Usha's Odyssey

My visit to Turkey was organised by a friend. We were eight people in all. We flew to Turkey from Mumbai. We arrived in Istanbul and stayed on the European side of the city. We stayed in newer part- I am not sure about the name. Across the Bosphorus lay the Asian side, visible yet belonging to another continent. As a tourist, I found this geographical fact quite remarkable. Few cities in the world can claim to stand on two continents at once. Watching the ferries move constan

In our last European visit we at that time didn’t go to Greece. After spending longer time visiting our respective hospitals in England this time, as we were returning to India we made a short visit to Greece. Often referred to as the cradle of Western civilization, Greece profoundly shaped the modern world in areas like democratic governance, philosophy, theatre, mathematics, and the Olympic Games. Its rich historical tapestry spans the Classical era, the Byzantine Empire, a

My husband had been earlier to Poland. But I could not go. His first trip was very short . Very likely he went to port city of Gdansk. Gdansk Probably he went to Gdansk. Earlier, when we discussed Poland, I mentioned Gdańsk as one of the important places that many visitors see. A few things make Gdańsk special: It is Poland's principal Baltic Sea port. For centuries it was a wealthy trading city connected to merchants from across northern Europe. Its old town is famous for co

For our trip to see Sun at Mid night we joined a tour company named Insight. The tour was through Scandinavian countries. Denmark, Sweden and finally Oslo. We had lot of difficulty in getting Visa - finally a friend in Mumbai helped us to get a visa for Sweden Denmark - Copenhagen From London we first arrived in Copenhagen. Here we stayed at a hotel. My cousin who had lived in London introduced us to one of her friends so we called him and he drove us around Denmark. It was

We were in Jabalpur for a Cardiology meeting. We stayed with a family who knew my husband. It is generally accepted that the game of snooker originated in Jabalpur. The game of snooker was invented in 1875 at the Officers' Mess in the Nerbudda Club in Jubbulpore (now Jabalpur), India. The game was conceived by Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain, a British Army officer. While stationed in Jabalpur, he began experimenting with a popular cue game called "black pool" by adding colo

On our very first visit to Maizuru, Dr. Tadashi invited us to his home in Kyoto. Since we were not so familiar to all places, a lady student who spoke good English came with us on the train. When we reached halfway through our journey we disembarked . We crossed the rail track and reached a river flowing along. From here we travelled by a boat till we reached close to Kyoto. On getting down we walked along a Bamboo forest with lovely breeze and somewhat musical sound in the

Some years ago, we decided to go on a temple tour starting from Chennai. As we travelled along the coast, the journey itself became part of the experience. The humid sea air accompanied us throughout the drive, while coconut groves swayed gently beside the road. Across the flat landscape, huge temple towers would suddenly rise into view, their silhouettes visible from far away. We passed salt pans shimmering in the sunlight, quiet beaches touched by the waves of the Bay of Be

My association with Narmada river goes a long way back - when I heard from my parents that after his marriage his father ( My Grandfather ) took them for a holiday for their wedding along the Narmada river along Satpura hills till they reached some water falls. I am very surprised to hear this as they were teenagers when they got married. The Narmada River is very special geologically. The Narmada flows through what is called the Narmada Rift Valley , a long depression in

I am writing about my trip to Egypt. We were a group of seven people, two couples , and 3 ladies. Our flight To Egypt we reached there around mid night and went straight to our hotel in early morning. Our Hotel was right in Front of the Pyramids. Our journey in Egypt opened in the shadow of the ancient world, as we spent our first two days near the great Pyramids of Giza. From our hotel, they were not just monuments to visit, but a constant presence—silent, unmoving, watchi