of walk from the station later the Eiffel Tower came into view...and did it shatter all my misconceptions and cause joy in my heart? Well, no! It was just a structure of dark metal that stood in front of me...Yawn! What a disappointment I thought...even though I didnt have too many expectations from it.

Anyway so we caught a boat from there for a trip around the river Seine. It was a really beautiful hour and a half cruise where I saw some truly remarkable buildings - Notre Dame, The Louvre and many more. Actually even the ordinary apartment buildings around the river looked amazing to me considering I went there from auckland, a city with not too much of a history unfortunately. In fact if there was one thing I had to point out about Paris that I truly was amazed with it has to be the architecture. The buildings are simply gorgeous.

So as the boat turned back and the Eiffel Tower came back into view I turned around to get a photo and froze. What a transformation! It was dark outside and the tower had been lit up and I finally saw why people go to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. As I was staring at it, lights started twinkling and it was one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life. For a while I couldnt even get myself to take a photo because I was just too mesmerized. But when I did take a few, I just couldnt capture the essence unfortunately. But the true picture is still imprinted on my mind.

After I got off the boat and stood on the road looking up at the Eiffel Tower all I could think of was I wish I was in the arms of the one I love right now. And there it was! Romance! Just a building...but it made me feel that way...and I cant explain why. So yes...the cliche is true...well I fell for it anyway! It truly is the most romantic building in the world!

Mind the gap

"Mind the gap" - I dont think you can go to London and not be stuck with this phrase in your head. You just hear it all the time while travelling on the tube, unless of course you are the Queen of England or David Beckham (cause apparently they are the only people who own a car there). Coming back to london, its simply impossible to go there and not fall in love with the city. Its just amazing. I cant describe quite why I felt that way but just being out in the city gives you this buzz. I dont blame some people for calling it the greatest city in the world. I'm not saying I would, but it really does give you a great feeling.

What I didnt like about london however is just how impersonal it feels. I know its just because of how big a city it is. I guess the bigger a city gets the less eye contact people make on the road (though I wonder why). Coming from a city like auckland it seems strange because here people smile at you on the road all the time but I never saw that there. The whole impersonal thing hit me the very first day I was there. After getting off the tube I hear an announcement in the station - "There will be delay on the so-and-so line because of a person under the train". Well that's what I thought I heard anyway but dismissed it immediately as a figment of my imagination or put it down to not being able to understand what she said because not a single person so much as flinched. Two minutes later my cousin asked me if I had heard the thing about the person under the train. So I was right! I asked how she could ask about it so casually and I guess spending time in london does that to you. She said it happens quite often (maybe there is a reason for the constant reminder to "Mind the gap" between the train and the platform) and the people are completely immune to it. The only reaction you will ever get is "Oh no I'm going to be late because of this". Still trying to get my head around this one.

Back to london. The city has so much culture, so much history that you cant help but be drawn to it. My trip started with a visit to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. Great architecture, and well everyone has seen pictures of them so need I say more? Buckingham Palace was a bit of a disappointment. I went with a friend and we were looking for it after getting off the tube. When he pointed to a building of which we only had a side view and said "That is probably it", I dismissed him cause well it just didnt look like much. However upon investigation it did turn out to be Buckingham Palace. Its a big building but well nothing that stays with you after you're gone. Interestingly a set of statues that forms the centerpiece of the courtyard had a plaque that said "Gift of New Zealand". So that's what they are using our taxpayer money for!

Next on the agenda was the tower of london which was interesting in the aspect that we were living history. The best part of the tower of london however was the display of the crown jewels. To say I was dazzled and completely dumbfounded would be a huge understatement. The diamonds! Oh the diamonds! I'm not really one of those 'diamonds are a girl's best friend' people and actually turn my nose when someone says that. But you just cant help being drawn to the sheer size of some of those gems. The kohinoor (which the b*stards took from us!) is absolutely beautiful. But it wasnt the star of the show. That crown has to be taken by the Cullinan 1 -"The great star of africa" - a 540 carat diamond (as opposed to the kohinoor which was 104)!! It is placed on top of a sceptre and I just couldn't stop looking at it. Apparently when found as a rough diamond the Cullinan weighed more than 600grams but was then cut into smaller diamonds and polished. 600 grams!! All I can say is WOW!

I was dragged to the Museum of Natural History by a friend. I didnt really have any expectations but boy was I wrong! Its an absolute must see. The place has the most amazing fossils I have ever seen in my life. The stuff you only see on tv and marvel at it. I have had this thing for fossils ever since I was 7 or 8 and learned about them at school. I would spend hours walking around staring at the ground and turning over stones hoping to find even a small one. Yes yes i know its silly!

One reason I would love to go and live in london is the theatre! There is so much going on all the time. I would definitely want to go see every one of those shows. But well I obviously couldn't! I went to see the Phantom of the Opera and now I know why Andrew Lloyd Webber is Andrew Lloyd Webber. The title song had me completely mesmerised and did the whole show. One more big WOWWWW there!

My trip ended with a visit to Windsor Castle but unfortunately I wasnt quite invited to have tea with the queen (mind you, would I want to be!). Was quite interesting to see how royalty lives. What a life, what opulence. But I'm not sure I would want to be there. Any time you pick up a tabloid it is filled with pictures of the royal family. Not really the best thing is it!

What else did I do there? Well shopped of course! It is difficult however when your mind is constantly multiplying all the prices by three...shudder! Not that it stopped me from buying things! One interesting thing that did happen while shopping was spotting a small time hindi movie actress - Hrishita Bhatt - who I think I've only seen in one movie (Asoka) and dont think many people know. I guess it would have been more exciting if I had seen someone more famous but well I tell as I see...

So thats london. Well it probably isnt everything I saw and did but its most of what I remember anyway. There's part one of my mini trip to europe...Coming up...Paris, Rome and Madrid...