Author: bratislav

Yucatán tan!

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Travel1 Comment

Exiting the customs area of Aeropuerto Internacional de Cancún, we scan through the car rental counters in the arrivals hall, but the Budget representative appears to be MIA! Miguel comes to our rescue – he works for National, has just finished his shift, but willingly offers us a ride to the rental office in his van. There, in a matter of minutes, his supervisor provides us with a larger car, at the same rate! National 1, Budget 0.

More importantly, our initial annoyance at one rental company is quickly overcome by gratitude for the friendly and helpful people around, and the fact that no one is out to make a buck, despite this being a major tourist destination!

It is well past midnight by the time we hit the road, and given how tired we are, we cannot wait to get to the hotel and turn in. Google’s online directions assure us a short trip of 28 minutes to cover the 25-odd km to our hotel. It takes well over an hour! And the reason for that – Zona Hotelera – a strip of back-to-back hotels and resorts, spanning a few miles in length, centred upon an entertainment district, chock-full of nightclubs, and packed to the rafters with white kids on extended spring break! Welcome to Cancún!

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Before the Village awakes

On By bratislavIn Architecture in NYC, Food & Drink, NYC, NYC Neighborhoods6 Comments

”This section of Manhattan, owing to its peculiar street system . . . preserves to this day the traditions, habits and quaintness of old New York” – Real Estate Record & Guide of 1915.

Almost a century since the guide was published, little has changed in the West Village. Having spent my first year (in NYC) there, and looking back on 7 years, 5 apartments and 3 boroughs, it continues to be my favourite neighbourhood in the city!

A few weekends ago, a friend and I decided to meet at the crack of dawn and photograph the streets and buildings of this wonderfully quaint hood. For a change, I’m going to let the photographs do the talking, or most of it at least 🙂

Our walk begins in Washington Square Park, considered by many to be the heart of the Greenwich Village. On the park’s south side, the tower of the Judson Memorial Church rises high enough to pick up the first few rays..

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Monday afternoon in Москва́ !

On By bratislavIn Trains, TravelLeave a comment

As far as layovers go, I’m pretty excited about this one! It will be cold for sure, and tiring too, but a welcome distraction from the depression that sets in when one leaves home!

I call the airport to check my flight status and am informed that there’s a delay of about 3 hours! We finally take off over 4 hours late and I begin to do the mental math – I’ll now have just a smattering of hours between flights!

An endless carpet of white greets us on touch down in Sheremetyevo and as the aircraft slows to a crawl, fresh snow can be observed on the ground. Clearly, not a very promising start!

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Reigning in the Rann

On By bratislavIn India, Trains, Travel1 Comment

My only connection with the town of Palanpur, thus far, was the last name of a fellow student in college. Evidently, he hailed from the town’s royal family! The royals have long gone, as has my friend, the Sahibzada, who is now settled in the UK! Today, Palanpur – not to be confused with it’s namesake in Himachal – is nothing more than a district headquarter bordering Rajasthan, with the locals speaking a peculiar dialect of Gujarati, with hints of Rajasthani in it!

We have arrived here on a crisp January morning on the overnight train from Bombay and have a few hours to kill before heading back west! Sounds a little counter-productive, I know, but sometimes you just have to go east in order to go west 🙂

January is the month of Makar Sankranti in western India, a festival of harvest, and one that marks the peak of winter. It is also kite-flying season, and the men and machines that maketh the colourful kites are out in full force on the streets of Palanpur!

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Not so much a Glasshouse, but definitely on the Ganges!

On By bratislavIn India, Travel3 Comments

Several alarms have been set – all of them spaced about 20 minutes apart – but it’s the first alarm that shouldn’t be ignored! It has been set for 4 AM and is a reminder to switch on the all-too-important geyser or water heater! Once that duty has been fulfilled, I return to the comfort of my quilt and snooze for some twenty minutes more, safe in the knowledge that things will, somehow, slowly fall into place.

And they do! Precisely 2 hours and 50 minutes after the first alarm went off, the Shatabdi Express to Dehradun pulls out of New Delhi station, with a full complement of Derawals on board!

We haven’t even cleared Delhi’s outskirts yet, but almost everyone in our group, barring a handful, has dozed off! Understandable, for this is the peak of north India’s winter, and for 22 Derawals to rouse at an unearthly hour, get ready, pack, and make it on time to board a train, is nothing short of a miracle 🙂

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The Heights of Manhattan

On By bratislavIn Architecture in NYC, Biking, Food & Drink, NYC, NYC Neighborhoods1 Comment

The name Manhattan is a Native American word that translates to ‘island of many hills’. To most visitors though, and to those few residents who’ve never had opportunity to use the GW bridge, the island of Manhattan is perceived as flat! No fault of theirs really – the city’s urban development in the early 19th-century ensured that much of the island’s topographical variations were evened out.

Washington Heights and Inwood, the northernmost neighbourhoods on the island, are remnants of that undulation, and little known ones at that. A stroll or bike ride through them reveals not only what the island would have looked like pre-development, but also many a hidden treasure. Towards the end of summer this year, I set out to find out just that!

11 miles after leaving my house on a warm Sunday morning, I made my first stop at 156th & Broadway. There, occupying a full city block sits Audobon Terrace, a complex of eight early 20th-century Beaux Arts buildings, named after John James Audobon, a French-American ornithologist, on who’s land the structures stand.

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Everything but the Canyon!

On By bratislavIn Trains, TravelLeave a comment

As we taxi towards our gate, the flight attendant announces, ‘in an effort to keep the cabin cool, we request all our passengers to please lower their window blinds and keep their vents in the open position’. It is a most unusual request, certainly one that I have never heard before, but given that it is 114F or 45.5C in Phoenix at the moment, it probably makes sense! As I begin to lower my window blind, I scan the scene outside – no surprises here – there isn’t a soul to be seen anywhere on the tarmac!

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Dobrý den Praha!

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Public Transit, Travel3 Comments

Our flight out of Gatwick can best be described as ‘wildly turbulent’ – the kind where the Captain asks the flight attendants to take their seats, mid flight! So it is with some relief that we are back on terra firma at Ruzyne International.

The centre of Prague, though not far from Ruzyne, isn’t particularly well connected to the airport, as European capitals go! A combination of Bus + Tram / Metro usually does the trick but since we had a 6 AM flight out of London, we make our way to the taxi rank – definitely the quickest, but also the most overpriced way of getting downtown!

We check in to the very conveniently located Hotel Astoria, drop off our bags and make our way out to the Old Town or staré Město. The sky is overcast and the forecast for the next few days’ calls for equally gloomy weather, with more than a chance of rain! Perfect timing, I think to myself!

Minutes later, as if a switch has been turned on, the gloom vanishes from my face only to be replaced by a wide smirk! I am facing Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square), possibly one of the most charming city squares I have ever laid my eyes on. At the centre of it performs a choir; several stunning old buildings surround the plaza, and the aroma of Czech Country Ham fills the air! It’s good to finally be in Prague 😉

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ALCOs day out!

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Trains, Travel3 Comments

There are fans and then there are rail fans! There are rail fans and then there are specialist rail fans!! Meet Jon and Vic – the ALCO fans!  Although based out of the UK, they travel the world to seek out and chase (in rail fan speak) the last of the operational ALCOs. India remains a stronghold of ALCO diesel locomotives, and expectedly so, is big on their list. That’s also how I happen to know them!

ALCO expands to American Locomotive Company. Founded in 1901 in Schenectady NY, it built steam and diesel locomotives till production ended in ’69. If you happen to come across an ALCO lover however, chances are they’ll be fans of the company’s diesels, more than anything else!

On a pleasant June morning in south eastern Pennsylvania, we join them on the ‘Lansdale Day Special’.  It’s been about an hour since we left the town of West Chester and everything appears calm on board till we grind to a halt for an impromptu photo stop! The fans scramble, get into position track side and click away to their hearts content! There’s no mistaking the scene – this is a true ALCO fan trip 😉

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Train to the Lore of the Coast

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, India, Trains, Travel1 Comment

My NRI friends insist that 200 Rupees is peanuts for a coolie (porter). I remind them gently that the cost of a ticket for the 451 km journey is only 116! They finally concede, and the economist amongst them concludes – the railways have clearly not kept up with inflation!

It is 7:30 AM at Yesvantpur Junction, a satellite rail terminus in a namesake Bangalore suburb, and we are about to board train #6515 to Mangalore, some 10 hours away, in second class ordinary accommodation! Not long ago, I had fetched my NRI friends from the very posh Taj West End hotel, where they had stayed the night, on arrival from Egypt the previous day!

NRI = Non Resident Indians, and at the risk of inviting the wrath of many a reader, I shall desist from using that term here forth 😉

There’s a nip in the air as we make our way out of Bangalore, and once clear of its industrial burbs, cleaner air, distinctly better views and the promise of a spectacular journey await!
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