We tried to feel sentimental about leaving Italy, but could not find it in ourselves to do so. Italy was beautiful, but we were going to Austria - the land of Mozart and "The Sound of Music"! (Both came later, though, because we went to Vienna before Salzburg.)With our Eurail passes, we did not need to book trains everywhere we went, but the train-schedule we received with our passes was outdated. Our plans of taking a night-train to Paris from Amsterdam fell through because we discovered there was no night-train from Amsterdam to Paris. Even so, the Eurail pass was a boon. In Europe, with so few people travelling compared to in India, we did not need to reserve on most trains. Our passes served as tickets, so we just had to hop on and find unreserved seats. The unreserved seats, needless to say, are nothing like the horrifying general compartment we see here.We walked all over … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Venice
Venice was the place where we relaxed. When we got there, we were told at the information booth at the station that there was no way we would find cheap accommodation in Venice at the weekend. The best we would get was a place that cost €65 a night for three people. Okay, we said, okay. We'll be back. We went to our old faithful, the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) map and found a phone number. The YH cost €17,50 per head and accommodation was available; so there.The line was unclear, but I heard clearly enough to get excited that we had to take boat number 82. Boat number! We were in Venice, the place with the Rialto and the Merchant!Thanks to the train strike, we had been dropped at Venezia Mestre instead of Venezia Centrale, so we had to take a bus before we could take a boat. Public transport is expensive in Venice, with no day passes or weekend passes. We paid €1,60 … [Read more...]
Witch Fire
I always judge a book by its cover, and this one said: Ancient witchcraft. Modern world. And then the title Witch Fire.It intrigued me immediately, and it did not let me down. I did not do any research before I started reading. I did not find out whether Witch Fire was part of a series. As I read on, I realised that the book either had an awe-inspiring back-story, or it had a prequel. I only just discovered that the second is true, and therefore the first too.Witch Fire makes a world come alive. Lucas Stearne and Gloriana Starling are worlds apart, almost cruelly drawn together in the world of witchcraft. Fae is not something that one can choose to have, in the world of Witch Fire. Lucas, coming from a long line of Inquisitors, is nearly ashamed of possessing fae. Gloriana, on the other hand, delights in it, brought up as she is in an East End coven. Bravery, truth and circumstances … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Still in Florence
We had nowhere except the station to spend the night, so we wanted to get there as late as we possibly could. We had dinner at a fancy Italian place instead of on the street: it took longer. After dinner, we walked slowly towards the bus stop and discovered that the next bus (which was the last bus) to the station was 45 minutes away. After the day's adventures, we were more than a little tired, so we made our way to the river and sat around for half an hour just looking at the city lights.We got back to the bus-stop well in time for our 22:35 bus. Except that it didn't come. We waited till 23:00 before approaching a girl waiting at the stop."Hello, do you speak English?" I asked. "No." "A little?" "No."I had to rethink my plan now."Bus?" I pronounced it the Italian way, and then realised what a stupid question that was because it amounted to Are you waiting for a bus at the … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Florence
We spent just a few hours in Florence, but they were truly splendid.As with every place we visited, it took us about 45 minutes to figure out where to go from the station and how. Finally, we bought tickets to Piazza Pitti, which had the most interesting-looking museums according to our map.The bus-ride gave us our first sight of Florence. It was charming, everything that I wanted it to be. Quaint bridges and picturesque houses ... What more does one need? Unfortunately, a lot more. Enough people find Florence charming for it to be rather expensive too, and we discovered that each museum had a separate entrance fee. After much deliberation, we decided to visit the royal apartments.I could have stayed there for much longer, gazing at the delicate chandeliers and beautiful sculpture. Those spectacular chandeliers (lit, admittedly with electric bulbs) are what I will always … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Pisa
Tempers were frayed on that journey to Pisa. What was the point of going to Pisa at all? Pisa was just a tourist gimmick, like the Brindavan Gardens in Mysore. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was the only thing to see; it could not be worth it. We would spend just a few hours there. I would rather go to Florence.Grumpy moods made us assume that the lady in the train compartment with us was also grumpy, so we avoided talking to her for quite a while. Finally, when it seemed that the bad temper in the air was tangible, we decided to take our minds off things and make conversation.Things looked up from there on. The lady, we discovered, was not grumpy at all; she was just self-conscious about her English. She told us how to get to the leaning tower, where we should get off, what buses she thought would take us there ... It was perfect!We bought 60-minute bus passes and hopped on to a … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Rome
We didn't visit the Colosseum. I get that confession out of the way right in the beginning. We saw the Colosseum from the outside, all lit up and magnificent at night, but we did not go there at all to visit the inside as tourists. And today, when I look back I don't know why.Rome was beautiful despite that. We bought a day pass for the city bus, valid until midnight, and just wandered all over the city seeing what there was to see. We walked everywhere we could, and when we grew tired, just hopped on to a bus and went wherever it took us, sight-seeing all the way. Looking at the buildings, just feasting our eyes on the city around us, filled our hearts and souls.The Sistine Chapel, we were told, was closed on the day we reached, but it would be open the next day. The guard at the gate warned us, "But closes at 3 o'clock and half!" "Three-thirty." "Yes, yes, I don't speak English so … [Read more...]
Apache
It's been a while since I wrote about what I was reading for some reason. I did read quite a bit, though. Some of the books were worth sharing, but I was too lazy to talk about them. Some were important for me to read - like The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The Perks of Being a Wallflower taught me, finally, what a 'coming-of-age' novel is. Honestly, I was not old enough to read it when I was physically coming of age. Maybe children today are; maybe they aren't. I could, at best, have read it seven years ago, definitely not in my teens.The novel that now brings me back to writing about books is Tanya Landman's Apache. With a workshop on books coming up tomorrow, I have been reflecting again on how little we read. There's so much variety in the world, and we put everything into little boxes that we label 'fantasy', 'historical fiction', 'school … [Read more...]
Imagine and Innovate: A Workshop on Books for Children
It's just three days away! Date: Saturday, 28th February, 2015. Time: 11 am - 1 pm Fee: Rs 500 per child Age-group: 8-13 Venue: The Cultural Centre, Pune To register: Send an email to tcc@prelocate.com with your name and contact number. [Email subject: Imagine and Innovate Workshop] Visit the Facebook event page for more details. … [Read more...]
Cedar Reading Club
I was part of the lovely Cedar Reading Club this evening, sharing the magic of stories with seven children in the age-group 6-8. The children meet each week, read a story, talk about it, act it out ...More reading clubs for children around the city would be welcome! … [Read more...]